PSG & Moroccan Football Player, Achraf Hakimi's Divorce Battle: Exposing Marriage Concerns
After God, fear women, except for your mother! I joke ladies... #NotAllWomen. Men around the world affected by the plague no-fault divorce and alimony have found a hero in Achraf Hakimi (24 years old), one of the top right backs in association football worldwide. Mr. Hakimi is married to Hiba Abouk (36 years old). Their divorce has become a means of humorous social commentary that exposes some of the anxieties of marriage especially in a modern context. Men are hailing him as a genius for leaving most of his assets in his mother's name. Wifey is shocked right now because she cannot easily reach the assets. Abouk actually is a millionaire in her own right. Hakimi might get half of her wealth!
Regardless, of whether Abouk is a gold digger or Hakimi is an alleged criminal; I find the memes and debate to be quite illuminating about the trepidation around marriage in 2023, particularly in countries affected by Westernisation. Of course, Hakimi can count himself lucky that he can trust his mother with good counsel and stewardship around issues of money. Many women might be taken aback by the insensitive joking about the situation, choosing to naturally sympathize with a fellow woman. The issue on the table remains about how to manage the estate of a family. Marriage, as defined by many religions, is a lifelong monogamous commitment, and in eras past societies would make sure that the clauses heavily disincentivize divorce. In today's modern culture and legal landscape, that is often not the case.
Look no further than the dreaded 50/50 split that exists combined with a no-fault divorce clause in marriage contracts. Spouse cheats on you and you want to break up; the spouse leaves with half. The spouse gets bored or 'falls out of love'; the spouse leaves with half. But also if one spouse sacrifices their ambitions for the other and becomes a victim to the dominant earner, then they too can leave with half. So no looking for a guilty party to decide alimony, property division, and maintenance. It has been very advantageous to women who as a whole had lost economic backups with the disruptive industrialization of traditional female work and the decline of extended family support networks.
Certainly we do not want to give power to abusive men in any potential marriage. Many women felt freed from the clutches of terrible marriages thanks to no-fault. One could argue that the average woman is rapidly catching up to the average man now and the absence of fault allows whimsical women to wreck families. It usually leads to a man having the Sword of Damocles hanging over his head as we tend to expcet the husband to be the higher earner. More women in college than men and a decline in the 1950s housewife model. The chivalric assumption of women as a damsel in distress is declining rapidly in public discourse except in traditional conservatives and feminist circles.
I think this Hakimi case is quite interesting because it may be time to revisit the imporatnace of family. The borderline obsessive and isolating mindset of passion-only driven marriage has blinded many into marriage without pre-nup or proper understanding of dividing their assets. Because many states have a default that doesn't seek to protect the institution of marriage it is no surprise that many of them fail when you leave the opportunity to selfishly nuke the relationship. It's a reminder for people that state's pre-nup doesn't care about your particular definition of marriage. You may to consider more than just community of property arguments. Look to investigate in good old patrimony and family trusts. Learn to have the difficult conversation about this stuff before you jump into the marriage. The secretive manner in which Hakimi protected himself is certainly not the most honest way. May everybody have a trustworthy partner.