Dubai Princess Sheikha Mahra Announces Divorce on Instagram

“I hereby declare our divorce,” wrote Mahra, the daughter of Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. “I divorce you, I divorce you and I divorce you. Take care of yourself. Your ex-wife.”

By repeating the phrase “I divorce you” three times, the princess appears to be referring to the controversial practice of triple talaq. According to Sunni Islamic custom, triple talaq allows a Muslim man to divorce his wife by saying talaq – the Arabic word for divorce – three times. The man does not need to provide a reason or obtain his wife’s consent.

In the United Arab Emirates, Islamic law governs marriage and divorce procedures for Muslim couples, as well as couples consisting of a Muslim man and a non-Muslim woman, according to the country’s government website. Non-Muslim expatriate couples, however, have the option of filing for divorce in their home country or requesting that the court apply the laws of their home country in the UAE.

Under Sharia law, women typically receive a dowry (or mahr in Arabic) from their husband or husband’s family upon marriage. Once a woman returns the mahr, she can legally obtain a separation, called khula.

Mahra married Sheikh Mana bin Mohammed bin Rashid bin Mana Al Maktoum, also a member of the UAE royal family, in a glamorous ceremony last May. The couple welcomed a daughter less than three months ago.

The princess suggested in her message on Wednesday that her husband had been unfaithful to her, saying he was “busy with other companions.” Her apparent invocation of triple talaq breaks with the typical implementation of the practice, as it is men who invoke talaq under Islamic law.

Mahra is not the first woman in Sheikh Mohammed’s family to take a position contrary to the emirate’s norms.

Sheikha Latifa, Mahra’s sister and the emirate’s princess, described her father as a “great criminal” and blamed him for imprisoning disobedient women before she fled Dubai, The New Yorker reported last May. Although the UAE prime minister has emphasized gender equality in his public and political life, particularly in his diplomatic relations with the West, Latifa viewed Dubai as a repressive city for women, even as the ruler’s daughter.

Latifa is one of at least two Dubai princesses who attempted to escape their families by fleeing the emirate, the Washington Post reported in 2019.

Sheikh Mohammed also fought a long and bitter custody battle with his sixth wife, Princess Haya Bint Hussein. According to the BBC, the latter sought asylum in Germany in 2019 and eventually went into hiding in London, fearing for her life after fleeing her husband. The prime minister has at least 20 children with at least six wives.

In the United Arab Emirates, a Muslim woman is not legally allowed to marry a non-Muslim man without proof of conversion. A Muslim man is allowed to marry a non-Muslim woman and is also allowed to have up to four wives, provided he provides “equal sustenance and equal treatment to all,” according to the government website.

Since Mahra’s announcement, she and Sheikh Mana appear to have deleted all photos of each other from their respective Instagram pages.