Ayat Ayat Cinta

A must-watch! Look out for Fahri, the main character. He's the most ideal husband you can ever have. Watch the show and you'll know what I mean.

Synopsis (from the official website)

Ayat Ayat Cinta is a beautifully portrayed Islamic love story – a tale of a virtuous Muslim protagonist who overcomes all obstacles of life maintaining pure ideals.

Fahri bin Abdillah is a poor, intelligent student who wins a scholarship to complete his graduate degree at Egypt's esteemed Al Azhar University. Very disciplined and dedicated by nature, Fahri embraces his life in Cairo, completing his studies and translation of religious books with full enthusiasm, exactly according to pre-determined targets.

Only one goal is left unattempted: the pursuit of marriage.

For Fahri is innocent and pure, and doesn't believe in the concept of relationships prior to marriage. He is inarticulate and shy around women. All his life, only two women have been close to him – his mother and grandmother.

Life changes drastically in Egypt for he suddenly finds himself surrounded by four beautiful, distinctly different women.

Maria Girgis, a shy, open-minded Coptic-Christian neighbor who is attracted to the teachings of the Holy Al Quran, finds herself falling in love with Fahri (a fact she only reveals to her diary). Nurul, a student at Al Azhar like Fahri, is the Muslim daughter of a renowned Indonesian cleric. Fahri feels unworthy of her and thus ignores his feelings for her, leaving her confused and guessing. Noura, an abused Egyptian neighbor, develops strong romantic feelings for Fahri, who in turn simply sympathizes with her situation. His romantic rejection destroys her and eventually leads to a false accusation of rape. Aisha, a German Turkish student in Cairo haunts Fahri with her beautiful eyes. Following an incident on the metro where Fahri defends her against narrow minded bigoted Muslims, both immediately develop feelings for each other.

As the story unravels, the protagonist makes the audience face the daunting decisions he himself faces, and forces us to marvel at his undying loyalty to the true ideals of Islam as he ultimately makes the choice of a lifetime.


My Two Cents Worth

I just cried a bucket watching Ayat Ayat Cinta on my lappie just a while ago, and I do not remember crying so much after watching the Hindi film Kal Ho Naho many years ago. There is something about the film which touches my heart. Five stars for the writers for making the story so interesting and meaningful that I was glued to my lappie from the beginning of the story till the end, for the director for his brilliant directing skills, for the cast who brought their characters to life with much conviction and for everyone else that has made the film a success and an impact to people out there like myself. Watching the film is definitely a new addition to my list of life-changing events. I am truly mesmerized by the true beauty of the film.

Ayat Ayat Cinta the Movie is an adaption of the Ayat Ayat Cinta the novel which was inspired by Habibburrahman El Shirazy. I am impressed that the director, a non-Muslim, would want to portray Islam as a very beautiful religion and for that, he deserves a round of applause. It is a perfect example of tolerance among different religions, which is also being portrayed in one of the scenes in the film where Aisha offers her seat in a train to an American who apparently is not feeling well at that point in time. When scolded publicly by a bigoted male Muslim passenger who thinks that Muslims should not give up their seats to non-Muslims as they are 'terrorists', Aisha was quick to defend herself by saying that Islam is kind to just about anyone, regardless of their religion. Fahri who is also in the scene further adds that it is their duty to make the foreigners feel safe, protected and respected being in their own country. It is such tolerance that I find so ideal in a Muslim.

Ayat Ayat Cinta also portrays other ideals of Muslims through characters like Fahri and Aisha, who eventually learn the true meaning of two important principles in Islam that can be seen to be building up gradually throughout the film in the both of them: sabar or patience and ikhlas or sincerity despite all odds. Like a very meaningful line from the script says, "Ikhlas dan sabar, itulah Islam".

The film also touches on the aspects of marriage and jodoh or fate as to who one will be married to as chosen by God Himself. Jodoh itu rahsia Tuhan, it says. And marriage is best to be done immediately as it would then not lead to fitnah. The film also touches on a very sensitive issue namely polygamy. I am amazed at how Aisha (she is gorgeous I tell you) would consent her husband Fahri to marry another woman, out of her own willingness. Her character is that of a person with a very big big heart as she is willing to share her husband with someone else and accept her as she is. I'm not sure if I would be strong enough to do that provided I'm in the same situation but that's besides the point. Here, the film teaches not only patience but also peserverance, empathy and love towards one another.

Such abstract but deep and meaningful concepts that I have grasped from the film which I feel I can relate to real life. The film is simply beautiful and inspiring, and for a Muslim like me who tend to stray away from the ideals of a true blue Muslim at times, this film makes me want to make an effort to be an all-rounded Muslim. Please, please watch it, you won't regret, trust me. Personally, I would be glad to watch it over and over again. That's how impactful the film is.

With that, I shall end the entry with a very meaningful quote from the film which I strongly agree with.

"Setiap kali dilimpah bencana dan kegundahan jiwa, itulah saatnya ketika Tuhan sedang berbicara dengan kita."

Sometimes we overlook that, don't we???

Oh, and suddenly I feel a strong urge to get married ASAP after watching the movie. Like suddenly I'm dying to be the perfect wife of some sort like Aisha is in the film. LOL. LMAO. HA HA. But Insya-Allah...Amin.

Okay okay, it's bila larut malam and I need to sleep. I must have rambled.