Man rejects court orders to divorce wife due to tribal incompatibility

RIYADH — A Saudi man has rejected a judge’s verdict that he divorce his wife due to a perceived incompatibility of their tribal status. Ali Al-Qarni said he is married to Maha Al-Tamimi and his marriage was put into question when a judge at Al-Uaiyinah Court issued a verdict to divorce him from his wife because of the incompatibility of their family names. “I submitted an appeal to the judge’s decision on Thursday. I do not wish to divorce my wife and my wife does not wish to divorce me. We are happily married to one another and our marriage is our business. Moreover, my wife is eight months pregnant and needs my support,” said Al-Qarni. He added his appeal is under review and he is now waiting for a final verdict from the Court of Appeals. “I received threats to divorce my wife but I will never put my family under such circumstances and rob my children of their mother. My wife will stay at my father’s house until she gives birth. I will not accept the decision to divorce her as she is pregnant,” said Al-Qarni. He reaffirmed he has no intention or desire to divorce his wife despite the wishes of his tribe. “I was put under a lot of pressure by the judge. He kept summoning me to court to try to convince me to divorce my wife and just appease everybody,” said Al-Qarni. Ministry of Justice spokesman Mansour Al-Qafari said the verdict issued at Al-Uaiyinah Court is only a preliminary verdict, which has not been finalized. “The couple has every right to submit an appeal which will be reviewed by another court with higher authority. The appeal will be reviewed by three judges who will evaluate the verdict issued by the initial judge. The judges are all qualified and experts in their field and they can make a wise decision in support of the stability of Saudi society,” said Al-Qafari.