I got this piece online and got moved by it then decided to share it ....



I MET A GIRL ON INSTAGRAM…7 MONTHS LATER WE GOT MARRIED




Throughout 2013, from time to time, I
prayed that God would find me a companion
whom I could spend the rest of my life with.
Being in my early 20s, and in the ‘peak’ of
my adulthood, or so it’s claimed – I had
completed my education, was working full
time, regularly playing football and
attending the gym – but there was,
nevertheless, a void in my life that no
amount of fun, family, work or (being a
believer) worship, could fulfil. I needed
someone to share my (weird, confusing and
often perplexing) thoughts with, someone to
sit with me while I watched philosophical
and religious talks on Youtube, someone to
accompany me on those lonely journeys
back home late at night, someone to hold my
hand through life’s struggles and tell me that
everything will be alright, someone who
would journey with me to the next world
and someone I could reciprocate that all
with, not out of gratitude, but out of the
natural desire a husband has
to give and care for his wife.
In fact, that sense of loneliness – perhaps
exacerbated because I had no father or
siblings – was sometimes quite
overwhelming. Before I got married, it
seemed as if everyone around me was
depressed, the world seemed insane and
God often felt distant. The prayer I would
make – and this is quite personal and may
sound weird – was: “Oh Allah. Please hasten
the arrival of my wife and make her
beautiful inwardly and outwardly.”
While many modern people may scoff at the
idea of praying to God, my sincere prayers
almost always seem to be answered. And
God certainly didn’t let me down this time.
Wherever my wife was, I knew she wasn’t
far.
It was October 2013 and, for some reason,
something inside me pulled me to start
talking to this girl on Twitter that I had been
following for a couple of months. We had
first been following each other on Instagram
since the beginning of the year – neither of
us remember who followed each other first
or how we ended up on each other’s
Instagrams for that matter – but I had added
her on Twitter, as there was something that
interested me about her. After a couple of
brief exchanges @’ing each other, I decided –
again, I’m not sure what compelled me – to
‘direct message’ her. We exchanged a few
conversations but, on November 11th, I
decided to make a bold move. I asked her
whether she would “like to get to know me
better.”
I was relieved when she replied in the
affirmative and gave me her number. We
began texting, made a few phone calls, met
up in public places and, one evening I
realized something: I actually like her, a lot.
And I didn’t think I’d be way off in
presuming she liked me, too.
That night, I rehearsed in my head what I’d
say to her on the phone and, without too
much thought, called her. After the
pleasantries, I asked her: “So what do you
want to do?” “What do you mean?” she
replied. “You know what I mean. Where do
you want to go now? I have feelings for you.
Do you have feelings for me?” “Yes,” she
replied. “Then, there’s only one thing to do.
Tell your dad.”
Tell her dad she did, albeit after one month
of prepping herself. I met her dad, it went
smoothly and the rest, you could say, is
history. We began talking in November and
by June 2014, we were married. Job done.
The prayer was answered.
But there was something slightly mysterious
about it all. The first and perhaps weirdest
thing was that my wife and I were always
within reaching distance. My secondary
school and her secondary school were
literally down the road from each other. But
here’s the really strange part: I knew most
of her closest friends at school, and she
knew most of my closest friends at school.
Yet, we didn’t know each other nor did we
ever cross paths. God didn’t want us to meet
just yet.
What’s more, out of anywhere in the UK my
wife could have lived, she was a 10 minute
drive from my home.
Once we got married, my wife told me that,
although she didn’t know how I ended up
on her Instagram, every time I uploaded a
picture that appeared on her timeline, she
would stop in her tracks and think to herself
“there’s something about this guy, I have a
strange feeling about him.”She even told one
or two of her friends that there’s “just
something about him” – and this was before
we had ever exchanged any messages. I, too,
was drawn to her profile, on at least three
occasions I clicked on her Instagram, unsure
of why I was doing it.
Reflecting back, that “would you like to get
to know me better” Twitter message, came
from the recesses of my being, not a place of
random, impulsive spontaneity. My wife’s
reply, so she tells me, was something she did
pretty much without any thought. “I’m not
sure why I gave you my number,” she’s told
me on a few occasions, “but, at that moment,
it just felt like the right thing to do.”
So how do you know if the person you’ve
met is the one for you, especially if you’ve
met them online and haven’t known them
long? The simple answer is – you don’t. You
may have a feeling deep down that there’s
something special about them, but this could
just be a fleeting emotion. The best judge is
to see if they possess – or seem to possess –
the highest virtuous characteristics in
religion: an aspiration to journey to God,
sincerity, loving-caring gentleness and
honesty. These things might not be obvious
straight away, but if you have a strong
instinct, then listen to it. Also, Muslims
shouldn’t forget Istikhara .
Meeting your wife on Instagram might seem
like a strange way to meet your spouse. But
it isn’t. God brings people together in so
many different ways, and none is
necessarily better than the other. I’ve
recently come across other Muslims who’ve
met their spouse on social media and it
seems to be a growing trend. With all its
downfalls, social media certainly has it’s
positives, meeting my wife on there is
definitely a positive in my experience.
The route my wife and I took while getting
to know each other may also seem strange
to some people. We maintained what is
known in Islamic lexicon as ‘good adab’. In
other words, from the first time we spoke,
right up until we got married, we were
vigilant about what we said to each other,
careful not to use inappropriate or charged
language. In the seven month lead up to
getting married, we never touched once and
we were never in a room alone. This, we
believe, increased the spiritual blessings in
our relationship. But, above all else, we are
sure that we were always part of the same
web, which, through the years, was slowly
unfolding, until, finally, we came together.

I pray that this piece gives other young
Muslims the courage to pursue what they
believe to be the right thing to do and not be
shackled by cultural norms.










https://omarshahid.co.uk/2015/01/06/i-met-a-girl-on-instagram-7-months-later-we-got-married/


















no mind me no time for proper arrangement of the writing