Thank you and Hello Again

I know I've been neglecting my blog. I apologise.

You must be wondering if the reason is that I got married. Alhumdulillah, I'm still single. :D

Frankly, my reason for avoiding this blog was because I was conflicted at the time regarding things I should speak about and things I shouldn't. At times when I thought to write something, it sounded rather depressing or repetitive. I am still speaking to brothers but with perhaps not as much regularity as I used to. Unfortunately, certain factors are not in my favour. At this point, my age being one of them. I've definitely noticed a decline in the number of interests I've received. But... I only need 1. :)

Thank you to all who have left comments. I'm still in the process of going through them. Some of you had written a very long time ago. I'm sorry to have kept you waiting. Especially those who were waiting to hear from me. There is at least one comment that is more personal in nature. If you are still interested in a reply, feel free to leave an email address in the comment, I shall get back to you through that and since the comments do not appear until I approve of them, no one else will see your email address. You know who you are.

As for the question of whether I will continue blogging or not, I'm not sure myself. I didn't even intend to blog today. Just being spontaneous. Let's see how things go.

But in future if I do happen to get married, I'll definitely remember to leave you all a little post, inshaAllah. :D

Considering Someone Younger

Islamically, there's nothing wrong with the husband being younger since Prophet Muhammad (saw) and Khadija (ra) had an amazing marriage together irrespective of their age but they were both amazing people themselves. Extremely mature and level headed.

Recently I started speaking to a brother and we haven't had many conversations or a proper one for that matter but it's only yesterday that I realized that he's younger to me. It puts our conversations into perspective since realizing this fact. I don't think I've made the best impression myself because I felt he was too laid back and I'm getting the feeling he's not really interested even though he initiated the communication. Maybe I'm reading it wrong and he feels it's better to not be too formal. I'm still a little unsure of the right balance. Being formal just seems the safer route for me. Plus it translates your seriousness in the matter.

For now, I'm considering to judge him based on his personality and see if we can be compatible or if he's truly not serious about marriage.

The Age Factor

Although not a problem for most Muslims getting married, it is a problem for some Muslim brothers and sisters. It's interesting to see that brothers and sisters face difficulties in getting married when they are at different "extremes" of age. Most brothers find it harder to get married when they are younger (18 - 21) whereas most sisters find it harder to get married as they approach the big 30s!

Who decides what is a good age to get married at? Primarily, it's our family, our society and our culture. But at times, we are the ones creating problems for our own brothers and sisters.

For the younger brothers, the problem lies in 2 specific matters. First, the issue of maturity (or lack of it in some cases which is subjective) as sisters of the same age or older do not seem to find it matches to their level. Second, the issue of being able to be responsible for a family. Every father wants that his daughter should be looked after properly by their husband and the way this is seen is by contemplating upon the education one has or the job one is pursuing. Many sisters may or may not willingly agree to this.

Pic taken from here.
For older sisters, the issue becomes of beauty. It is extremely obvious that brothers are looking for an attractive spouse and so most older brothers naturally look for it in much younger sisters ignoring the sisters who are of their own age group. This leads to the rise in the number of sisters who are older and single. And because the younger sisters tend to marry much older brothers for their maturity and jobs, the brothers of their ages find it harder to get married. This has lead to a new trend among Muslims (although not so popular as yet) of younger brothers preferring to marry older sisters for their patience and, perhaps, independence, giving them time to stand up on their own feet.

Although we talk about the marriage of Prophet Muhammad (saw) to Khadija (ra) and how it is acceptable for a younger guy to marry an older lady, we rarely choose to apply this to ourselves and give ourselves and the potential spouses, who are slightly outside our age range, a chance to get to know for marriage. Perhaps, if this trend were more popular, it would increase the chances of both brothers and sisters getting married and of course, increasing one's options. Just a thought. :)