Earlier this year, a 61-year-old Japanese woman was the subject of much debate after she revealed her marriage to her 29-year-old husband.
Now, it would seem that a similar situation has made headlines again, this time in Malaysia. A 22-year-old Malaysian man fell in love with and married a 48-year-old woman, formerly his teacher.
Explaining that age was just a number, he said he considered himself blessed for having found a partner in her.
According to the Harian Metro, 22-year-old Muhammad Danial Ahmad Ali first met his teacher, Jamilah Mohd, in 2016 when she was teaching his class Malay in Form Three.
At the time, however, their relationship was that of a teacher and student.
“I considered her only as a teacher even though I liked her caring attitude and close relation with students, from the first class to the last class,” he explained.
They lost contact the year after, but met again in the teacher’s room where Danial greeted her and said hello.
Still, their relationship remained the same until she sent him a message in Form Five wishing him a happy birthday.
This piqued his interest and he said that since then, they became close with love blooming between them.
Eventually, Danial confessed his feelings to Jamilah but was rejected due to their age gap and her occupation as a teacher, The New Straits Times reports.
However, he refused to give up, attempting to communicate with her in every manner possible until she accepted.
Jamilah was apparently unsure how long their affair would last, but Danial said his persistence convinced her to give them a chance.
“Despite not knowing her house address, I went looking for her. It was destiny that I found her house,” he said. “Then, I met her and had an honest conversation with her.”
With their elders’ blessing, they set their marriage date for 2019 before postponing it to 2020 and then again to 21 Nov, 2021 due to the pandemic.
“We got married at the Jamek Bandar Kota Tinggi Mosque and had a small ceremony by inviting family and close friends,” Danial said. He had refrained from informing his school friends about his relationship until his marriage.
Sharing that he was grateful to have a partner at a young age, even one older than him, he said age was just a number and he would do his best in his responsibilities as a husband.
As for Jamilah, she had separated from her previous husband back in 2007. Since then, her focus had only been on work — not on finding a relationship.
“There were people who wanted to get to know me, but I did not want to,” she shared.
She added that she was content with rejecting and avoiding Danial after his confession, but could not continue doing so as God had chosen him as her soulmate.
“My husband came with confidence and he was serious and did not hide our relationship from his family,” Jamilah said. “That is also one of the reasons why I accepted his proposal.”
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Featured image adapted from Harian Metro.
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