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........
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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.
“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.”
^This gave me the chills. Can't wait for the next part(s)!
"Allâh is sufficient for me. None has the right to be worshiped but He, in Him I put my trust and He is the Lord of the Mighty Throne."[Tawbah: 129]
Okkkk! Here is the much awaited part 2..... (and ahem! sorry for keeping you waiting... )
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Part II - The Conspiracy in the Heavens
The night that Rani went up to the terrace and looked at the heavens, a scout angel was making his rounds. It was his job to scour the earth for people who put their trust in Allah. He picked up a strong signal coming from the terrace where Rani was standing, her head tilted up, looking at the stars twinkling brightly.
There were thoughts of this nature in her mind: “I don’t know who is right for me... but Allah does. I put my trust in Him. He will surely guide me to the man I shall marry....”
Scout angel Kit was extremely pleased.
“A case for Allah’s Match-Making Service!!” he cried as he hastily ascended to the towers in heaven where all the scout angels reported their news.
He headed straight to The Tawakkul Tower. It wasn’t as busy as the other towers. Scout angel Kat was sitting at the computer desk with a bored expression on his face when Kit arrived breathless with excitement. “I have a case!” he declared.
“Are you sure it’s genuine,” said Kat.
“Yes, it’s genuine,” Kit replied, handing him his book that had the record of Rani’s heart-felt thoughts engraved in them.
Kat’s face brightened as he glanced through the list. “We have something here, Kit. Let’s find a match for her.”
He turned to The All-Wise Computer and typed in his password.
“First, let’s do the profile....”
He entered in Rani’s name and waited for her profile to come up on the screen.
“That’s very interesting,” said Kit. “She has nobody. Nobody now and nobody later....for a long long time....”
“Yes, she has got where she is through sheer determination and will-power. Little support from her family members, I see.., “ said Kat.
“She’s a brave little thing. All in the middle of nowhere, struggling to make ends meet. Everything she has, earned through her own sweat and blood....too dignified to even ask her own parents for money. Even for her own education!” said Kit.
“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.”
“Hmmm.... she is intelligent but she is really intelligent....” said Kit.
“Now what’s that supposed to mean?!” asked Kat.
“Well, look at her school record! She’s got brains.... Allah gave her ability to write... her compositions always got read out in class.... she was her teacher’s pet.... she got her Master’s degree... and finally she got herself a job. That’s all intelligence. But she’s got more intelligence to give it all up. She prefers to stay at home. She doesn’t like to go out and work. She doesn’t care for worldly, materialistic wealth.... She doesn’t even mind living in a hut!”
“Ah, okay.... I see what you mean.” said Kat. “She wants to get married so that she can stay at home. She doesn’t want to work and she wants her husband to take care of her.... “
“Right!” said Kit enthusiastically. “The best part is that she doesn’t trust her own judgment. She wants Allah to find a match for her! She wants a God-fearing man to be her husband! Oh, I’m so thrilled!”
“My, my!” said Kat gleefully. “Then she is in dire need of our Match-Making service, isn’t she? Now let’s see what we can do for her.”
Kat typed in some words and hit the search button. The All-Wise computer knew exactly which man would be the perfect match for her.
Kit and Kat peered eagerly at the computer screen. A map of the world appeared. A light began to blink at a spot in the continent of North America.
“He’s in California, in the US of A!” exclaimed Kit. “That’s on the other side of the planet, Kat!”
“Let’s look at his profile,” said Kat. “Bob....American - 6 feet tall. Currently working for the US Navy.”
“He’s a Christian though,” remarked Kit. “And very religious. Carries the Bible with him everywhere...”
“What do you mean, “though”?” said Kat a little annoyed. “This is the All-Wise computer. It does not make mistakes. And you forget that Rani wants a God-fearing man. He looks pretty God-fearing to me.... to be carrying his Bible wherever he goes... it’s a most unusual and uncommon thing to find a man like that!”
“Well,” said Kit. “It’s just that I don’t think a Christian would be a good match for Rani. She should get a Muslim man, you know.”
“Never mind what you believe.... and never mind what you think” said Kat dismissing Kit’s remarks with the wave of his hand. “Our trusted All-Wise computer has informed us which man is the best match for Rani. So there!”
“But it’s kind of weird, isn’t it?” said Kit. “Rani’s in India and this guy Bob is in America....how in the world are they ever going to meet? They are not even aware of each other’s existence! On top of that, Bob has no knowledge of eastern culture and customs. He doesn't have the skills to charm Rani either. He wouldn't even know how to woo a girl like her! Rani is acquainted with Islam but Bob is zero.... Don’t you think there will be a culture clash? How is this going to work?!!”
“Aha!” said Kat. “This is where miracles happen, my dear Kit. Allah sends miracles to all those who put their trust in Him. You’ll see!”
…........ to be continued.
It is pointless to watch other people's houses crumbling when our own house is in need of repair and attention.
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True-blue liked this post
..I love reading your stories...don't keep us waiting too long!
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