I was away from my parents, geographically, ever since I left home to further my studies abroad. Nonetheless, Allah has been super kind to me by introducing good friends who acts like 'positive' magnets, pulling me from doing shameful and harmful things to my imaan. One of them is Kak Anis (beautiful wife of Ustaz Azman).
One chilly morning, as I briskly walked from Moray House with Greggs cheese and onion pasties in one hand to the mosque (a wee bit late for work!), I received a call from kak Anis. Very politely and with well constructed sentences (as she usually spoke) she asked about my well beings, then informed straight to the point that there was an akh (brother in Islam) who was interested to get to know me better.
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| The forgotten cheese and onion pasties from Greggs in my hand. |
An akh? Seriously?
'He met Ustaz and told him his intentions and hoped that Ustaz and Kak Anis can be the 'middlemen''.
'He said that since your parents are far, he wanted a proper channel to get to know you,' enlightened kak Anis.
What channel? Am I going to star a Blind Date show @ BBC?
However, Kak Anis was quick to assure me (since I must admit I was silently shocked since my mouth was zipped shut, which was peculiarly rare!) to do major thinking, to ask myself and Allah whether I was prepared for a relationship leading to marriage. Request from Allah through the application of istikharah prayers. Ask my parents. Talk to them. Make lots of du'a.
And I did all of them.
Among all of the things above, Abah's words of wisdom were the statement which cleared my doubts. I still could recall his short, precise advise to me;
'Only clean courtship leads to fruitful and successful marriage. If one wants to keep the courtship morally clean and escape immoral pursuits, then he's clearly a gentleman who has self-control, because he places this holy affairs in the care of Allah.'
Abah then added, 'Marriage is a lifetime journey and needs a lot of planning. So, you need to ask him his plans in life, what can he offer...'
Among millions of conversations that I had with Abah, I must point out that this particular phone call acted as a 'mechanism' which drew us closer. I am grateful to Him that I am one of the few whom He chooses to have super good relationships with my Abah and Mak. I must admit that before those days, it was difficult to talk and discuss with Abah since I must say that he always over-analyse matters, which sometimes made me feel uncomfortable, but now I realised, you know what, I needed someone to think critically for me, when I couldn't do it on my own (just yet. Hello, I was being a typical carefree lassie living abroad, away from my family! And having the time of my life, too!). Alhamdulillah for Abah and Mak.
All three of us created 'the list' of open-ended questions that needed frank and straightforward answers. Those answers were personal, but essential for us to know the 'akh'.
So, a date and time were set for a 'taaruf' session between the two of us, with the wonderful couple, Kak Anis and Ustaz Azman at Glendalough Crescent, Edinburgh.
Though I must admit, it was still a super weird thing for me to do, but I always remember Allah's promise that prosperity and barakah wait anyone who follows the commendments of Allah and the example of Rasulullah. I prayed that this, out of the norm, way of getting to know Mr. Right(eous) would mould me to be a better muslimah, whatever the outcome would be.
For now, I'd just pray.
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