Before we delve into our discussion, we need to make a distinction between an orphan and a child born out of the wedlock. The former is a child whose parents are dead. The latter is an illegitimate child. Children born out of wedlock have many names such as nullius filius, love child, child born without benefit of clergy, etc. Not to put too fine a point on, out-of-wedlock births are the by-products of the moral decay the West have been living in for such a long time. At present, due to the development of the new media, this moral decay is getting closer to the Arab world. Single mothers, living in sin and the rest have become household words. The Arab world is in a state of flux at the moment. Its youths are going to and fro between secular and religious principles. This situation is likely to be a breeding ground for many problems. Orphan conditions are not considered one of these problems, but out-of-wedlock births are certainly a huge predicament in the Middle East.

Orphans

An orphan, as I previously stated, is a child whose parents are dead. There are three types of orphans. First, ‘maternal orphan’ is a child whose mother is dead. Second, ‘paternal orphan’ is a child whose father is dead. Third, ‘double orphan’ is a child whose both parents are dead. In days gone by, ‘half orphan’ was used instead of the first two types.

Orphans in the Middle East might be as lucky as Oliver Twist. The generality of people in the Middle East highly respect orphans. This is due to the emphasis religion puts on taking care of them. Treating them badly is considered a straight path that will take one to hell. Also, the fact that the prophet of Islam Muhammad was himself an orphan makes Arabs all the more excited about taking a good care of orphans. That is why they are not considered victims of modern times as far as the Middle East is concerned. Nullius filius are considered victims, though.

Nullius Fillius

Nullius fillius are children born out of the wedlock. They are the victims of their parents’ irresponsibility. The parents are themselves victims of modern times in which people live without being legally married. The cradle of this phenomenon is the West. It has been transferred to the Middle East and to other places through the new media. Arab youths have crossed the Rubicon and gotten rid of their traditions. They have adopted the Western way of life that is totally different from their forefathers’ one. The outcome is a clash between secular and religious principles. The damage is the lives of many children. Illegitimate kids in the Middle East and other countries are sometimes put on plastic bags and left outside to either die or be saved by other people. This is because the mother cannot face her family especially when her boyfriend does not want the baby. Most people believe that Arabs would kill such a woman. This is wrong. They will certainly be shocked, but they will try as much as possible to find a solution. But the problem is that most of the times, men have relationships with women, not for marriage sake, but for carnal knowledge sake. This is another serious problem. The culprit behind this problem is the impact Hollywood movies have on them. In such movies, men and women meet and then appear to have coitus after thirteen minutes, which is not how Western people do. Away from faultfinding and look-what-you-have-done-to-me attitude, the West is not the villain of the piece. Arabs are culpable too. Arab women must not fear admitting the mistake. They often do that because men do not want to accept the child. When a woman does not tell her family about such a problem, she claims full responsibility, which is wrong. She must tell her family because they are the only ones that would help and try to solve the problem and save the baby from a life of utter devastation. Also, Arabs should try to cope with the changes occurring in the world today. They should know how to deal with the impact of other cultures on their own. They should take the best and leave the rest.