Can Money Buy Happiness? Or Is it Love? or Both?

When I first heard the news of HRH Sultan of Brunei (HRHSB) divorcing his wife, the first thing that crossed my mind is how big will the divorce settlement will be.. HRHSB is not listed in the Forbes 500 richest list, but he is surely royally-damn rich.. Azrinaz quit his journalism job prior to marry HRHSB in 2005.. And this picture is of their happier threesome times...

5 years and 2 kids later.. things change when things needed to be changed.. Just like the bedsheet that need to be changed everynow and then.. Surely the picture painted in her face is not so 'queenly' anymore compare to the above.  But can the money wipe out those unhappiness.. Can the loneliness can be erased by drowning one-self into sea of wealth...? Only she can answer it.. By the look of her face below..may be not..or not so fast..

In the history of world divorces, the most expensive divorce settlement goes to the oldie media giant Rupert Murdoch at USD 1.7 billion, and I think that is a lot of money he gave to his ex-wife considering he is only no. 117 in 2010 Forbes Richest, I mean our very own Malaysian, Ananda Krishnan is at no. 89 and Kuok Sugar King (mana gula ni bro...) is at better ranking at no.33.  Murdoch must have a high degree of 'appreciation' to his wife of 32 years and 3 children, hence willing to split his billions to his estrange, later stranger x-wife. Will that settlement buy happiness or what.. I think for a USD 1.7 billion, I would like to say a resounding 'YES'... (gile ker ape... banyak tu beb..)

So is it love or money that needed for marriage?  Qoute from Oprah's guest (lupa nama sapa perempuan tu, she's a writer) last nite about 'marriage' sounds somewhat like this "those days marriage used to be sacred, ancient union of man and woman, but nowadays marriage means economic contract".  If you go by this qoute, it definitely is money.. Itu perspektif Mat Salleh, namun ia semakin ter-asimilasi di dalam perkahwinan orang melayu kita.  Marriage is not sacred anymore.  That's why divorce is so rampant nowadays.  Jgn kata artis, yang tak artis pun sama jer...

Perspektif Islam pula bagaimana? Jawapannya tidaklah terlalu trivial.. Begitulah mudahnya Islam, baik dalam perkahwinan mahupun apa jua yang kita lakukan.. Setiap amal yang dilakukan kenalah kerana kecintaan kepada Allah, kena fisabiliLlah iaitu ke jalan Allah dulu, barulah timbang balik nawaitu tu atas rasa cinta, harta, rupa-paras dan begitulah seterusnya...Bukankah kita sebagai muslim telah berjanji untuk menjadikan cinta kepada Allah SWT mengatasi segala-galanya? Dan ini seiring dengan firmanNya di dalam Surah Taubah Ayat 24:

قُلۡ إِن كَانَ ءَابَآؤُكُمۡ وَأَبۡنَآؤُڪُمۡ وَإِخۡوَٲنُكُمۡ وَأَزۡوَٲجُكُمۡ وَعَشِيرَتُكُمۡ وَأَمۡوَٲلٌ ٱقۡتَرَفۡتُمُوهَا وَتِجَـٰرَةٌ۬ تَخۡشَوۡنَ كَسَادَهَا وَمَسَـٰكِنُ تَرۡضَوۡنَهَآ أَحَبَّ إِلَيۡڪُم مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِۦ وَجِهَادٍ۬ فِى سَبِيلِهِۦ فَتَرَبَّصُواْ حَتَّىٰ يَأۡتِىَ ٱللَّهُ بِأَمۡرِهِۦ‌ۗ وَٱللَّهُ لَا يَہۡدِى ٱلۡقَوۡمَ ٱلۡفَـٰسِقِينَ

“Katakanlah (wahai Muhammad): Jika bapa-bapa kamu dan anak-anak kamu dan saudara-saudara kamu dan isteri-isteri (atau suami-suami) kamu dan kaum keluarga kamu dan harta benda yang kamu usahakan dan perniagaan yang kamu bimbang akan merosot, dan rumah-rumah tempat tinggal yang kamu sukai, (jika semuanya itu) menjadi perkara-perkara yang kamu cintai lebih daripada Allah dan RasulNya dan (daripada) berjihad untuk agamaNya, maka tunggulah sehingga Allah mendatangkan keputusanNya (azab seksaNya); kerana Allah tidak akan memberi petunjuk kepada orang-orang yang fasik (derhaka). ” (QS. 9 : 24)

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