The Triple Lindy of Divorce Court

Who says religious tradition doesn't have its own fun, wacky side? Here's another one brought to you by our favorite Islam fundamentalists:

NEW DELHI - A Muslim couple in India has been told by local Islamic leaders to separate after the husband "divorced" his wife in his sleep, the Press Trust of India reported.

Sohela Ansari told friends that her husband, Aftab, had uttered the word "talaq," or divorce, three times in his sleep, according to the report published in newspapers on Monday.

When local Islamic leaders heard of the sleep talking, they said Aftab’s words constituted a divorce under an Islamic procedure known as "triple talaq." The couple, married for 11 years with three children, were told they had to split.

Ah, the old Triple Talaq, bane of happy marriages everywhere. Luckily, the Islamic leaders have a handy-dandy, sanity-testing solution to the invented problem:

The religious leaders ruled that if the couple wanted to remarry they would have to wait at least 100 days. Sohela would also have to spend a night with another man and be divorced by him in turn.

No word on what, if anything, the man would have to do. So far, the couple have ignored this bit of marital counseling:

The couple, who live in the eastern state of West Bengal, have refused to obey the order and the issue has been referred to a local family counseling center.