Senator fined for divorcing wife by SMS

Senator fined for divorcing wife by SMS :

"The senator, Kamaruddin Ambok, 52, has been fined $195 by a Islamic or sharia court for attempting to divorce his wife Mahani Hussain by phone in October 2001, instead of declaring his intentions in court."

Didn't even occur to me you could divorce someone by SMS. The case has been judged by sharia law and I take the judge's point that when you marry someone by going through all the ritual processes and procedures you should at least do the same when you wish to divorce them. In Islamic law a man can divorce his wife by verbal pronouncements. I suppose an SMS was considered to be that but the court hasn't upheld the claim. Technology is really challenging our laws which were written before its onset and widespread adoption.