Saudi woman divorces husband after he married second wife during 'work trip'

A Saudi woman recently divorced her husband after she discovered he had secretly married another woman. 

The wife thought her partner was on a two-week work trip abroad and decided to surprise him with a party she organized in their home upon his return. 

After he arrived, however, she was the one who got the shock of her life. 

Speaking to a local news site, the woman's friend said that after she opened her husband's suitcase to help him unpack, she found a marriage contract stating he had recently married a Moroccan woman. 

The woman confronted her husband with the discovery and he then confessed that he lied to her about going on a work trip, adding that he had traveled abroad to get married. 

Outraged by her husband's lies and actions, the woman immediately left her marital home. She has since filed for divorce. 

In countries across the Arab world, including Saudi Arabia, many believe that Islam unconditionally allows men to be married to more than one woman at a time.

However, even though polygamy is still a matter of debate across the region, every time the issue comes up on social media, users highlight an important fact that many seem to simply ignore or forget: In Islam, taking more than one wife is only permissible under a very tight frame of conditions.

To women in the kingdom, the matter is also becoming culturally unacceptable.

Speaking to StepFeed, Reema, a Saudi women's activist explained the reasons why a rising number of Saudi women are refusing to stay in polygamous marriages. 

"A large number of Saudi women are now choosing to divorce husbands who take second wives because they have come to realize that Islam doesn't justify that for men who just marry for pleasure," she said. 

"The excuse that our religion unconditionally allows a man to marry multiple women is no longer valid because we all know better now. Before, a husband could tell his wife that Islam allows him to marry four women at once and she wouldn't be able to challenge that. Now, women are more educated on the issue and more able to reach out for answers," she added. 

Reema also explained that as times change, it has become difficult for any woman to accept polygamy. 

"In this day and age, one where we're slowly winning the fight for our rights and feeling emancipated, there is no reason to accept being married to a person who wants to marry other women simply because he's bored. When there is a legal (sharia-based) reason for it, that's a different matter, but when it's just for pleasure, it's unacceptable in Islam," she added.