The decision follows a decade‑long fight by Hira Azhar, who only learned in 2015 that a 2013 divorce notice had appeared in a Pakistani newspaper she never saw. She filed for divorce in Harris County that year, but the county accepted the Pakistani decree, a move that left her legally stranded for years.
Choudhri, a Texas‑based billionaire, married Azhar in 2008 in Pakistan, took her to Houston in 2010, and in 2013 sent her back to Pakistan to renew her visa. While she was absent, he executed a Sharia talaq, paying only $50 as settlement, and published the notice in a small local paper.
Under Sharia, a husband can pronounce talaq verbally or in writing with witnesses, but the wife must be non‑menstrual and have no recent sexual contact; the decree must be published in a newspaper. The Islamic Sharia Council notes that after the pronouncement, the wife must wait three months before she can leave the home.
The Texas Supreme Court held that the Pakistani notice was constitutionally inadequate and that foreign divorces made under Sharia without meeting U.S. legal standards are not recognized. Azhar will now have to initiate a formal Texas divorce and can seek Choudhri’s assets, which include over $1.2 billion in real‑estate holdings across the U.S., Mexico, Europe, and Dubai.