Feeling Lost Between My Faith and My Relationship
Salaam everyone. I've been in a relationship since 2020, and the first few years were wonderful. We grew together, and my love for him is deep. As I've entered my early twenties, however, I've experienced a profound deepening of my faith. Being a practicing Sunni Muslim has become the foundation of my life, and the desire for a Nikah in accordance with Allah's will has only grown stronger. While this journey has brought me immense peace, I've come to realize that my partner and his family see my spiritual growth as a burden, or even something to joke about. The breaking point came recently. I know it was wrong, but I checked his phone after having a strong feeling something was off. I discovered a message I had sent his mother-a simple, joyful Eid graphic with some Arabic script. To my utter heartbreak, she had forwarded it to their family group chat specifically to mock me and my deen. What hurt the most wasn't even her action; it was his. He didn't defend me or tell them they were being disrespectful. He just reacted with a laughing emoji. When I confronted him, there was no apology for the mockery. He only blamed me for looking at his phone, making me feel completely unprotected and humiliated. This opened the floodgates to conversations we'd been avoiding. He admitted he would be 'uncomfortable' if our future children wanted to fast in Ramadan or if I wanted them to attend the masjid. I grew up going to the masjid and have such beautiful memories of learning and community, so hearing him say he needed to 'protect' them from such influence felt like a direct attack on my upbringing and values. He even confessed he'd be uncomfortable if I ever chose to wear the hijab. Considering my own mother wears hijab, it makes me wonder if he looks down on her or is simply embarrassed by the path I'm on. He often says I 'can’t promise' I won't become more religious, treating my devotion like a scary slippery slope. Between his family's mockery and my own mother having been unkind to him in the past, I feel torn apart from both sides. He suggests we just 'take things slow' and figure it out, but I don't know how when the foundation of mutual respect is gone. I want a happy, blessed relationship where I don't have to apologize for my love of Allah, but I feel a heavy guilt for 'changing' since we first got together four years ago. I love him, but I feel he loves the 2020 version of me and actively dislikes the woman I am becoming. Is it possible to find happiness with someone who views your faith as a threat? Or should I make the difficult choice to walk away from the man I love with all my heart? Any advice on handling this guilt or whether 'taking it slow' is even an option when our visions for the future are so different would be appreciated. JazakAllah Khair.