JEDDAH — During the past five months, a total of 5,183 women have filed lawsuits in various courts asking for alimony from their ex-husbands, local Arabic daily Al-Madinah reported on Sunday.
The cases were raised in a number of courts in various regions of the Kingdom during the period from Oct. 25, 2014 to March 25, 2015.
Makkah Region, with 1,605 alimony cases, topped all regions, seconded by Riyadh which had 1,315 cases.
The Eastern Province with 755 cases, occupied third place while Jazan ranked fourth with 376 cases and Madinah fifth with 295 cases. Courts in Asir Region received 241 alimony cases, Qasim Region 186, Tabuk 102, Hail 90, Al-Jouf 79, the Northern Borders Region 50, Al-Baha 48 and Najran 41 cases.
Sheikh Abdulaziz Saleeem Al-Olayan, a sociologist and an Islamic researcher, said the right to alimony will never become outdated and a divorced woman can ask for alimony from her ex-husband at any time.
Al-Olayan added that a divorced woman can also ask for compensation for the period before she filed the alimony claim on condition that it does not exceed one year.
Courts in the Kingdom typically calculate alimony payments based on the ex-husband's financial and social situation.
