Heartbreak. Anger. Frustration.
Those were the feelings I felt when learning yet another baby was thrown into the bin, murdered by her own mother.
Yes, you heard me: MURDER. One of the most heinous crimes a human can commit. Funny how baby killings can be called something more pleasing and less atrocious to the ear such as ‘hiding a baby’s birth’ (‘menyembunyikan kelahiran bayi’) by the media.
One would be initially confused by the term but will quickly learn that the baby was actually dumped because her own mother didn’t want her, only the pleasure that came just before she was conceived.
The baby, just like any other infant, was born into the world, pure and innocent. The baby who breathed air for the first time and sought her mother for sustenance, warmth, security and love…but only to find that her needs were never met. Were never intended to be met. Instead, they were cut by the very person who gave her life, the very person she trusted.
Baby dumping is so common in our society today that I don’t wish to dwell on what is wrong or right, because clearly, any sane person would know that it is wrong to kill a baby. What got them there in the first place was illicit sex, Zina, which is clearly prohibited in Islam.
Sure, we can try to understand the couple’s situation: young and foolish, completely in love (and lust), oblivious to the outcome of unprotected sexual intercourse. Possible reasons for dumping: societal pressure and non-acceptance, lack of support from family and the community.
We understand these problems, but can they really justify the act of killing a baby?
Recently, a girl, by her own choice, dumped her child but was sentenced with a ‘good behaviour’ bond worth RM8000 and nothing else.
The girl’s sentence came largely from her history of top academic performance, good behaviour and seemingly bright future if she were to carry on with life as if nothing bad had happened. But do all of these factors really justify her unbelievably light sentence?
More worryingly though, how do other young people perceive this judgment?
That it is okay for them to have illicit sex and end the ‘inconvenience’ that came with it so long they are a top scorer in school? What if they do not perform well academically, does this mean they deserve harsher penalties and less empathy from the judge?
What does the RM8000 bond tell the public? That an an out-of-wedlock infant is only worth that much?
And let’s not forget the boy who made it all happened. Why is it that only the girl got all the punishment and condemnation when the boy shared the same responsibility in creating the doomed baby?
We have indeed created this huge mess for our society.
By not doing enough to let young people know that Zina is a huge sin in Islam and the repercussions are too great to bear.
By submitting to a societal norm and culture lacking in Islamic values that could prevent all these atrocities from occurring in the first place.
By letting innocent lives whose lives ended in the most despicable ways without true justice their killers deserve.
As an NGO, Wanita ISMA have been running numerous campaigns, lectures and seminars aimed at young Muslims to stay away from Zina, and to utilise their time wisely and more productively for their own future.
‘Say NO to Zina’ is one such campaign which has been ongoing across Malaysia. We hope to educate the young that each of them is a precious human being capable of doing great things in life.
But it does not have to stop there.
As an individual, let us do what we can within our own capacity to stop this social cancer from spreading.
Let us give advice to young people, invite them to activities that benefit them and society, and muster up courage to approach teen couples to explain (not patronise) them what is wrong and what is right.
This might seem awkward and we risk being labelled as nosy and perhaps backward. But the benefits far outweigh the risks. A vigilant society is one we desperately need to prevent this social plague from getting worse.
It is the least that we can do when we call ourselves a Muslim.
Dr Hazlin Chong
Aktivis ISMA
No to zina. Make marriage easy.
You know what’s disturbing? These young people KNOW what is zina and what the repercussions are. It has been taught to all muslim kids and teens by the parents religious schools and communities at large. But yet, they still do it anyway. We indeed live in sad times, where ‘nafsu’ trumps everything else.
Youngs doing zina because the adults are doing it too, MARRIED ADULTS! Aka their parents, unties, uncles. Remember, fish rots from the head.
Assalamu’alaikum! Bertaubatlah selagi berkesempatan! Takbir!