Isma should not use western inventions
It should take down its website if it thinks the Internet contributes to the breakdown of families.
In complaining that many women were neglecting their families, Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma) has found it convenient to blame feminism and the Internet. In a recent statement, Isma President Abdullah Zaik Abdul Rahman denounced feminism as a scourge from the West, saying the Internet had spread its corrupting influence among Muslim women in Malaysia.
If he is so disdainful of western influences, why does Isma bother to maintain a website? The Internet and the World Wide Web are purely western inventions. Why doesn’t he take down the Isma website if he thinks the Internet is one of the prime causes of the breakdown of marriages, of wives’ neglect of their husbands, and of children being left to their own devices?
One cannot be sure which century Abdullah Zaik thinks he is living in, but he sounds like a sexist and an all-round terrible person when he says, in a complaining tone, that women who subscribe to feminism have chosen to “work and socialise” to the detriment of their roles as wives and mothers.
Why on earth shouldn’t women work and socialise? In these hard times, when it’s difficult for one breadwinner to put food on the table, why can’t women contribute to household expenses? Can a man who has more than one wife, and children with each wife, ensure a decent life for each of his multiple families?
One suspects that Abdullah Zaik is out of touch with current realities. As the President of Isma, he is probably well paid and does not feel the pain of the average Malaysian struggling to make ends meet. After all, Isma is not short of funds. Last February, a deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department confirmed that the organisation is funded by the Federal Government.
So we can assume that Abdullah Zaik has no problems supporting his large family. But what about the taxi driver who has more than one wife? Or the teacher who has four wives and many children? Or the jobless man who lives off the earnings of his four wives?
Abdullah Zaik seems to think that only women should bring up children. What about the role of the father? Is he aware of absent fathers who do not care about the wellbeing of their children? Have we not seen the breakdown of many families caused by irresponsible men who abandon their wives and children because it is easy to do so?
Malaysian shariah laws do not really protect women. Even the richest divorced women are finding it difficult to get their husbands to pay alimony, as Shahnaz Abdul Bekir has found to her horror. Going to court is an expensive and time consuming business. Few single mothers can afford to do this. Men take advantage of the financial constraints of women and disappear or ignore the court summonses.
It is time for men like Abdullah Zaik to become more responsible and address the issues of broken families, abandoned wives and neglected children by taking these up with Muslim men.
Mariam Mokhtar is an FMT columnist
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