Kawin jangan tak kawin....

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Kawin jangan tak kawin....

Yeah..back to memory lane again...

Where was I? oh yeah..we met for the first time at my parents' place for a week. Tak kenal maka tak cinta..(to know is to love) so bila dah kenal tu... lagi la angau kan kan?( The more u know,the crazier u get). But then, we were back to square one. I was again in the middle of nowhere in Sarawak and halil was back in turkey. But the good thing was my salary was on..at least I had the money to go to miri town as often as I wanted.

The hardest part started... The marriage procedures. Until that time, I had never bothered about the necessary procedures. Subconsciously I postponed it..perhaps I was afraid that the marriage would not be realised. But one friday after school, I braved myself to ask the Pejabat Agama Miri about the requirement needed for a Malaysian girl to marry a foreigner. First of all, they told me that I needed to attend a marriage course. After that, I needed to contact the Pejabat Agama where the akad/marriage would be held.

I attended the course..a full day marriage course...got the certificate. Phew!! What a relief!! No offence to anyone, it was like soooooooo boring...the course was about the basics of Islam and marriage and all...Which I have to admit is essential to each couple planning to live together. Religion should be the base of a marriage. But since in my matriculation years, we had attended islamic classes plus marriage lessons..everything told in the course felt like a repetition.. But they could have conducted the course in a more interesting way, couldnt they?

I cant remember exactly but I think 10 days before the akad day, I reached my parents home in Kepala Batas. The akad date was not settled yet. My dad told me that I had to go to the kadi for an interview before any akad date could be decided. I think around 9pm or something my parents and I went to the Kadi's house. He asked me questions..I could answer all... but one question that still stick to my mind is...

*Kalau nak mandi junub dalam swimming pool, bila nak baca niat? masa kaki first nak celup ayaq ka atau masa dah masuk dalam ayaq ka?*
(If you want to take the junub bath in the swimming pool,when do you *niat*? at the time when u first enter the pool or after u r in it?)

I was shocked at that time. Out of all the questions, that was the question he asked me ? *chuckles*. It never crossed my mind to be asked such a question...even until now..anyway...

The interview was over, the kadi opened his appointment book.He asked me to choose the date.There was like a lot of nikah on the 9th. Hence, I decided that mine and halil's would be on the 10th at the Pejabat Kadi Kepala Batas. Everyone agreed.

Then, there was the marriage form. I went to the office and was told that they did not have the marriage akad form in English. Itwais important for me because I would need it to register our marriage in Turkey. Till that time, there was no case of marriage between malaysian-foregner in Kepala Batas. Since I was an English teacher, they asked me to translate the form. That I did gladly (hey!! I did want to get married!!). So far so good...at least the formal matters were settled.

A few days before the akad, Halil and his parents reached Penang Airport. My dad who knows some English managed to talk to both his parents somehow...Communication was quite ok somehow. The rest was quite a blur actually...I cant remember much..It was not a normal marriage after all..

The akad day. That day I stayed at my sister's house in Kulim. Halil n his parents stayed at my parents'. The akad was supposed to be at 3pm. I wore my baju kurung....courtesy from my mom...make up done by my elder sister since putting on make up is my greatest weakness....I reached my parents' house at 2.45pm. There halil was in the bathroom still shaving!!! My dad was panicked. *What if the Kadi wouldnt wait and cancelled the akad?* He quickly rushed to the Kadi's office to tell them that we will be late. It was 3.10pm that the groom finally came out of the bathroom. It was my fault really. In the rush perhaps I forgot to tell him that the akad will be at 3pm. Halil got dressed and in a rush, my cousin drove us to the place where we were supposed to be..We were lucky that the people at the Islamic office were not angry at us...

And the akad ceremony started..A round table akad ceremony. Encik Shabuddin (I think he has transfered to either Pejabat Agama KL or Selangor) headed the ceremony. The Kadi was next to him (He is still there the last time I went back to Malaysia). Everything was in English, even the akad ceremony. Like any girl would be, it was nerve racking when it came to the moment when I was to say *I do*...From *syurga terletak di bawah kaki ibu*(heaven is at your mom's feet)...it is now *syurga terletak di bawak telapak kaki suami* (heaven is at your husband's feet)...which reminds me... I should apologize to halil for all my sins to him hehehehe..I think I owe him loads of apologies hehehe

10.9.1999 ...The day I became a wife. It would have been great if the date is 9.9.99 ..but considering the fact that our akad date is the same date as halil's parents' wedding anniversary... That makes our marriage date more special...hopefully, it will just like their marriage *till death do us part* ...Al-Fatihah to Anne...

The bersanding ceremony.....?? To be continued....