Kota Kinabalu: Marriage breakup is a tragedy for all and imposes enormous cost to the community, participants of a pre-marriage course were told.

Hence more awareness on the roles of spouses, parenting skills, family education and how to handle finances are vital to the couples before they tied the knot.

According to Chief Registrar of Marriage, Divorce and Refer of Sabah Islamic Religious Affairs Department (Jheains), Baharudin Hj Alwi, figures show that divorce cases have risen by 15 per cent every year.

"For instance, every 10,000 marriages, 1,500 couples will divorce each year and it is absolutely worrying.

"Marriage is like a couple who sails to a very far place, and they never know what will happen next or their absolute destination," said Baharudin.

Baharudin said that the would-be brides and grooms should be aware of the importance of pre-marriage education course which is intended to educate and provide initial exposure of marriage.

The Islamic Pre-marriage course is organised by JHEAINS in collaboration with Mawaddah Management at Wisma Muis every weekend.

The future bride and groom should not compare the living standard of their parents who were capable of undergoing marriage without courses, because there are many significant differences between the two generations in terms of social life, spiritual, economic, and so on.

"This course will be completed in two days and is not intended to burden the couples but to provide valuable input, also to assist them before they tie the knot.

"At present, many young people consider life after marriage is beautiful without preparing to endure the challenges ahead," said the Chief Registrar.

In addition, the course also aims to give a clear picture of responsibilities in forming a family and the basic ways to manage it.

Baharudin who is also a speaker at the pre-marriage course, said knowledge and preparation are vital as matrimony is a big responsibility.

"This course is drawn up to help you," he said adding that there were issues about the fee of the course among others.

He added, participants will also be given guidance to face conflicts in the family and how to tackle the problem effectively.

Additionally, he also highlighted on the growing issue of illegitimate children in the country.

"On average for every hour, some 7 children are born out of wedlock in Malaysia," he said.

He also said that one of the problems that always arise after marriage is when couples do not understand about the custodianship (wali) system.

"There is a case I received where the non-biological father became a custodian (wali) to his adopted daughter. That is prohibited in Islam," he said.

Furthermore, another problem that often occurred is when the couple did not register their marriage with the responsible authority and troubled others when there is a problem.

"It will be so difficult to bring up the matter to the court if anything happens," he said.

The manager of Mawaddah Management, Malai Ali Malai Ahmad said that husband and wife must have the knowledge and should put religion as a priority.

The participants must understand the difference between the past and present that obviously shows the importance of pre-marriage course before getting married.

In addition, he also talked about the strategy to build the admirable moral for husband and wife, and also how to establish a successful communication in Islam.

"Marriage without knowledge, deeds and preparation will not guarantee the marriage retention," he said.

Meanwhile, other speakers also emphasized on the importance of the trusteeship system as well as faith, worship, financial management, relationship in the family, sex manners in Islam, implications of divorce and so on.