Last week, when he expressed concern over the deep influence non-Muslim maids could have on Muslim children, Perak Mufti Harussani Zakaria omitted to mention the many beneficial ways in which maids influence the children in their care.

Many maids take the place of parents, especially in double-income households. When they return from work, some parents are too tired to take care of their children. They leave it to the maid to bathe the children, encourage them to do their homework, feed them and even take them to the park to play. In a few overworked households, maids also tuck the children into bed. Many maids become surrogate mothers.

Some parents also give the maids jobs they themselves hate to do. These are the messy jobs like cleaning the mess left by a pet, dealing with an elderly relative’s incontinence, staying up all night to nurse a sick child, exercising the dog, washing the car or cleaning up after a dinner party that ends late.

Patience and tolerance are two virtues which a maid quickly learns. Imagine the maid who has to take care of children who are not potty trained. She has to deal with enough poo, puke and pee to last a lifetime and still keep smiling.

Some parents fail to teach their children good manners. The children dump their clothes on the floor instead of putting them in the laundry basket. Or a child may demand to have his food in his bedroom and then he stashes the dirty plates under the bed, attracting cockroaches or rats. And then there are children who don’t not know how to say “Please” and “Thank you.” Sometimes, maids who try to discipline such children get a roasting by parents who think their offspring can do no wrong.

Maids have to adapt and learn fast. Some employers forget that not all maids are used to modern gadgets. There are maids who have never seen an electric iron and will burn delicate clothes because they have not been instructed properly. Some maids are unaware that kitchen tools with electric motors should not be soaked for cleaning. Whose fault is that?

We would expect wise men like Harussani to see the virtues of good maids.

Mariam Mokhtar is an FMT columnist.

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