Aiman Azlan's Blog

Wow. Look at that title, what a way to start a blog post. Let me try to reduce the size of the flame here. I’m not saying that they don’t remember your wedding like it doesn't exist. I’m just saying that they don’t remember your wedding the way that you thought they would remember it. You can ask them and find out: Do they remember what you wore that day? Do they remember the food you served? Do they remember the color theme you chose? Do they remember the decorations you set up? Do they remember the name of your partner? <--- my favourite :p Or, try this: Have your photo album be ready a few weeks after the wedding, sit down with your family, and flip through the pages. See how much they actually remember. Even the actual bride and groom don't remember some of the things that were in their own wedding (speaking from experience here). People who have other better things to do don't tend to remember specific physical details, the kind of details that w...

Some say, Islamic financing is more expensive than conventional loan. So they made a choice based on what is cheap, convenient, and easy. But is that true? Is Islamic financing more expensive than conventional loan? If enough people say it’s true, then it must be true. Right? Nope! That’s not how truth works. To know if something is true or not, you have to investigate it. So let’s investigate the question: is Islamic financing more expensive than conventional loan? The answer to the question lies in the very basic of Islamic financing and conventional loan - how they make money. Let’s start with conventional loan. How Conventional Loan Makes Money Conceptually, conventional loan is pretty straightforward: you ask the bank for money, the bank gives you money, and you pay the bank back with interest. Through interest, the bank makes money. How much interest do you have to pay? This is where things get interesting (pun intended). The interest rate is not fixed, beca...

Ali meletakkan cawannya ke atas meja. Ummi: Habis takkan la Lia nak pakai baju kurung biasa je? Alia: Itulah hasrat hati Lia. Simple. Tapi, Lia bukannya tidak mengambil kira persepsi masyarakat langsung. Of course Lia akan tampil bagi nampak seperti seorang pengantin. Cuma, perhiasan Lia tu akan terkawal dan tidak melampaui batas. So, Lia akan decide sendiri setakat mana Lia nak berhias. Ali: Maaf, nak mencelah skit. Saya setuju ngan Alia dan yakin muslimah macam Alia ni akan tahu batas-batasnya. Saya pun takda la ignore culture totally. Macam saya cakap tadi, kita cuma kena filter out yang mana boleh pakai and yang mana yang tak boleh. Abi: Kejap, kalau Lia nak decide baju takda masalah. Tapi, kena bagi Ummi Abi approve dulu. Takut-takut nampak kampung sangat pulak, malu kita ngan jiran-jiran. Ahmad terkesima dengan kata-kata Abi. Alia: Abi, kita bukan boleh nak puaskan hati suma orang. Lia ni pun tengah bertolak ansur sebanyak mungkin, within Islamic limits. Izin...

Abi:  Ahmad, mana Ali? Ahmad: Entah. Jap, Ahmad mesej dia. Henset Ali berbunyi. Ahmad: Dah sampai? Ali: Aku kat luar umah ko dah. Cuak kot! Ahmad keluar. Ahmad: Assalamualaikum! Ali: Waalaikumussalam warahmatullah. Ahmad: La, apsal tak call aku? Ali: Aku tengah layan fikiran la bro. Ahmad: Ko fikir banyak sangat la. Jom masuk! Ali berjalan perlahan-lahan masuk rumah. Ali: Assalamualaikum pak cik. Abi: Waalaikumussalam warahmatullah. Sila la duduk. Ummi: Alia, tolong amik air. Ali duduk. Walaupun sofa empuk, dirinya tetap rasa kurang selesa. Abi tahu dia nervous dan dia sengaja tidak mahu memulakan perbualan. Dia hanya senyum dan tunggu. Alia: Sila la minum. Ali amik cawan di depannya dan minum, dengan harapan dapat mengurangkan kejanggalan situasi. Tak berkesan. Dia sedar bahawa dia harus berani. Ali: Ehem...rasanya pak cik dah tahu kot kenapa saya datang ni kan? Abi: Kenapa awak datang ye? Ali: Err...camne nak cakap ek? A...

Alia merenung mesej yang dihantar oleh abangnya. Ahmad: Ali terima. Alhamdulillah! Ahmad: Oit budak kecik, termenung jauh nampak! Alia: Uish, buat terkejut orang ja. Ahmad: Haha, sorry. Tengah kira duit raya ka? Alia: Raya dah lepas la. Lia dok tengok mesej yang abang hantar time pegi umah Ali hari tu. Ahmad: Takkan angau kot? Alia: Hai, tarik janggut kang! Mana boleh angau-angau. Lia tengah pikir pasal soal kahwin ni la. Ahmad: Abang testing aja la. Alia: Ummi ngan abi kat bilik ka? Ahmad: Yup. Nak jumpa diorang skang? Alia: Boleh gak. Abang teman bleh? Ahmad: Hai, takkan cuak kot? Diorang bukan nak terkam pun. Alia: Lia tau la. Ntah la, rasa cam kekok je. Jom ar! Ahmad: Ye la, ye la. Ahmad ketuk pintu bilik ummi dan abi. Ahmad: Assalamualaikum. Ummi: Waalaikumussalam warahmatullah. Masuk la. Alia: Ummi ngan abi free ke skang? Abi: Free je. Tengah tunggu Isyak masuk. Alia: Nak bincang skit boleh? Ummi: Boleh je. Tapi kal...

Henset Ali berbunyi, dia membaca SMS yang baru diterimanya. Ahmad: On my way. 15 minit kemudian, pintu rumah Ali diketuk. Ahmad: Assalamualaikum! Ali: Waalaikumussalam warahmatullah! Masuk la. Ahmad: Parents ko ade? Ali: Diorang keluar beli makanan untuk berbuka. Ahmad: Ko tak ikut? Ali: Tak nak ar. Bulan Ramadhan ni aku kurangkan skit trip aku ke bazar Ramadhan sebab asal aku gi bazar je sah-sah akan beli lebih dari yang aku perlukan. So, aku just order kat parents aku je la. Ahmad: Nice. Ali menjemput Ahmad untuk duduk. Ahmad: So what's happenin' bro? It's been three weeks. When are you going to make your move? Ali: Sorry bro. Semenjak kebelakangan ni aku banyak berbincang ngan parents aku pasal kahwin ni. Parents aku, Alhamdulillah, diorang ada asas agama tapi kadang-kadang tu pengaruh budaya kuat gak la. So, aku kena banyak kali slow talk ngan diorang. Ahmad: Oh, apa masalahnya? Ali: Well, the usual stuff I guess. Mak aku nak...

This year will be my 4th year of being married to the woman I love. As time progresses, more things emerge and become clearer. These are the things that I didn't think of during my single years. Although you try your very best to prepare for marriage, there are aspects of marriage which you can't prepare for. Running away is not the solution. Marriage is a commitment that begins when you say, "I do". You have to face what comes your way with confidence and maturity. That is how you adapt and move on. That is how you grow. Among the things that emerged and became clearer to me is how important time management is. Time management is one of those things you hear about when you were in university and you know it is important. But back then, it is not important in a big way, only in a way that will help you get good grades in the exam. At least, that was how I see time management-lah. Not good. I know. I made a mistake of focusing too much on the teeny tiny par...

3 bulan telah berlalu. Alia: Assalamualaikum! Ahmad: Waalaikumussalam warahmatullah! Hai, lewat balik. Alia: Lia stay after kelas tadi sebab nak tanya sheikh beberapa soalan. Ramai giler yang nak tanya, tu la pasal lambat tu. Ahmad: Fuiyoo, excited benor korang belajar ek. Alia: Mana tak excitednya, kelas tu pasal kahwin. Alhamdulillah, sheikh tadi ada buat sesi soal jawab untuk pompuan saja. Time kelas tu asyik lelaki je yang tanya. Ahmad: Banyak Lia belajar? Alia: Alhamdulillah. Lia rasa rugi sebab tak belajar awal-awal. Betapa indahnya perkahwinan ni kalau dibuat dengan cara yang betul. Kalau ikut sunnah betul-betul. Kalau Lia tahu awal-awal, takkan terlintas la nak ada boyfriend. Ahmad: So kiranya dah ready nak kahwin la ni? Alia: Well, semalam dah berbincang ngan Ummi and Abi. Diorang kata asalkan pelajaran tidak terjejas, no problem! Ahmad: Ha, comey benor la tu. Alia: OK la bang, Lia nak gi mandi. Letih jugak kelas-kelas camni. Ahmad: Mana...

Ahmad: Lia, jom! Nak gerak dah ni. Alia: Takda mood nak pegi jalan-jalan la. Kalau Lia dok umah je boleh? Ahmad: Hai, takkan la nak tinggal Lia sorang-sorang kat umah kot. Abi nak satu family pegi kan. Jom la. Apsal murung-murung je ni? Alia tunduk, mengusap-usap hensetnya. Ahmad dapat menangkap masalah adiknya ada kaitan dengan boyfrennya. Ahmad datang duduk tepi Alia. Ahmad: Lia, what's wrong? Alia: After abang cakap pasal dosa hari tu Lia jadi susah hati. Lia asyik dok pikir ja apa yang abang cakap tu. So Lia mesej la boyfren Lia tu. Ahmad kurang senang bila mendengar perkataan "boyfren" tetapi dia sabar dan terus mendengar luahan adiknya. Alia: Lia cakap kat dia yang apa yang sedang kami buat ni tak baik. Bukannya kami tak tahu pun pasal hukum halal haram ni. Tapi ntah la, mungkin hati kami ni cuba buat alasan yang "menghalalkan" hubungan ni. Ahmad: Alasan yang macam mana tu? Alia: Ye la, kami takde la pegang-pegang tang...

Ahmad: Assalamualaikum, mana Ummi? Alia: Waalaikumussalam warahmatullah. Ummi dah pegi keje dah. Abang gi mana tadi? Ahmad: Beli nasi lemak untuk breakfast. Nah, amik sebungkus. Alia: Letak la kat atas meja dulu. Nanti Lia makan. Alia (adik Ahmad) sedang sibuk dengan hensetnya. Ahmad: Amboi, kuat bermesej nampak! Bunyi cam anai-anai. Ko tengah chit chat ngan menteri besar ke tu? Alia: Takde ah. Tengah SMS ngan kawan Lia la. Ahmad: Kawan ke boyfriend? Aku kenal la ko Lia. Lain gayanye kalau ko tengah SMS ngan kawan. Ahmad menjenguk henset Alia dan ternampak mesej "romantik" adiknya. Alia: Ala abang ni, nyibuk je! Biar la orang nak SMS ngan sesape pun. Ahmad: Ye la, masalahnya bila nak topup mintak duit kat abang jugak. Kalau camni la duit abang menghilang, tobat tak nak bagi dah. Alia: Rilek la bro! Lia pakai Celcom 8pax la. 0.5 sen je satu mesej. Tak sampai satu sen pun. Ahmad: Hmm...dah lain ek skang. Alia: Apa yang lainnya? Ahmad:...