Deadbeat parenting
ISLAM has a strict definition of parental obligation within marriage and after divorce, which leaves economic responsibilities to fathers, unless wives or ex-wives respectively, agree to pitch in. Consequently, once a divorce is official and custody given over to the mother, or is hers by default, child maintenance or nafkah is borne by the male parent. Unfortunately, "deadbeat dads", that is, fathers unwilling to fulfil this duty, are alleged to be commonplace. In Malaysia, despite compulsory pre-nuptial courses, men obviously enter marriage without a clear picture of its financial burdens and commitments. This observation must, however, be tempered with the admission that deadbeat dads are everywhere. In the United States, for example, so strong was public concern that the Deadbeat Dads Punishment Act 1998 was passed to address the problem.
The Family Support Division (BSK) of the Syariah Judiciary Department, set up in 2009, has, within its purview, the resolution of the same problem -- of intransigent ex-husbands who tend to think of themselves as also ex-fathers -- but without the strength of a similar Act of Parliament behind it. In its two years of operation, its critics have accused the BSK of ineffectiveness. In its defence, it has been argued that despite its relatively young age, the BSK has managed to bring to a satisfactory resolution some 60 per cent of all nafkah defaulter cases nationwide. That the reported numbers it presents bespeak a reality of manageable proportions do not, nevertheless, make an affected child's predicament any more tolerable for, even if it is just one child, it still is one child too many.
Therefore, more should be done to bring the half-brained dandies to book and repair the grief inflicted by them on their own children. The often cited excuse is bitter divorces: surely lame when children have to pay for their parents' inability to get along. In this particular scenario, it behoves the state to impose severe penalties on such parents. Maybe the Islamic Family Law should have an enactment that makes remorseless deadbeat parenting a jailable offence replete with heavy fines, a punishment hard enough to deter. Maybe, too, pre-nuptial courses ought to stress on parental responsibilities, which are unending, rather than the duties a couple owe one another. Enough of the duty to feed husbands and clothe wives, and let it be drummed into the consciousness of prospective brides and grooms that children can be an enormous call on time and resources. And so, the message of the future should be, "Parents beware, of both the burden and the law".
Therefore, more should be done to bring the half-brained dandies to book and repair the grief inflicted by them on their own children. The often cited excuse is bitter divorces: surely lame when children have to pay for their parents' inability to get along. In this particular scenario, it behoves the state to impose severe penalties on such parents. Maybe the Islamic Family Law should have an enactment that makes remorseless deadbeat parenting a jailable offence replete with heavy fines, a punishment hard enough to deter. Maybe, too, pre-nuptial courses ought to stress on parental responsibilities, which are unending, rather than the duties a couple owe one another. Enough of the duty to feed husbands and clothe wives, and let it be drummed into the consciousness of prospective brides and grooms that children can be an enormous call on time and resources. And so, the message of the future should be, "Parents beware, of both the burden and the law".
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