Azaad Raha responding to the now famous “A Few Good Muslim Men” article
“Under thy nose” by AZAAD RAHA
“Where have the good Muslim men gone?”In the league table of futile statements, this surely ranks up there.
Why?
Because aside from being defeatist and self-delusional, this statement exemplifies the very mindset which is the principle reason why so many Muslim women are single in the first place.
Let me explain.
First, to really appreciate this statement and all that it represents, you have to consider both the context in which it is uttered, and the reasoning behind it. The context is sadly an increasingly common one – namely an increase in the number of single, thirty-something Muslim women, who are finding it difficult to get married. It is heartbreaking, and represents a failure on an individual and community level. They are our sisters, our daughters, and our friends. We feel for them, but it is also the time for some home truths.
“Where have the good Muslim men gone? The danger of this statement and mentality is that it is designed to reassure women that there really is a shortage of good Muslim men.
This prevents Muslim women from understanding the reality of the situation; that for most of them, the reason they are still single is because of their past actions and their attitudes towards men and marriage.
By make-believing that the only reason they are not married is down to a lack of good men, they effectively absolve themselves from responsibility for their situation. This subconscious defense mechanism, prevents much needed introspection by conveniently laying the blame elsewhere. We all make mistakes, however this failure to look deep within and recognize them, prevents many single Muslim women from addressing the root cause of their predicament – their attitudes towards men and marriage.
In my experience, most of these women have met and rejected many good men over the years, before they got to the situation where they now find themselves, i.e. the once steady stream of suitors has dried to a trickle. I have many thirty+ single friends whose continual lamentations about the ‘shortage’ of ‘good men’ I have to endure at every gathering, however I also know that during their twenties they turned down many good, decent men. Of course, those men are now happily married.
Over the years I’ve quizzed my friends on the reasons they rejected the men, and in addition to being floored by the sudden immaturity of these otherwise intelligent women, I came to realize that the Muslim woman of today is not looking for a ‘good man’ until very late in the day. This is the core problem and the tragedy is that these women don’t even realize it. If they did, they would have realized that the ‘good men’ were all around them, they were their friends, colleagues, and acquaintances.
The quiet guy in the prayer room who gave salaams, then moved on, rather than standing around and flirting. There is something beautiful about a young Muslim man who is shy around women. It is something to be applauded, not criticized.
However these are exactly the types of men young Muslim women are NOT interested in (until they hit their 30’s or have otherwise been ‘played’ by someone). Despite their most ardent protests, deep down most women are attracted to the ‘bad guys’, they like the guy who is charming, confident around women, dressed well, funny, i.e. they want the guy that all the girls want, and nowhere in their vocabulary do you hear the words ‘good man’ till they hit 30.
Many years ago, a Muslim girl, S.S (name withheld to protect the innocent) wrote a response on a well known Islamic website, which I include here, verbatim:
“If only our mothers didn’t raise us to grow into such Nakhra [drama] queens, we would know what we are missing out on. All men want is acceptance, and we tend to tear them apart starting from their walk, to their talk, the clothes they wear, the food they eat, the sports they play or the books they read or don’t read. Who would have thought that we would turn into such vicious and mean people one day? But evidently we are who we are and men don’t like that.”
So very true. Men are simple – despite all the bravado and chest beating, all we want is to be accepted for who we are. It really is that simple. However, Muslim women seem to have been programmed to criticize. Rather than recognizing what a man has to offer, they focus on what he doesn’t have to offer, and then complain when they find themselves still single.
Now, I don’t want this to turn into a battle of the sexes, as this won’t achieve anything.
As Muslim men, we are guilty of much. We are frequently preoccupied with beauty at the expense of all else, despite clear guidance from our creator and his messenger not to do so.
However, in general, we also recognize our flaws and don’t externalize our own shortcomings by complaining about a ‘lack of good women’.
As a community we have go beyond mutual recriminations and work collaboratively to address these challenges. However, as a first step we need open and honest dialogue. Whilst this article may seem harsh, it represents the reality of what many Muslim men think about Muslim women.
The truth is, we are all in this together. The women who are struggling to get married are our sisters and our daughters, and they should not have to live in loneliness. However, there is also something fundamentally wrong with the way many Muslim women today view men and marriage.
So single-Muslim-women-who-are-finding-it-hard-to-get-married, rather than mulling over a non-existent shortage of ‘good men’, think hard, look within and most importantly, humble yourselves. Perhaps the thing which you are seeking is right under your nose.
GOATMILK: An intellectual playground 
Preach brother!
This is an unfair and sexist article fact is muslim men are having haram relations with impure haram women and the leaders are allowing them to marry filthy women they pretend are women of the book. Muslim women also have abusive males both in their families and also in the community making it hard for them to marry also. So next time stop trying to please the kuffar lovers and fake scholars.
I would gladly talk to the “quiet muslim man who gave salaams” and I am not yet 30, I am 27. The thing is how do I respond other than just “wa alaikum salaam”. If there is no conversation, what does a muslimah do? I have only met “bad” guys. They seem to be the ones who initiate conversation and try to come off as good guys at first, only to reveal later who they really are and then of course I let them go. What is the remedy for this? How do you speak to a muslim man?
I agree here. That same line is the only line I agree with in this article. Only because not every 30+ single muslim women is the same. I do believe the type mentioned in this article exists(my cousins) but there are many who are single for various diff reasons. And I for one have always been interested in the quiet muslim who gave salaam but like you said, nothing comes of that and those same guys marry a girl from back home or someone their parents find for them. Those men never seek out a girl on their own and get to know. Hence us being single and stuck only dealing with the so called “bad guys” who I do not think are automatically bad just because they speak up.
This article came off sounding a bit vindictive at the start but I think it’s a good representation of how many single Muslim men feel.
so annoying! “until very late in the day” – how provincial! as though they have to nubile young things to be worthy of consideration. perhaps they simply needed time to mature before rushing into ridiculous marriages aged 19 at the behest of an overly backward community. not all of us believe that there is a best age for marriage
What guy, Muslim or not, wants to marry an old spinster? These Muslimah are often not taking care of themselves and are overweight as well as having a very negative attitude. Can Muslim men be blamed when they look to people of the book for marriage then?
This old spinster might not look like super models, but if you cannot see their real value maybe you are not the right one for them. I would rather marry an older muslimah and have a family filled with faith and iman and eternal love for both of us and our kids than marrying you “people of the book” eye candies. with age comes wisdom, experience maturity. Even for intimacy and natural desires, they are by no means any lesser than any other younger female, if not much better. So brothers think for yourself, older sisters are true blessings for those who can assess right 🙂 if you are still in doubt ask those who got married to one. here is one “SEARCHING FOR KHADIJAH: A BOY’S PERSPECTIVE” http://www.altmuslimah.com/2011/04/a_boys_perspective/
I agree w/ hh- MOST young Muslim ppl I’ve met (early-mid 20s) are NOT mature enough to get married/run their own households. Some simply don’t have time to meet other singles, Muslim or not (depending on their choice). Pls don’t assume that ALL “our people” want to get married young!
You seem to lay the blame on women’s inability to decide on a suitor when the obvious reason is pure demographics. If you start with an equal number of men and women, then some of the men marry outside the faith (since it is religiously permissible) or marry someone from abroad (something that is more difficult for women to do), you are obviously going to have a shortage of marriageable men, good or not. That is the core of the problem.
Shahed is right- I’ve met several Bangladeshi men who went back to marry; I’ve only met one woman who did so!
Interesting…. though the first response maybe one of anger or “yeah, that’s right” (depending what side you’re on), there is truth in this article. There is truth to both sides of the table. What needs to be done is to put more of these “truths” on the table and we need to be mature enough to create respectable discussion around these “truths.” To be honest, I hear from my female friends about the “lack of good men” and I think, what am I and our male friends, horse meat (is that halal…off topic)? At other times, I see what my female friends have accomplished, their strong faith and identity, their activism, and I find it hard to place my male friends in the same category. Then we do have MAPs (Muslim American Princesses) and we have momma’s boys who no women is good enough for. We also have men who marry non-muslims or go back to their or their parents respective country to buy a wife or sell themselves. We have all of that and much much more. It all needs to be on the table and we need to be mature enough to discuss, debate, and work together for solutions. Whether it’s teaching people necessary social skills or setting better examples in how to raise kids so these are not issues we have in the future or whatever else the answer(s) must be, we must continue moving forward and it won’t always be fun or nice.
“Whether it’s teaching people necessary social skills or setting better examples in how to raise kids so these are not issues we have in the future or whatever else the answer(s) must be, we must continue moving forward and it won’t always be fun or nice.”
GREAT point- I often hear single gals (like myself) complain that guys they meet lack “social skills;” these are NOT only desi/Muslims (FYI). I also know of 2 men in their early 40s, who were raised in the old country, who are so picky that no one is “good enough” for them. My mom says “these type of men will never get married!”
I think both genders, and many cultures, are guilty of rejecting potentials based on inane qualities that are not particularly important to the health of a marriage, but I would hesitate to say that all unmarried women over 30 are still single because it’s their fault. In a way, that is a natural psychosis that is just irresponsible to feed into by articles such as this with a petty and generalizing tone — Wrong in the same way it would be wrong to say “it’s everyone else’s fault but mine” as the women’s side article alluded to.
Marriage, like Life, is complicated and its never black & white — women can’t say that it’s all the mens’ fault for not being just the right blend of religiousness, and men can’t say that it’s all the women’s fault for being too picky. And yet that sounds exactly like what these two posts have said.
“However, in general, we also recognize our flaws and don’t externalize our own shortcomings by complaining about a ‘lack of good women’.”
Well, not to oversimplify, but a lot of men consider a good woman as someone who is chaste, wears hijab, and is young.
There are tons of females who fit that description. The motherlands are practically teeming with such women.
I think this illustrated by the fact that men are more willing to go ‘back home’ to procure a wife, and women who live in the West are more reluctant to do so.
That should speak volumes about how men and women percieve ‘good’ mates. For example, more women than men are converting to Islam. There is also a larger amount of female reverts than male reverts. Women want a matching religious counterpart who is educated like them, and will be able to communicate on their level. A lot of men who have reverted don’t really need a wife with the same characteristics: if it’s his job to work and make the money, and set the tone of Islam in his house, he doesn’t urgently need a partner who can match up to him trait by trait. I’m sure it would be nice to have, but he doesn’t really require this. A religious minded educated woman with a weakly religious and barely educated husband is in a whole different ballgame.
This is not to say that your article didn’t make many good points, it did, but you have to understand that Muslim women born and raised in the West are in a vastly different position than their male counterparts. It’s not always practical (hello Greencard alert) to marry someone from ‘back home’. but many men don’t mind as much because their idea of a good woman has more to do with her youth and housekeeping skills. And I’m sorry if this sounds harsh, but it is really very true.
*Just to clarify, by ‘chaste’ I mean based on what we can outwardly assume. We have to have a good opinion of our brothers and sisters unless otherwise proven!
I don’t think there is much to the ‘observations’ of the person who wrote the original article. I agree with one of the earlier commentens that at least some of this is about demographics. But I can also not believe that this would seriously be about good looks and outer attraction.
Many of the reasons for Muslim women not finding spouses are not very different from those of other women in western societies where the percentage of persons of marriagable age who are single is constantly rising.
I think our expectations of companionship and marriage have changed which makes it harder to find the right person. But there are issues more significant than looks or even wealth that make it hard for Muslim women to find men.
Over the last years I have observed many of my women friends getting into this bind. The more educated and successful a Muslim woman is the less likely she will find someone to marry. It is treated like a disability. Either there are no marriage prospects (we used to joke that every successful step in grad school took points off on the marriage market) or women are expected to apologize for their education or in my view worse, are expected to be grateful that their potential spouse would ‘allow’ them to continue their education or career. If you look at matrimonial sites for Muslims (and I have done some serious research on that) you will find a pattern that still baffles me: men are looking for women who are significantly younger, not very educated and preferably of the same ethnic background (this means men in their thirties look for women under 25 who have a high school diploma). I read these as saying that most men want a young women they can form and make into the spouse they actually want.
These are all factors that exclude women in their thirties who are educated and potentially restrict their pool of marriage candidates. And again, according to polls, American men generally are uncomfortable with a woman who is making more money or has more education that they do.
One additional concern that was also not mentioned is religious compatibility and that is hard to define but also hard to find and a serious question. Hijab or not, religious practice, religious education for children,upholding particular religious traditions are all things that need to somehow match.
Your view that Muslim men in the west want ‘dumb’, high school educated wives is complete nonsense, and quite frankly insulting. Simply put, I doubt the authenticity of your “research”, if in fact you have done any.
What is true, is that Muslim men in their 30’s will look for younger wives. The older men get, the more they begin to think about starting a family, and the more they look for a spouse who can bear them children (big surprise!).
Men fully understand that a women in her mid 30’s is going to find it harder to conceive. Yes, women are increasingly having children later in life, but it’s not quite that simple, and the statistics regarding decreases in fertility as women get older are quite startling.
So the issue has nothing to do with the success or education level of a women, but rather her age and fertility. It’s another example of the make-believe, mindset which I discussed in the article. Its easier for single women in their 30’s to pretend that Muslim men are not marrying them because they are intimated by their education or success (martyr complex), rather than the reality, which is that they waited too long, and now their fertility is declining.
I’m a male convert. I just want to get that out of the way first. The important part of it is I’m a male.
I went through a long period of being single. During that time, my single buddies and I would lament how we were all nice guys and women don’t want nice guys. It’s an easy thing to tell yourself. The truth is, it really was a problem with me.
The women I dated who it didn’t work out with – at the time, I wanted nothing more than to find fault with them or cry about how women don’t want a nice guy. Looking back, I can say they lost patience with me because I was too immature. It wasn’t that I was too nice or whatever, it was that I was a bad fit for them.
The knife cuts both ways, though. I had many women chase after me and I wasn’t interested in them because they weren’t the sort of mate I wanted. In all of their cases, they weren’t bad women and I’m sure they felt that a nice guy like me was only interested in some lofty ideal. (I was, and thank God, she’s going to marry me!) But there was nothing flawed with them, it’s just I knew they weren’t the correct match for me.
My heart truly does go out to women who are over 30 and unmarried. It’s unfair of us, as men, to look at them and say, “Why weren’t you taking the good men when you were younger?” In many cases, they hadn’t found the right good man. There are probably a few who missed out on a good guy or two when they were younger and didn’t know what they wanted yet, but who knew what they wanted when they were in their 20s?
‘The knife cuts both ways’ Well said!! I’m a woman aged 26. I have come to believe that no matter what do, I end up alone! And honestly speaking I’m really really getting tired of being single. I don’t know how to make a man feel he can approach me and I am too shy to approach a guy myself. I guess I am where I deserve to be then! or is there a solution to this? I’m a simple average looking woman with a young heart. I can’t put layers of makeup or wear shorts or attract a guys attention by making a fool of myself. Is that a really bad sign?
There might not be a shortage of good muslim men but there is a lot of confusion.Admit it! A guy would not marry a simple woman (Any religion) because his mates are not going to ga ga over his wife! And a woman who is liked by many guys is not going to be what you want a wife to be!
The problem is all of us just want appreciation. Some people want to be appreciated by everybody. It’s not just about women being critical of men when it comes to marriage, men do the same.
The article, strikes me as being reactionary in tone, though it makes a few good points. The overall tone of the article seems to simply shift blame, and so I don’t imagine it will be very effective.
I would much rather hear from the experience of those Muslim guys who have tried to get married, but likewise have found difficulty, frustration etc. Perhaps that would be more insightful and helpful in overcoming the barriers that prevent Muslim marriage, and also furthering the dialogue. Shahed makes a point about sheer statistics. More men look outside the community than women, thus creating a shortage of men. But the shortage far exaggerates the number of men looking outside the community. Most guys, I know, would much rather stay within the community, but likewise find the entire process to be fraught with difficulty and frustration, so they, as more Muslim women are, looking elsewhere.
I wholeheartedly agree with Kenny, first and foremost.
Second, I take serious issue with the essentialist construction of women’s natures: “Muslim women seem to have been programmed to criticize. Rather than recognizing what a man has to offer, they focus on what he doesn’t have to offer, and then complain when they find themselves still single.” “Despite their most ardent protests, deep down most women are attracted to the ‘bad guys’.”
That’s just as much of as stereotype as saying that all men want “obedient wives” from “back home.” Neither is fair to the other gender, but both types of statements discount the complexity of the other gender’s wants and needs in a partner.
I very much agree with Kenny too
but i think the sisters need to understand that being an “obedient wife” is not a bad quality. Quite the contrary, it is one of the things man appreciate very much about women. Do no compete with your man or try to control him and let him be the leader in the house. This in no way mean you do not need to have a voice in the house, or it should only be about the man. When the man feels he is the leader, its his wise wife opinion that he will naturally seek in all maters, because she is his supporter who never compete with him. So dear sisters, let your man be the leader and you will get much more than what you bargained for 🙂
Also, I’d like you to clarify this statement: “I came to realize that the Muslim woman of today is not looking for a ‘good man’ until very late in the day”
I read that as implying that Muslim women who don’t feel ready to make room in their life for a man and/or children, or want to finish their educations first, aren’t deserving of good men. Is this how you intended it?
I had to double check to make sure my mom didn’t write this article!
I would like to add a few references that may be quite helpful in understanding our own individual flaws and redirect our focus in a more proactive way.
1) Qur’an (let’s go back to the source!)
2) The Muslim Marriage Guide by: Ruqaiyyah Waris Maqsood (click on a chapter and read in full for free http://www.ymsite.com/books/tmmg/default.htm )
3) Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus by: John Gray, Ph.D (visit for synopsis and reviews http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?inkey=92-9780060739539-0 )
All the best!
The definition of a good man as I understand it is someone who is an M.D. and has a 50,000 square foot home with a maid, a cook, a driver for the Rolls Royce or Bentley, and of course I can’t leave out the private jet. At least that’s how it works in the Desi community and the guy has to look like Brad Pitt. The list is actually a lot longer than this I just wanted to summarize the main points.
I’m a little insulted, not all of us can’t recognize a good guy when we see or meet him as it would be, but its a little hard when they aren’t willing to make a move and say to a friend or someone that you mutually know that they like you and would like to consider marrying you. We aren’t mind readers, if you like us say something, we aren’t always going to know.
I’m as much a hopeless romantic as the next girl but why is it the women who want the brad pitt of muslim men are the ones being interviewed about getting married, instead of the majority of us who are looking for that quiet, pious muslim guy, but are having an equally hard time for actually many reason’s, not because we want and M.D. with all the workings, but also because so many parents refuse to allow their children to marry outside their cultures (I know this from personal experience)and our parents don’t want us getting married because they want us to finish our education. We can’t seem to win.
I agree with Mohammad Husain, there is an extremely reactionary tone here.
It leaves me wondering what the point of the article was…as the author did not truly respond to the original article.
Yes, for many there is an underlying definition of a “Good Man”, however, a man that is financially well off and that comes from an excellent family are not the definition for everyone.
For me, it would be someone that is a practicing Muslim (neither to far to the right or left…balanced), someone that is sincere, compassionate, loving, that is handling his business (has a job and preferably an education). Education for me personally is important, although I do not require a PhD, MD or Esq.
I think that as women, if we have not met someone prior to college and chose to commit to that person, it gets harder. Simply because once you begin your career, you spend more time at work than you do anywhere else. And unless you meet someone there, you have to make serious time to meet people elsewhere and this goes for men as well. However, for women, the longer you work, the more people believe that you are setting marriage on the back burner.
There seems to be a catch 22 for women. Become educated because there are no guarantees in life. Or get married and leave education to others. I know this is a general statement…but we all know the women that got married young and ended up never pursuing education because of children and other family responsibilities. But education does not mean that we don’t want family. Again, nothing is guaranteed in life and God forbid my husband die and I am left to take care of a family with no skills or education. I have witnessed this on numerous occasions and these situations contributed to my personal drive to complete my undergrad degree before marriage. Funny thing is, all the proposals that were coming in before college and during stopped at the mention of my wanting to obtain my degree before marriage. And none of the men called back upon the time of graduation. There could be many reasons why, however I doubt that all of those men were married by the time I graduated.
Let’s go back to the “Good Man” scenario. Was I supposed to take the jobless, education less guy that was living in his mother’s basement seriously? There are requirements that must be met Islamically when seeking marriage. One of them is maintenance. He may have been a nice guy, but he could not provide for me or a family.
Or, should I have accepted the twice divorced guy that tried to force me to marry him in four months…by the way he married each of his previous wives in four months. I didn’t know the man from Adam and he was a nice guy and respectful person. He wanted to have a chaperone when we saw one another and didn’t like to spend idle time on the phone…because of the fitna that could have come about. I didn’t feel the same way, as I was unsure how you could really get to know someone via e-mail. But I respected his level of faith and agreed. But the pressure to marry without really knowing much about him didn’t fly for me.
I could go on and on with stories about random men that have approached me, but I won’t. However, I will say this…my age has had no bearing on what I think a good person is. If anything, it has helped me to truly gain a better understanding of who I am and what I need in a spouse.
The truth is that there needs to be a real dialogue between men and women about the search for a spouse. All women know are their experiences and those of other women. And if all the articles written by women about their experiences carry a certain tone, there has to be some truth in that. If you feel differently, you need to make it known, men.
On a different note, I would like to know why there are so many seemingly eligible men out there that are still single???
Dear Azaad, Thank you for the article – a very interesting read. I would kindly like to differ on a fundamental point though – women are not rejecting suitors based on a distinction between what she believes is a good or bad man but rather on what she knows is compatible or incompatible. I have met some very good men who I would readily suggest to friends but would not personally consider for marriage largely due to mental, intellectual and personality incompatibility. I know that if I were to marry any such man, i would lead my life quite unfulfilled and unhappy, which in turn would be unfair to and unfulfilling for him.
Unfortunately, and due to a number of factors including stricter parental discipline, Muslim women have developed both intellectually and characteristically at a level quite different to Muslim men. This has caused a rift a little too wide for the two parties to come together without having to travel a collision course.
I do not blame men and I do not blame women – but what we do need to do now is identify where the community has gone wrong and start to rectify this.
You are right on many accounts Azaad, however its simply not true that all these women in their 20’s are rejecting ‘good men’, though some certainly are. I’m in my 20’s as many of my friends are, and well… where are the proposals??
There arent any to reject, because men will only consider beautiful women. So for us not so beautiful women, we are left to dream of a fulfilling marriage in Jannah Inshallah, cause it doesnt seem like it’ll be happening anytime soon in this life.
The article hit the nail in the head!
You don’t exactly see men complaining about “the lack of good women”. The thing is that many of these problems can be applied to women but we don’t say it. We men just continue with our lives, accept the situation as it is and take what comes our way, and then thank Allah Most High.
Some musings:
1) Converts and indigenous Muslims are a whole other story, this article is mainly addressing transitional generation immigrant marital issues, so I’ll do the same.
2) Education and work (and especially wages) in a socially, economically, and politically near-level playing field between the genders increases the likelihood that marriage-seeking will be offset by a few years by females (compared to the parent generation’s averages).
Coupled with a (continued) lack of foresight (on part of the parental generation) about the importance of the transitional generation having grounded and happy marriages, education and work can also provide welcome distractions to the impending crisis of where to find a spouse.
3) Given that Muslims value permissible outlets to sexual expression, at least on average, men – with higher statistical sex drives at a younger age and more social encouragement to marry upon job placement and graduation – still tend to get married with a sense of urgency for the passage of time. (A common phrase in many male social circles: Dude, I need to get married.)
Muslim women, on average, though not free of their own sexual desires, likely do not face this exact urgency that men experience (at least not until early 30s) and can therefore be preoccupied with work and school much more easily than guys. A few years can pass for them in this fashion. In that time, their peer males will likely secure ‘prospects’.
4) Men marry outside of Muslim women and outside the country with greater facility and acceptance than women, (the former situation due in no small part to what is some may argue to be an abuse of a juristic allowance to marry outside of the religion, while the latter is more a function of backwards parenting – on average).
5) Social stigmas surrounding divorced women exist (unfairly) in our community, I’m certain. Men experience this less.
6) The idea of women proposing to men and (even – gasp!) to younger men does not enjoy the type of widespread acceptance one would think it should. This is both a male AND a female problem. Women don’t dream of marrying younger men and many men’s families would never find such a proposal palatable anyways.
Final thoughts:
Women AND men are too picky. Men tend to marry just a little younger, but sometimes a lot younger, and can do so domestically or abroad, inside AND outiside the religion and use looks as a major factor; they also have a greater tendency to destroy one or more females en route to finding ‘the one’; women are keen on social graces at the expense of religiosity in a lot of cases, but to be fair, religiosity doesn’t not a perfect husband define. More significantly, women work and go to school and offset traditionally held ages of marriage, even if such figures are statistically untrue in the immigrant generation.
Solution!
I called this an immigrant issue, but it’s statistically probable it’s a South Asian and (somewhat) Arab immigrant issue. We must do three things:
1) Marry regardless of race (esp. with black Muslims) and family religious history;
2) accept spousal prospects who have been divorced; and,
3) not allow age to determine worthiness of pursuit for marriage.
All this is useless without taking personal religious improvement seriously on a regular basis.
To the comment above mine,
Maybe the reason why you don’t see men complaining about ‘the lack of good women’ is because…
there are lots of good women out there.
Unfortunately, the women are not so lucky. So it’s very easy for you to talk about ‘accepting the situation as it is’, but that’s because you really don’t have a situation to complain about.
HEY PEOPLE. listen. ive been on blogs like these for the past 3 years till the point i got sick of it. so today im just going to be pragmatic and offer solutions.
1. sisters who think the problem is because of numbers – number of females outweigh number of males.
its really simple. Men have the right to marry up to four women. thats his God-given right. so, MAKE USE OF IT!!!! go for the good brothers who are already married! and no, its not unpractical. its completely feasible. and brothers, look at all the >30y.o sisters out there still unmarried. WE NEED TO HELP OUT! and besides, its sunnah!
2. sisters, you are annoyed the brothers are marrying outside of the faith or going “back-home” to get married?? well ok, you cannot marry outside of the faith. so sad. but hey, WHO IS STOPPING YOU FROM GOING BACK HOME??? there are so many marriage potentials back there. so many good brothers who could be given a good shot at the american dream, education, and a good wife like yourself! why deny them? its time sisters rise up and show to those brothers that they are not the only ones who can just “go back home” whenever they feel like!! (YES WE CAN!!)
for those sisters who are too scared about the whole idea of the “back home” boys. well. as i said, a good brother can be legally shared by up to 4!
3. sisters who are >30y.o. Listen. at this point in time, you’ve probably already realized that you can no longer afford to be picky, as you used to be in your early 20’s. Let me tell you of another group of people who cannot really afford to be too picky. GUYS in their early 20’s, who are desperate to get married. in fact they are just the type of brothers you are looking for, in terms of piety and good manners and everything -really good stuff. some of them are more mature than brothers nearing their 30’s. THATS A FACT. the only problem is…they are younger than you!! hehe. and oh, they are probably still in college or just out with not much going for them, sitting mercilessly facing the recession and economic crisis. and as someone said here, sisters don’t really dream of younger guys. but again, you CANNOT afford to be picky. and nor can those guys. so here’s my idea.
WHY DONT THOSE >30 SISTERS JUST PROPOSE TO THOSE <25 BROTHERS????
and this really is my favorite part. because, in all those blog articles ive read, there’s always sisters who will mention how Khadeeja R.A proposed to the Prophet pbuh and she was a businesswoman and they had a great life etc etc (serving to illustrate their point that its ok to be an emancipated “career-women” who have beauty,education,money and everything,i.e they deserve to “have it all”).
so…WHY DONT YOU SISTERS JUST FOLLOW SUIT?????? not on the career aspect. but on the age one. and being proactive and proposing!! hah.
following her example would be a very good solution to the current marriage crisis. Propose to the brother who is out of college and going “duuude i need married real baaad”. help him with his college loans, be with him until he eventually finds a good stable job and try to treat him like Khadeeja R.A treated the Prophet pbuh. THEN YOU COME AND TALK ABOUT THIS HADEETH.
And trust me sisters, most brothers (in that situation) are not going to refuse.
Ok, those were my 3 proposals. and although some people might think i was being sarcastic and joking, in fact they are actual concrete steps that could be taken in these difficult times. and they are all right from the sunnah.
I just realized i had to go back and edit and remove a lot of mean and sarcastic comments towards the brothers and (mostly) the sisters. but that was just my anger and frustration transpiring, after having to see the same things being said over and over again, year after year. without anything changing. just “we need to change this, we need to change that, they need to stop thinking like this,” etc etc.
On another note,
On another note, the above were some proposals that people can incorporate at the individual level. there are things that we NEED to take up as a COMMUNITY. from my personal observation and experience, here are the 3 main problems that the muslims as a whole need to address:
1. Parents.
Culturally(as opposed to islamically)-bound parents. in my view, they are problem number one. if anyone disagrees and wants to debate, i am open for it, just speak. they are the number one cause for the marriage crisis.
solution: education. campaigns. free booklets that kids can give to their moms and pops. educate parents and show them how far away they are from the sunnah, and how much harm they have caused to society. the parents whose daughters are 40 and unmarried (or leading double lives and go to abortion clinics) should SPEAK OUT. and talk about their experiences. because they are facing the punishment for their foolish and un-islamic attitudes of the past (“i will accept ONLY a doctorrr orr a lawyerrrr forr my daughter”). when a parent sees his/her daughter lonely and unhappy (or whoring around), he/she SUFFERS.
(sorry for the rant).
2. Islamic education.
for prospects brothers and sisters.
if we were well aware of the fiqh of love and marriage, and the sunnah and the behavior of the companions (males and females) of the prophet, more than 50% of the problems we are facing would be solved. in fact, we would not even be wasting time doing all this talk here.
3. A proper interface for meeting.
THis requires people with ideas to get together and develop strategies. for example something as basic as a central, FREE online system, where everyone goes to when he/she needs marriage. that connects every islamic organizations and every mosques in america. where not only potential mates but parents/walis as well have to register. also requires investment from our organizations.
And thats just one idea, we can have tons of these.
Ive noticed many organizations and individuals trying to solve #2 and #3. Many great accomplishments with regards to islamic education on marriage, but with regards to #1 and #3 nothing really significant so far.
Now the issue is of getting these views across to a large audience. I’m sure that most of my cousins and relatives won’t know of such suggestions.
Also get such initiatives into the head of the parents, start a chain reaction!
The problem as I see it is that there are more educated and practising women than there are men in this day and age. Women want a husband with both a good education and also with sound religious knowledge put in practise. What I’ve found in my search for marriage so far, and I’m far off from 30 yet, is that educated and successful men just want trophy wives! education, beauty, confidence. They SAY they want women who know their religion – but run at the first sight of a hijaab! I’ve had so many guys reject me just because they have stereotyped hijaab-clad women and their lifestyles. As if all women with hijaabs live the same lives! We’re extremely boring, lack style and beauty and have no ‘life experience’ – whatever they define that as.
What I want is an educated and financially stable man, with a good Muslim lifestyle, who wants to marry a pracitising sister…unfortunately I haven’t come across many of these.
The problem may be your definition of ‘educated and financially stable’. Being educated and financially stable certainly does not require a bachelors, masters, etc. Maybe thats the problem if you reject good suitors over superficial requirements. If you want DUNIYA in a husband, then why are you so disappointed when he also rejects you because of DUNYA? Same thing sister.
Yes I suppose there isn’t a lot of educated AND practicing men around as there are women. I should know. For whatever reason or other I have not finished my college education. Not having a degree caused me a few rejections that otherwise probably would not have been. I am working on it but it may take awhile and top it off I am of the 30+ crowd. Just like the women who bemoan of their plight on the other side is men who bemoan too. We are also lonely, dishearten, and down right sexually frustrated. We are both a big mess. Myself to avoid the pains of loneliness and temptation of zina have looked overseas where I found a good sister who’s bar isn’t has high and is willing to work with a brother while I achieve my goals. In the end when I get my degree and all, those other sisters will wish they didn’t pass me up, but the one I have will be fine enough because she was there thick and thin. I think soon whether good or not, men period may not be around due to looking over seas or marrying Christian women, allahu alam.
Salam aliekum…
This was a very interesting article. I’m in the “over 30” single woman crowd, though I didn’t become muslim until I was 26. I can’t go “back home” because I *AM* home… an American Muslim Convert. Nobody knows any single muslim men in my area. I’ve thought to be married a few times, but they always give in to family pressure to an arranged marriage, or in one case married a sister so he could remain in Canada and avoid half of family pressing for an arranged marriage that he’d have to face were he to have married me. Age does not matter to me, so long as the brother is mature. I do want somebody educated, a hard worker, religious in order to support me in Islam, but also somebody that shares some interests with me. It seems I find only brothers that we get along perfectly… but they are non-practicing Muslims (some even drink and smoke!). Or we get along great religiously… but we have nothing else in common at all. There is no middle ground.
there is another side to all of this… that of social engineering in the americas. anyone familiar with the infamous “silent weapons for quiet wars” bilderberg social engineering program will recognize this is not a “Muslim” problem. This program is fruit of the same tree that has produces the enormous divorce rate, the sexually promiscuous youth, the dogmatic acceptance of gay behavior as normal, and a slew of other reversals of the natural oder. This is not a muslim problem.
The economy has been manipulated to make it so that from 50 years ago, the living standard once upheld by one salary now requires two salaries. Thus, woman, in tandem with the economic reality, have believed the very deceptive lies of feminism and have sought after the financial means to fend for themselves through education and career development. Feminism, contrary to the popular misconception, was not a grass roots liberation of the oppressed female, but in reality a CIA controlled social engineering program designed to give people a newspeak-esq vocabulary that would help them articulate and facilitate social changes being forced upon them by the elites. Gloria Stienem, the spearhead of the feminist movement, was a CIA agent, and as editor or the famous “Ms.” magazine, was able to spread the propaganda of feminism throughout the country. The other side of this coin is the PLAYBOY psychology forced on male minds at a young age, which encourages the free, irresponsible “sex for pleasures sake” type of lifestyle that has infected the minds of millions. Although Islam is a bulwark against these social movements, the muslims have been affected by them as well, although to varying degrees.
————————
… sisters, brothers,… it gets far more complicated, but understand this : there is more going on than meets the eye, and your predicaments are not totally your own fault.
watch “The Arrivals”… and look into the CIA/Feminist Connection
I started to look for a husband at a young age and was turned down due to my disability so you can’t possibly tell me that there is a good muslim man because there is isn’t
People these days are too picky, men and women. they then to look for the flashy men, when you don’t have you cannot get.
Salaams,
Every case of an unmarried single muslim female is different. I’m 31 and single. I never turned down a single suitor (I didnt have any and didnt date at all)in my 20s and when the opportunity arose recently to get married I agreed and was preparing for the wedding until the respectable muslim man backed out on me before the wedding day! (Im not ugly or strange by the way, reading this I sound like I must be). But I know Allah knows best and has His plans for me, I just have to keep looking and be patient, make dua, be grateful and take the opportunities given.
I guess thats what works for me.
My story is similar to Zaynab’s. Most people would consider me very attractive and I am also somewhat educated, however I NEVER had a suitor, no one even bothered to try and introduce me to any brothers until I was about 28, despite the fact I was always at the masjid (I am a convert, converted in my early twenties). I have since been married twice and was not very picky, due to the genuine lack of brothers, and both marriages were a disaster. I don’t think it has anything at all to do with unrealistic expectations.
i agree with black sheep…POLYGYNY works.
Wajahat, not your best work.
The bulk of this article focuses on disecting the problem and you spare a meager 2 paragraphs to the solution.
Not like your normal writing which forces me to think you maybe haven’t given the solution much thought, which leads me to think you maybe haven’t really gotten the actual problem situation right?
Maybe?
I didn’t write this article – Wajahat
and obviously, i dont know how to read.
its “written by Wajahat Ali” coz you posted it.
Azaad Raha is the author of the post.
Righto…
Not sure this post is past expiration for comment, but I’m sure people still read this, since I just got here from Google searching “muslim marriage crisis.” I’ve recently resolved to abandon my former hope of finding a future wife who is currently Muslim (not to say I’ll ignore the opportunity if it finally knocks), and that I should just try to get to know any woman, and hope she’ll accept Islam. Sure seems the odds of this strategy will be far better than what I’ve been tyring for the past few years.
Basically, I don’t think the mentality of the Muslim brothers or sisters is to blame for the fact that many of us are willing and able to marry but remain single. It’s just a simple matter of opportunity. I’m pretty well established, not bad looking, try to live by islamic principles, kind, etc., and in theory should have no trouble getting married, but weeks have turned into months, which have turned into years. This is VERY frustrating and disheartening to say the least. The problem is:
-you can go to “muslim events” in the community (fund raisers, dinners, classes, etc), but the men and women are segregated and have no opportunity to get to communicate with one another without it appearing improper. Even if a mixed-gender group of us agree to head somewhere afterwards for lunch/dinner, it still ends up segregated by and large.
-you let your married friends know you’re looking, they say they’ll “keep an eye open for you,” but in reality nothing happens. You can’t blame them, they’ve got their own lives to be concerned with. Definitely not a route to depend on.
-there isn’t much of a community network where your parents can get to know other parents whose sons/daughters are also looking to get married (most of our parents are too busy to really get involved in the community anyway, and end up just knowing a couple other families).
Anyway, that’s the situation. When you’ve got islamic principles forbiding you from dating and at the same time, the community is not tightly knit to help you out, you get a society of a lot of lonely singles pining to get on with their lives, quietly suffering.
Dear H2 Thelzzo,
Why do you make it yourself so complicated?
It is the most normal thing of the world that a man looks for a lovely spouse as well as a woman looks for good husband.
There are so many occasions, so many clubs, the internet aso.
Apollo, Jahweh, Amon Re, Allah, Jupiter,God: they simply do not exist, they are all fantasies of people who cannot accept the truth of human life : the only life we have is here on earth, there is no afterlife.
So try to be happy here and look for a nice girlfriend, moslima or not!
Why does my copy of the Qur’an state: “In those ten years he destroyed idolatry in Arabia; raised woman from the status of a chattel to complete legal equality with man;” ?
IF men or women must do as the Qur’an states or be punished by their country; then there is no Islam (Muslims), because to worship God – Allah, one must be free to reject a teaching or that person is only a slave to the people of that country. Allah or God can only be worship be the free-will of the worshipper, or it is not worship. _ John A. Clark
John A. Clark
You have a fake Quran. Not kidding. Quran is the literal word of Allah. What you posted above is a commentary by someone about the life of Muhammad (s.a.w).
About the obedience issue: It is not true what you said. Women and men must be obedient to their parent. Wives should be obedient to their husbands and all muslims should be obedient to their ruler. The only condition is that their shouldn’t be any obedience to a creation in disobedience to the Creator.
Muhammad(S.A.W):”There is no obedience to the creation in disobedience to the Creator.”
The responses by sister don’t address the critical points in the article (yet it is they who say Muslim men lack the maturity)
Also, we can all offer advice and personal anecdotes, but where is the independent evidence for all this? Pew Center studies and Gallup polls show Muslim spouses are equal on educational parity (in fact women are slightly more educated) and Muslim women tend to be slightly OLDER than their spouses.
This non sense and backbiting Muslim women feed of not finding the right man is nothing more than a product of ‘American love,’ ‘finding the one.’ Honesty character and religion are all Islam demands. I’ve seen sisters reject men with to-die-for packages because they are not arab, not pakistani, not masri, not tall enough… Stupid stupid judgemental and hurtful things that have nothing to do with what makes a good Muslim spouse and provider.
I heard a sister once complain to me about this issue and was like “muslim men fool around..” I then proceeded to make her name 13 of our mutual Muslim guy friends who were highly accomplished (I went to an Ivy) and didn’t mess around. I then made her name Muslim women who partied, clubbed,drank and slept around, and the list was greater in number than the men;s. What I’m saying is I can offer anecdotes too, but this article and its responses are nothing but backbiting without facts. There isn’t an ounce of independent or academic statistics backing any shortage or oversupply of anything…it’s all in your head. Lose your nafs, LADIES and GENTLEMEN
“Where have the good Muslim men gone? The danger of this statement and mentality is that it is designed to reassure women that there really is a shortage of good Muslim men.”
Just so succinctly and well put Azaad
The question in its self is the answer, there are no good muslim men, they are either fornicating with a “whore” or they are engaged in homosexual acts, usually a young boy, as the percentage of muslim men committing homosexual acts on any given day is about 35-55% of the male population.
Gerald,
Your comment is completely false,racistic and full of hatred.
Muslim men are not better or worser than other men, they are human beings just like you and me.
Shame on you!
(Ps I am not a Muslim but a Western Atheist.)
The way I read it, it’s less to do with priorities than it’s to do with the ‘freedom of choice’. The idea that men can choose to propose to anyone they please and reject whomever they please over the smallest of things- and there’s no stigma, there’s no ‘why are so many muslim men single’ threads, and no talk about entitlement syndromes.
A woman, on the other hand, is meant to take what she’s offered and stigmatized if she doesn’t. She’s not entitled to the same endless list of preferences as men and it becomes a case of ‘beggars can’t be choosers’. She is meant to take the bare minimum…ie good deen. Anything beyond that, well she’s just being materialistic and shallow.
I would like to get married to a good Muslim man – Send me one. And one for my friend too!
I think it is the primary fault of women. I am fed up of men being blamed for everything. Women are not faultless, actually, they are the prime culprits.
I am 37 and unmarried, and as long as I live in America, that will be the case.
I would like to say that as a newish European Muslim woman 17 mths, my life has changed so much.
After a western life of dissappointing marriages, domestic violence, not trusting, difficult financial circumstances, credit card debt to support my children, lonliness, worry, dispair and a very broken heart I felt so empty. Meeting and wanting to find the right man has always led to problems with them and it not working and me feeling hurt. Society looks down on women with no job, husband etc. I am a good person.
Fast-Forward: I decided to not see any more men for any reason at all. Then I decided to go on a dating site to find a foreign man and see what might happen. I meet a Moslem Egpytian and marry him. Before this I decided to make Islam my religion too, which I love and love Allah. I move in to where he is renting with his two grown up Iraqi / Egyptian boys (mid to late 20’s). A hard journey of pressure, neglect, putdowns, critisim, beauty, love? and sadness. Trying so hard to learn more about Islam. Treated like a nothing by him and his older son. Had to beg to use the car, questioned everywhere I went. I was always faithful to him even when he was angry at me or doubted me. We have now broken up and I left because I had been punched so many times in the bedroom. I did not report this to the police. I am 52 he is 60. So as you can see, he was not patient with me and I adored him but he treated me badly which just destroyed me.
Now, four months later of crying, divorced, shattered dreams, sleeplessness, sadness and no confidence I now realise I can not go back to this man. Although, I have not been with another man either, of course.
So lonely inside, having to face other Moslem sisters who are really of very little support, all scared I will run off with their husbands and have been told by one to lose weight so her husband doesn’t see any bodyparts.
Great Support!! They only have to walk in the street to see!! I cover myself, wear the Abaya and Hejab.
I have no idea if any Moslem men are in the slightest bit interested in me now. I cannot talk to anyone, nor do I know who is available. I go to the little Masjid and pray every Friday and try to be the best Moslem I can be. Sometimes I am the only woman there. I suppose Allah knows best for my life.
Can you all give me feedback on this stuff as I am struggling and do not want to committ Zina.
That was very heartbreaking to read, sister. I hope things have improved for you since. One of the problems we have in our society is we’re very welcoming to people who are thinking of reverting, but as soon as they say the Shahada, it’s Assalamu alaykum brother/sister, off you go & be a good Muslim. Mosques should have support groups & imams should be available to answer any doubts or questions one might have
this seems to be the work of a man who feels very low self esteemed when it comes to girls liking him…stop putting excuses like women want bad guys–thats just stupid. women want the shy guy but he never shows interest..walks away or turns away..women cant find men and men cant find women for a couple of reasons:
1. too shy (shameful to show interest- other muslims frown upon it)
2. those who do show interest are not always the ones to bring home to mom
3. doesnt want to talk to 10 guys/girls before finding the right one for fear of being called a slut/man hoar
4. too busy on career etc. deterred from putting the time and effort to look
5. movies, novels, celebs idealize love and sexuality to a point where our standards have been raised
facts of Western life in particular..sorry guys we need to deal with the reality and pray for the best
I am 31 and I am not married because I have not found someone who is at least has a quality like my father ^^… skillful, do house works, generous, and wise. My parents sent me to university, and I got hard days there before I got here. I got used to live independently and I don’t even ask a male friend for help. I am a woman that is why I have to be strong. I don’t date, that is why it would be easier for me if my parents would help me find a mate. But they won’t, they want me to find my man by myself. But I don’t know how ><. Should I lower my target value???
try coffeemeetsbagel.com, shaadi.com, halfourdeen.com, zawaj.com, singlemuslim.com…
As a muslim man I have been rejected on the grounds of wrong ethnicity, previous marriage and being too old at 42. Prejudices are rife in our community despite what Islam teaches us. Our people are too materialistic and judgemental and Muslim women’s expectations are far too high for most ordinary men to satisfy. The whole thing has frustrated me to the point where I am now seriously considering marrying outside the religion only so that I may be accepted and loved.
That is soo sad…muslim communities really must change something. Mostly women are not married off, but men are single also…what a disaster. Im 24 but i now that maybe i can never marry because a) im shy because all my life i was like told not to look at a boy and well..wheres my fault in being still single? b) we dont have a lot of relatives and the boys are missing or so old that they can be ..well,too old c) no proposal or suggestion whatsoever..nobodys helping, actually most of the relatives wanna see our family fail…no real people around d) we girls cannot marry unbelievers e) we are doomed, i wont ever consider polygamy f) shaadi.com is not an option..g) i really hope Allah has a plan or something because i dont know why he is torturing us here..maybe we dont care about marriage but society is killing us.
h) i forgot: im quite educated and marrying someone down..is..strange but it wont ever succeed in my case..my whole family is too educated to be married off to someone who isnt going to university..we cant choose someone from the streets, i think you know what i mean. But good to normal looking guys with education and being religious/pious(must not be the beard or clothing but being muslim at least) are nowhere to find.
Ok, so I am actually suffering from difficulties in finding a match for myself, having tired all kinds of different avenues for over two years. So, I’ve taken some initiative to prepare a special offer to anyone who can help me. Please check out my YouTube video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFj7h6R5Vnk) and website page (http://abcdmatchmaker.weebly.com/). If you can help, that’d be great, and if you can refer this to any other matchmakers, that’d be great too, iA. (yes, it’s come down to this for me). Don’t know if anyone will read this comment, and be able to help, but anything is worth a try at this point
All Muslim men want is light hair/light skin, light everything. Being a Muslim along side those qualities is a plus. Oh and she has to be young, of course. By that I mean she can’t pass the age of 25. All the men in my family are like this, and they talk about it openly.
last thing I am looking for is a muslim man. They have zero respect for the sexual rights of women. Ask the married women around you and you will realize that most do not receive an orgasm and have men who hate them for even wanting one. Muslim men believe the relationship is all about them and women is just a provider of all their emotional and sexual needs and an audience for their monologues; despite offering very little as companions, most muslim men want women to be grateful because they give them their paychecks. Yuck! I want nothing to do wiht these misogynist pigs! and yes, I have known muslim men and the so-called “good guys” are usually the most misogynist. My advice to any young woman would be to look outside the muslim community if they want a healthy happy mutually respectful sex life.
If a man is a sincere Muslim, he will view marriage as a partnership of mutual respect and value the rights of his wife. It’s the typical American who is bred to view women as objects who is more likely to mistreat their wife in the long run (they get good at getting a women’s attention, but after marriage, the concept of commitment and dedication is a joke to them).
Hey, I don’t date and I never run after guys with cool style or fancy cars. I live in the world’s most muslim populated country. My dream when I was in High School was a wedding in my 25 with a good muslim man. But when in university I forgot to study “How to Attract Your Ideal Muslim Man”. LOL! Now I am 31, and still single. What I feel is… when ladies are given the chance to ‘strengthen’ themselves.. in and out, they could surely become stronger and better then their male ‘competitors’. I study hard… work hard… and I am so independent. The only man who supports and kisses me is my father. So, I am a daddy’s girl in my middle high society… often see the muslim men loosing their solidity. So I cannot expect too much, but I still have strong faith, and I am proud of it.
My lovely lovely Sistas’ reading all of your comments particularly from the last two renowned and highly intellectual scholars of Islamic Ummah mashaAllah, I have come to conclusion we need no men to tell us what we should be doing!! Its about time sistas, lets kick their butt. You see Islam again all prophets were men, Sexist!!! Men have to go out and earn the living and then take care of us and our children while they think we are moaning and winging endlessly and busy doing nothing, again Sexist!! They have to travel out of their homes to the mosque to pray while we get to pray inside our homes huh!!
You see we Western brought up Muslim women have done nothing wrong at all. Some people blame us to have a highly self deserving attitude, a huge ego, and adopting the ways of kuffaar. Hell, some even go as far as to say we dont have any manners and are even confused between East and West. However the reality is far from it. They give us examples of happily married women from Asia and Arab countries. but you know what we aint like being treated a slave like all those stupid women. We aint gonna be treated like baby making machines staying at home and loving our families like women have done for centuries. Poor women of these third World chaotic and pathetic countries. We have got FREEDOM! We go out and enjoy. We are nobody’s slave! We can go out and dance drink and have sex but what matters is that we do what we want! Why are we expected to act like a decent muslim girl who will take care of family and fit the traditional roles HUH!!
And as for anyone who thinks we are not valuable. Well we all are approached by hundreds of mulsim men looking to marry when we are in our 20s but they want us to stop partying! What! and Moreover for us sistas who are the most prettiest/elegant and classy women in the World (much better looking the Megan Fox!) these men look like well Star Trek voyagers haha loollz!
As for sister Sameenah, I totally agree with her. Its time all those hot non Muslim men (ONLY Blonde Caucasians please) who are yearning to spend the rest of their lives with us be allowed to have their birth right! That is when these Muslim men will realize what they have lost!! Then they will realize that its not that we had our heads up our backside when we were younger and are bitter now since we aint getting any which is obviously completely lie!
Sameenah, yes lets change the religion after all the prophets are men!!!! Lets start by kicking our dad’s and bro’s butts. Sisters let us unite for our rights against this filthy men!!!!!
Feminazi… i think you have misinterpreted the muslim women’s mind. For muslim women, taking care their home and family under their guardian is the most blessing thing. I am sure that we muslim women would love to take care our children, the house, and our husband… but we would only do that if we find a true muslim man that we can trust to be our care taker for our whole life.
The safest place for muslim women will be their home…
I didn’t comment on your comment. It wasn’t really addressed to me and nor did I find the content to warrant a reply. But what I was telling Feminazi about are the widely consistent consequences and repercussions which could lead to if she doesn’t change her attitude.
That attitude will lead you to end up with a playboy who makes you feel special, and then dumps you when you start hitting your mid 30s (or sooner if he gets bored with you) for someone hotter, and you end up old and lonely. Women and men are not equal, and neither is better than the other, but we are different.
Ahmed… did you reply my lines? if so.. i believe that many women here are already in their 30’s including me. Funny, but “age and aging speed” is very relative to me and that’s not the matter of the issue mentioned 🙂
Sorry… i didn’t wear my glasses, so i could not see well (aging case!). But you’re right. Women & men are equal. But neither really knows the true quality of one person until the test comes.
For example.. in the beginning of this year, a mother told me happily about her daughter marriage, she told me that her son in law was a truthful muslim man. I was happy for that and wished for the same thing for me. But four months later, last week, she came to my mother and i heard her speaking about her daughter illness (cancer) and her son in law has thrown her away. Soon i compared to a man who took care of my aunty until her last breath. Few years later, he remarried again with a matured lady after his children agreed.
And i think that.. any men & women who think that they are truthful should not boast too much about themselves nor underestimate other people. The real test will show the truth. That’s scary.
SATIRE!!!probably by a kaafir
One thing that hurts me the most is… when i find some muslim men throwing some signals like “Give me what you’ve got first, then let me decide”.
I know this article is old but I just wanted to give my opinion on this. I can understand how the author feels about women being too “picky” but I think men are just as picky and I think there should be another way too look at this.
Where have all the good muslim men gone? This is a question I also wonder. I’m a 21 year old women studying in New York. I know many muslim men and we are friends but I know less than five who do not drink alcohol, smoke weed, have sex etc. The world is changing right before my eyes as freshman year everyone was so innocent, protected at home with mom dad watching over us. Two months in nearly 95% of the guys had changed. It didn’t matter if you were indian/arab/nigerian/etc, this is what I saw and most
muslims living on campus would agree. The sad truth is that with muslims its usually all or nothing. You’ll never meet a muslim who moderately drinks alcohol or moderately has affairs or moderately does anything prohibited. Once the ship has sailed, moderation is out and they do these things more than my christian/hindu/ jewish friends.
Of course, their family doesn’t know this and so they live their life in sort of a hypocrisy. Now I’m a senior and you can bet I ask this question! My feelings of marriage are bleak at most, and if I find a muslim man who doesn’t do those things and I get remotely along with then I’d marry him. I could care less about love/passion/looks because finding just that is hard enough. Marriage has become a life resume where my job, status, looks, age etc matter so much more than my Islamic practices let alone personality. This is the sad truth and muslim men and women in their twenties get all their illusions about marriage and love cleared. Of course, this is not the case of every muslim but generally speaking it is true not just from my experience but my sibling’s and other muslim friends as well.
What the author says is true but shouldn’t there be something more be said? If I am not beautiful should I be ridiculed for it, or if I do not come from a wealthy family should I be rejected? Am I too too old to be loved?
Marriage is beyond these things and above anything stands as sort of a protection. If both sides would lessen the superficiality of the resume by even 25%, it wouldn’t be so diffcult. Finding a good muslim partner is hard enough without it.
What I’m trying to understand is why I didn’t go this way if 95% of guys have done this. Instead, I’ve avoided all the major sins. I’m not proud of the Muslim that I am, because I know I have work to do in being more regular with salat, and just being a better person in general, but I’ve never dared violate the clear limits of Islam when I had the opportunity in college. I logically understood why Islam forbids what it forbids. I think maybe one reason was also that I just tend to not care about having a lot of friends. Maybe it’s just a matter of how much one values social status. All I care about is just being normal to the few other people who think as I do, and don’t care about being popular or cool
Oh well here we go again picky-women, missed-the-boat women and so on and so forth. Its kun fa ya kun. No matter how much you want it, if he said ‘no’or perhaps ‘not yet’.. then that be it. what more can we women do? So just pray.. if he gives insyaallah it will be the best.who doesn’t want to have the best for themselves? Anyways beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. .. who are we to jugde about others. I hope the best for my single sisters and brothers out there. Insyaallah, the best is yet to come. .
Although I understand the sentiments of the slightly aggravated single Muslim women above, I also agree with some of the arguments laid out in this article, as – whether we like it or not – there is a fair amount of truth in them!
However, I don’t believe we (Muslim women) are finding it difficult to meet “good Muslim men” because we have left it too late or that we missed out on the good guys back in our twenties. The only decent men I met during my twenties, for example, were non-Muslims!
Both genders are guilty of “mulling over a non-existent shortage” of good Muslim men/women while perhaps not appreciating what may be “right under [their] nose[s].”?
Unbelievable! It is always the woman’s fault! The fact of the matter is that with globalization most men don’t want to marry anymore unless they are in their late thirties or early forties because they are just having too much fun sowing their oats. When they do finally decide to settle down, they don’t want someone from their generation but someone 20 years younger. Anyway, the health of the community is the men’s responsibility so the muslim men of this age will have to answer for their actions. It is not the woman who proposes but the man so the responsibility lies with him.
That is a very stupid thing to say. Men work hard to enable themselves to support a family and so they could fulfill their responsibilities as Allah would have them do. It is the women who reject men because they are not wealthy and successful enough so the men wait further and work hard until they can marry the women of their choice. Meanwhile the women get older and the men who have worked hard to get the women they want have transferred their attention to the young women who they always wished to marry. And why shouldn’t they. It is not the men that ‘are just having too much fun sowing their oats’, its actually women just lazily waiting for a better proposal. The men are working hard to make themselves better men. As for the health of the community ? When women refuse to marry men, it is they who endanger the health of the community. Do you really believe that all these rejected men would remain practicing, chaste and patient Muslims. Of course not. They would fall into corruption and then the women would complain that they only care for looks and sex and wealth in a woman etc. As for the men who propose to women, well that is not their job only. A woman could propose to a man. A lot of Muslim women proposed to Muhammad SAW in his life. The responsibility does not lie with us, it lies with the one who acts wrongly. When a father does not give his daughter in marriage to a good Muslim then he is responsible. If a woman rejects a adequate proposal then she is responsible.
You have to think about what kind of man you want. If you want a practicing Muslim of the right aqeeda then you have to become the kind of woman he would want to marry. As for approaching men. Ask for your parent’s help or go to him directly and propose him. It doesn’t have to be embarrassing or weird. Certainly if you have no mahram to help you in this matter then as long as you do it in a public place and guard your modesty it should be fine. I am not saying its right for you to talk to namahram men though, but if you are veiled and have no namahram in a western country then this is the lesser evil.
Hey Any Single Muslimah ladies interest let me know. Contact me through my email thrahman at gmail dot com. I’m 25 year old muslim single, trying to find the muslima lady of my dreams. Tired of being a single muslim man.