This is part of the story "How I Became a Muslim"...... it is that separate story-telling session I spoke about that features how I met my husband.
Yup. It's a TRUE story. Only the names are changed.....
Here it is:
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Allah The Best Match-Maker
Out there somewhere in the vastness of infinity is The Preserved Tablet (Lahw-i Mahfoos), strictly guarded on all sides by angels.
It is the Divine Book of Allah, the Book of Decree, where the entire story of mankind is written, the contents of which Allah has full knowledge of.
In this Book is recorded the story of two people, a man and a woman, living in opposite sides of the world, thousands of miles from each other, destined to meet and marry....... all because they both had taken Allah as their match-maker.
This is their story........
--------------------------
Allah blessed Rani with many gifts. In short, she had it all: beauty, brains, foresight, insight, wisdom, a profound imagination, incredible writing talent, a keen sense of humor and compassion. She was systematic, orderly and ambitious. She achieved whatever she set her mind on. Her determination was made of steel.
He wasn’t blessed with brains or talent. His imagination was wanting, his sense of humor, not as keen. He wasn’t systematic or orderly. He was frequently a victim of procrastination. But he loved to travel. And he possessed the only intelligence that counted. Fear of God.
She lived in India, in a land that was full of polytheists, tradition and culture. A land of arranged marriages, where parents and relatives had a big hand in deciding who their daughters would marry. A land where daughters obeyed their parents and preferred their choice to their own. A land where respect and family honor is placed on a high pedestal.
Bob lived in America, the land of opportunity. The land of Hollywood.... the land of comfort, luxury, affluence, prosperity and abundance. A land with high divorce rates, deteriorating family values, where each man looked after his own self interest. In this land marriages weren’t arranged. One had to seek out his or her life-partner without the aid of parents and family members.
Thus he and she lived on opposite sides of the globe. Conditions were such one would declare that it was an impossibility for these two to meet, let alone get married.
But it was ordained that they would certainly meet. Allah had made them for each other.
Hence, how they met and got married can be described as nothing but miraculous.
Rani’s family members though Indian weren’t going to look for a husband for her. They were different from typical Indian parents who laid emphasis on tradition, culture or religion. They were very much westernized and didn’t even care for marriage. For them, it was no big deal if a couple lived together and had kids out of wedlock.
But for Rani, it was a big deal. To her, the concept of having a boyfriend and living with him like they did in the west disgusted her.
She used to read fairy-tales when she was a child and in all the stories, the princess had always gotten married with the man she loved and the story had always ended with them living happily ever after.
She liked to daydream and she never lost her fascination and delight in reading fairy-tales. She wanted the story of her own life to be like a fairy-tale as well......meeting Prince Charming, getting married and then living happily ever after.
But she was a very realistic person. She knew the difference between a dream and reality. She knew that it was going to be extremely difficult to find Prince Charming in the area where she lived. Nobody spoke good English for miles around. And even if he did speak English, what man would be able to impress her enough to make her desire to marry him, she wondered.
She pondered over the problem of finding a suitable soul-mate. Just what sort of man was she willing to marry? And how on earth was she to find one she liked?
She considered men in her town who were rich and wealthy. Nope. She wouldn’t marry any of them no matter how much wealth they had. The last thing she wanted to marry was a snob, someone who was puffed up with pride about his wealth and upbringing. Such men revolted her.
“Don’t care how handsome. And I don’t care how wealthy!” she thought to herself.
She was a college professor and herself earned a good income. She knew there would be men who would desire to marry her just on those grounds. No, she didn’t want those sort of men.
She searched her heart and enquired: “Just what sort of man would satisfy you, O heart of mine?”
Her heart responded, “Marry a man who fears God. For only such a man can be trusted. For only such a man would be faithful to you for eternity.”
She felt profound peace with the reply given to her by her heart. She now had an idea what sort of man to look for. The question was, how was she to go about finding him?
She knew of her family’s unconcern for her marriage. There was no point in turning to them for any help. They would have simply laughed at her.
She also knew that the chances of her getting married while she worked in the town that was far away from the metropolitan city were very slim.... next to nil.
She had to make a fast decision. She didn’t fancy the life of a single woman living in the middle of nowhere, no matter how good the money was. True, it was hard to get jobs in India. People even paid huge amounts of money to secure one. She had got her job without paying a single dime.... or paisa, as they say in India. Her career looked very promising indeed. But let’s not forget she was blessed with insight. She knew what was more important in life. And it wasn’t her job, her career, money, wealth or worldly riches. Her true wealth would be her husband! A God-fearing husband!
So she took a very bold step towards this end. She shocked everyone by resigning from her job. People thought she was crazy. She didn’t care one bit.
She went back to her home town and made preparations to go to Mumbai. During this time, she would go up to the terrace and look at the stars. She would then say to herself, “My Mr. Right is out there somewhere. I don’t know who he is. But God surely does.... God knows exactly who he is and what he is doing right now. I put my trust in God and wait for Him to lead me to him.”
Her brother had a flat in a suburb of Mumbai. She went to stay there. She had pictures of herself taken, responded to advertisements in Times of India and she got herself registered in a marriage bureau in Mumbai. Then she returned to her home town, for the city life of Mumbai didn’t appeal to her. She was most definitely a country girl.
…............. to be continued.
Last edited by Flame of Hope; 05-31-2011 at 08:15 AM.
Yup. It's a TRUE story. Only the names are changed.....
Computers, passwords, conversations between angels... there seems to be a lot there to me that you can't in any way possibly know if it is the truth, and if it is what actually occurred, and what was said, because it is part of the 3aalimul ghayb, the world of the unseen.
It's one thing writing a good story, but I think this needs editing as to what happened to you, not what you think or imagine the angels said and did.
Hope you don't mind my saying so. Nicely written though.
Last edited by Insaanah; 06-03-2011 at 10:15 PM.
Stunningly beautiful adhaan from the Dome of the Rock in Masjid ul Aqsa Download (right click and choose "save target/link as").
This is a clear message for mankind in order that they may be warned thereby, and that they may know that He is only One God, and that those of understanding may take heed (14:52)
Indeed Allah knows, and you know not (16: 74, part)
Computers, passwords, angels called Kit and Kat.. there seems to be a lot there to me that you can't in any way possibly know if it is the truth, and if it is what actually occurred, and what was said, because it is part of the 3aalimul ghayb, the world of the unseen.
It's one thing writing a good story, but I think this needs editing as to what happened to you, not what you think the angels said and did.
Hope you don't mind my saying so.
Have no idea what it's like in the world of the Ghaib. But such a world can certainly be imagined. And this is the world that exists in the imagination of Rani. She thinks that this is how it might have occurred..... because there's no doubt whatsoever in her mind that it was all a set-up. Events that happened later prove it to be so....... there was no escaping Allah's Qadar.
Another point I wished to make in the story......... we think we know what is good for us. But in reality we don't. Putting our trust in Allah is the wisest thing anyone can do. The story was written in that way to illustrate that point....
It is pointless to watch other people's houses crumbling when our own house is in need of repair and attention.
Computers, passwords, conversations between angels... there seems to be a lot there to me that you can't in any way possibly know if it is the truth, and if it is what actually occurred, and what was said, because it is part of the 3aalimul ghayb, the world of the unseen.
It's one thing writing a good story, but I think this needs editing as to what happened to you, not what you think or imagine the angels said and did.
Hope you don't mind my saying so. Nicely written though.
I don't think there is anything wrong with those elements, as long as it's not disrespectful to Allah (swt). It's a nice little touch and puts a comical twist on it. A little comedy never hurt anyone.
I like the angel team of Kit and Kat. I wasn't expecting that angle, but it's a nice touch.
Thank you! I introduced the team to provide the point of view from the other side... the Hereafter. From up above and all around, the angels surround us..... and they know who among us Allah favors.... and the qualities they look for in people.
The world of the unseen is blocked to us..... but it's certain that it exists. And we have no other way to think of it but to imagine it...... And don't forget that the title of the story is Allah The Best Matchmaker..... so all the matchmaking was done up in the heavens....
I did my best to imagine how it might have been...........
Glad you liked the angle.
It is pointless to watch other people's houses crumbling when our own house is in need of repair and attention.
They merely:
Veiled themselves and didn't flaunt it
Sought forgiveness and didn't persist
Took ownership of it and don't justify it
And acted with excellence after they had erred - Ibn al-Qayyim
Kit’s news report on Rani submitted: August 11.
Marriage fixed between Rani and Bob: October 11.
Kat stared at the words on the screen. “In just two months, Kit! Rani and Bob will be married!”
“I don’t understand how that can happen,” Kit responded. “They don’t even know each other!”
“Don’t you know?” said Kat. “Allah has power over all things. Nothing happens on earth except by His will. If this is what He has determined, then this is surely what will happen.”
“Of course! Of course!” said Kit. “I know that! But still, you know. I can’t help but wonder how these two will meet... and even if they do meet, they just don’t have enough time to get to know each other, you know what I mean?”
“Yes,” Kat nodded. “I know what you mean. But the countdown has begun.... for a miracle to take place!”
----------
August 15
It was a bright day in August. Bob had been searching for a wife for ten years. Even though he lived in America, surrounded by all sorts of temptations, he had kept himself chaste for just one woman..... the woman he would marry. Now it seemed as though his dream was going to come true. He had been corresponding with a woman named Diana, who lived in the city of Mumbai, India. They had exchanged photos and passionate letters until Bob had made the decision to go to India to marry her.
There was however one problem. He couldn’t go unless his application for leave was approved by his petty officers. The first attempt he made, he got turned down. He applied again several times. Each time the answer came back as a big - “No”. But Bob couldn’t bear to let his dream of traveling to India be destroyed so easily. He persisted. He submitted a chit to the higher ranking officers. And after many no’s, he finally got a “yes”! Bob was ecstatic! He notified Diana of his intention to marry her and made preparations to go to India.
September 15
Bob had arrived in Mumbai and he now sat heart-broken in his hotel room. There was no Diana waiting for him at the airport. In fact, he never got to meet Diana at all. He could find only her uncle who told him that Diana was not available.
“You can’t marry her,” he said. “She is the breadwinner in the family and if she leaves, what will become of me?”
Bob couldn’t believe what had happened. That entire trip in vain! He spent the next two weeks exploring the streets of Mumbai. Needless to say, he got swindled and was robbed of a great deal of money until he had no money left! It was a really bizarre thing to happen but his ATM card wouldn’t work and if it did work it would give him pathetic little amounts. Add to all that, he fell sick. Perhaps it was the change in water. He began to lose weight. Such were Bob's struggles in Mumbai.....
October 3
Bob kept in touch with Diana’s uncle. The uncle felt sorry for him and suggested that he go to a marriage bureau. Perhaps he could find a girl to his liking. He recommended one that he knew.
Bob thought it was a great idea. He contacted the marriage bureau and made an appointment. But he had no money to pay for their exorbitant fees. Since he was American, there was no way that the agency was going to charge him the same amount that they charged for the locals.
Bob also needed money for food and other expenses. He wondered what he should do and finally decided to go to the US embassy for help.
The US embassy did help him out with a bit of money to cover his food expenses. But there wasn’t enough to pay for the marriage bureau fees. Bob wondered where he was going to get the money from.....
He had no idea that he was going to receive Divine Help.
There was another American man at the consulate. While waiting his turn, he overheard Bob’s problem as he spoke to the officers behind the window. When Bob returned to his seat, the American man gave him a booklet which had health information on diseases to watch out for while in India. He then went away.
When Bob opened the booklet..... he was astonished to see the sum of Rs. 2000 within its pages! Enough to pay for the marriage bureau fees!!!
…......... to be continued.
Last edited by Flame of Hope; 06-04-2011 at 04:35 AM.
Reason: correcting amount in rupees
It is pointless to watch other people's houses crumbling when our own house is in need of repair and attention.
Salaam sis - i am sorry to say but i have a few restriction on your story but please try to understand where i am coming from.
format_quote Originally Posted by Flame
“She’s young, very attractive.... with no protector,” said Kat. “Family members are all atheists! There’s nobody to take care of her.... no wonder she desires to get married.
Young and attractive- pretty good charcteristics but i have to say that being young and attractive is not really everything in this planet , i am sorry but i mean this is not really supposed to be a reason why a human being chooses their spouse. why am i saying this? well because there are thousands if not millions of people in this planet both males and females but they are not young and they are not beautiful externally is externall beauty all that counts? i hope not and i got the impression that the marriage has went along only because you are this exotic indian woman which is not an islamic way of looking into your spouse. you also have to keep in mind that the Prophet PBUH married sayidah Khadijah RA while she was 15years older than he is so when he was about 40 she was 55 but there was nothing wrong with their marriage because true love doesnt need you being attractive or intelligent all you need is a good heart and good character.
I know your family members are all athiest but they are still your family memebers i'm sure they didnt torture you or abuse in anyway and whoknows maybe in the future they become very good muslim. Even though they might be athiests you still have to remeber that they were the ones who brought you up, who feed you , who gave you shelter , who paid for your education and did just about everything to ensure your happiness in this world.
format_quote Originally Posted by Flame
Bob....American - 6 feet tall
Is that why you married him? because he is an American?
And because he is 6ft tall?
Since when does hieght really matter?
id have to ask you a question- so if you husband wasnt a 6ft tall man and didnt make you feel like little beautiful thing you wouldnt have married him? sorry but thats the impression ive got.
To be honest with i'm sorry but i dont believe that the angels choose your spouse for you nor do i belive that they rank people according to their physical attributes or materialistic possesions, and to be honest more i dont belive that there is a match making agency in the heavens and all this to me seems like a western way of looking into marriage, and more to it this is not how a human being should be looking at things sister there are many people out there suffering more than you have suffered and i am sure it would be more than a dream to them if they had a good husband. but i strongly disliked the way you pointed it, because except for the God fearing part you never mentioned anything about character the most important thing.
Allah subahanu wa talla said that the Good people would be given Good but i'm sorry all the impression that ive got from reading part 2 was that if youre not attractive if youre not intellgient if your not young then you dont really deserve a husband like mine who is 6ft tall.
Please dont mind what i'm trying to say this is just the way i felt about it maybe because i live in africa and i see many inhumane things happening to different people in the society maybe because i work in the medical career and so many people that i meet may be in very saddening but this is the way i am if there's is something that i feel might hurt someones feeling even if it is in a subtle and and indirect way then i do speak about why i strongly disliked it.
Salaam sis - i am sorry to say but i have a few restriction on your story but please try to understand where i am coming from.
Young and attractive- pretty good charcteristics but i have to say that being young and attractive is not really everything in this planet , i am sorry but i mean this is not really supposed to be a reason why a human being chooses their spouse. why am i saying this? well because there are thousands if not millions of people in this planet both males and females but they are not young and they are not beautiful externally is externall beauty all that counts? i hope not and i got the impression that the marriage has went along only because you are this exotic indian woman which is not an islamic way of looking into your spouse. you also have to keep in mind that the Prophet PBUH married sayidah Khadijah RA while she was 15years older than he is so when he was about 40 she was 55 but there was nothing wrong with their marriage because true love doesnt need you being attractive or intelligent all you need is a good heart and good character.
I know your family members are all athiest but they are still your family memebers i'm sure they didnt torture you or abuse in anyway and whoknows maybe in the future they become very good muslim. Even though they might be athiests you still have to remeber that they were the ones who brought you up, who feed you , who gave you shelter , who paid for your education and did just about everything to ensure your happiness in this world.
Is that why you married him? because he is an American?
And because he is 6ft tall?
Since when does hieght really matter?
id have to ask you a question- so if you husband wasnt a 6ft tall man and didnt make you feel like little beautiful thing you wouldnt have married him? sorry but thats the impression ive got.
To be honest with i'm sorry but i dont believe that the angels choose your spouse for you nor do i belive that they rank people according to their physical attributes or materialistic possesions, and to be honest more i dont belive that there is a match making agency in the heavens and all this to me seems like a western way of looking into marriage, and more to it this is not how a human being should be looking at things sister there are many people out there suffering more than you have suffered and i am sure it would be more than a dream to them if they had a good husband. but i strongly disliked the way you pointed it, because except for the God fearing part you never mentioned anything about character the most important thing.
Allah subahanu wa talla said that the Good people would be given Good but i'm sorry all the impression that ive got from reading part 2 was that if youre not attractive if youre not intellgient if your not young then you dont really deserve a husband like mine who is 6ft tall.
Please dont mind what i'm trying to say this is just the way i felt about it maybe because i live in africa and i see many inhumane things happening to different people in the society maybe because i work in the medical career and so many people that i meet may be in very saddening but this is the way i am if there's is something that i feel might hurt someones feeling even if it is in a subtle and and indirect way then i do speak about why i strongly disliked it.
Salaam
Salam Sister
Ms Flame accepts anything, I am sure she will respect your reply.
One thing I like in her is that she accepts anything and take all the challenges with courage. She had my respect. She is one of the people in this forum who can face anything in this world. I wish to be like that, I am quickly getting nervous of small small things
About the Match Making thing, I blv we all have written fate as who are gonna be our spouse.
and about the parents, I didnt think its wrong to tell that they are atheist, seems just to show her family background. The comments was by Kit/Kat and i dont think Ms Flame is celebrating that her family is atheist, im sure she prays much for them
Im sure there are more information about her & her husband in the next entry, if they werent good at heart, i dont think Allah will guide them to the right path.
I dont know I am not good in English so I really admire good writing, she is really good & I dont think something is exaggerated. Good writing is a gift.
I hope to see the full story, inshallah
I've heard people say that "there is someone out there for everyone" and that "everyone has a soulmate". I'm not sure I believe that myself, but a lot of people do believe in it, so maybe there's something to that. In Flame's case it certainly seems true.
About the Match Making thing, I blv we all have written fate as who are gonna be our spouse. and about the parents, I didnt think its wrong to tell that they are atheist, seems just to show her family background. The comments was by Kit/Kat and i dont think Ms Flame is celebrating that her family is atheist, im sure she prays much for them Im sure there are more information about her & her husband in the next entry, if they werent good at heart, i dont think Allah will guide them to the right path.
Wa alaikum alsalam sis
Marriage is not everything in this world there are plenty of good people in this planet that didnt end up getting married. There are also prophets that didnt get married. All i wanted to say is that we all have to be aware of people's feelings and we should realise that we belong to an islamic community which is suffering amny trials and afflications today the last thing any brother or sister lets say from any of these countries is to marrry on the basis of Beauty and Materialism All i said is that True Love is Unconditional just like Mothers love.
And many people today dont end up getting married its not a big deal because what matters is the good things you do in this world even if they are little emphasis on beauty is not important, because it is not by your hands it is by Allah's hands and just as it is a blessing that would make you grateful it is also a test that should make you cautoius.
Kit/Kat are not realistic figures i hope you already acknowldege that my friend
I never said / wanted to give the impression that she was celebrating her family's atheisim all i was saying is that being born in an athiest family is not as bad as having your limbs cut off - this was my point.
Also i never questioned her or her husbands goodness , they probably are way better than i am- personally speaking but i was saying that she only gave Materialistic and Physical descriptions about her and her husband which didnt feel right to me.
At around the same time in mid-September, Rani received a call from her sister who was then staying at her brother’s flat near Mumbai. She asked Rani if she had responded to some Times of India ad. Rani replied in the affirmative.
“You had better get here to Mumbai quick,” her sister said. “There’s some Italian guy who is coming to India soon. And he wants to meet you!”
Rani quickly packed her bags and made haste to go to Mumbai. She was excited, thinking that at last, her search was over. She would get married to Prince Charming and live happily ever after. She learnt his name was Dennis. He was a rich businessman, with a dual nationality. A good friend of Dennis was arranging the meeting between him and her. Rani never got to see that man but she got a letter from him saying that Dennis had singled her out and picked her from hundreds of photos. However, he had been held up in London due to some business matter and he would be arriving in Mumbai in a month.
Rani decided to wait for Dennis. She would constantly look at his photo and imagine what it would be like meeting him.
While she was waiting she thought it might be a good idea to check with the marriage bureau she had enrolled in. She was in for a surprise.
“There’s a guy who is interested in you,” said Meena, the lady at the agency.
“Errr.... he’s from the US.”
Rani asked for more details about the man.
Meena was hesitant to inform her but from the way she talked, Rani gathered that the man was black. It seemed that Meena thought that Rani wouldn’t be interested in meeting a black American guy.
This made Rani angry. She wasn’t one to reject a man because of his skin color! It was one of the things that she hated.... this prejudice and obsession that some Indians had about race and color.
She swiftly made up her mind. “But Meena, of course I’m interested in meeting him,” she said.
The meeting was arranged and Rani went to the marriage bureau the following day.
“It doesn’t hurt to meet him. I'm not married yet!” Rani kept telling herself as thoughts of being unfaithful to Dennis began to worry her.
But it was not Allah’s will for Rani to meet Bob that day. Bob lost his way and couldn’t get to the marriage bureau on time. Rani was highly disappointed and returned home.
October 5 - The Day of Meeting.
Meena called Rani in the morning of October 5. “This guy.... he’s on his way to meet you. Can you come?”
Rani laughed. “I don’t want to be making another trip for nothing. He better be there!”
This time, everything was going like clock-work.... nothing was going to go wrong now.
Rani reached the agency and walked up the steps.... little realizing that she was going to meet the man she had prayed for, the man she would marry!
He was sitting on a chair, looking very nervous. Rani greeted him and shook hands. He was certainly a tall man. She felt very small next to him.
Meena let Rani and Bob talk for a while. But before she did that she took Rani aside and whispered, “He still owes money to me. Don’t go off meeting him outside. These guys cannot be trusted. They are just out to have fun and good time. Be careful.”
Rani nodded her head. But inwardly she was incensed by Meena’s attitude. It was clear to Rani that Meena was trying to wring as much money as she could from Bob. A good judge of character, Rani immediately sensed that Bob was innocent. There was nothing about him to suggest he was some sort of womanizer that Meena made him out to be. She knew that Bob was being taken advantage of. Bob was new to India and knew nothing at all about how vile and treacherous some people could be. Rani made up her mind to get Bob out of there. He had paid quite a bit of money just to meet Rani but there was no need for him to pay Meena any more!
“Let’s go out for lunch,” Rani suggested.
Bob agreed. But he didn’t know where.
“We’ll go to Mc Donald’s,” said Rani. “I’ll take you there!”
…................ to be continued.
Last edited by Flame of Hope; 06-04-2011 at 02:41 PM.
It is pointless to watch other people's houses crumbling when our own house is in need of repair and attention.
Yippee! this time I'm the first to comment on the IV chapter *sticks out tongue to Just A Guy*
I just love the way you write it, makes the readers to want more.
But I'm one of those people who thinks that chapter II shouldn't have been written in that way.
Reading that sorta sounded phony for me. I mean a computer in Heaven.... computer is man-made.... And making up the Angels... You could've written it as though Rani was thinking or something...:X
Just my point of view, since you're unoffendable and all. Anyways waiting for more...
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