Non-Muslim woman dated man from a conservative Muslim family - heartache
As-salamu alaykum. I need to get this off my chest. For about a year I was seeing a man from a very conservative Afghan family. He himself was raised quite Western - he avoided pork and observed Ramadan, but he doesn’t pray regularly and has had long-term girlfriends in the past who were not Muslim. I genuinely fell for him during that year. But he never introduced me to his family or friends, and we never talked about our future together. Around six months in, I looked at his phone and found messages showing he had been talking to and dating other women. I was devastated but didn’t tell him I’d seen it. Up until then we’d never had a clear conversation about what our relationship actually was. When I finally pushed him to talk, he said he’d developed commitment issues after a difficult breakup with a non-Muslim woman he’d loved and who’d been introduced to his family - they hadn’t approved, she ended things abruptly, and he was still recovering. He also said he wasn’t sure about our chemistry or whether there was a spark. He claimed we were exclusive but not officially together, and that’s how we left it. Six months later I again saw on his phone that he’d been texting and going on dates - this time with a Muslim woman - for more than four months. I confronted him; he first denied it, then admitted he had dated five women in the past six months, all arranged by his family. In later conversations he told me my being non-Muslim meant his family wouldn’t accept me, and that he didn’t feel a deep enough love to fight for. He said he needed to do what his family wanted and marry someone they approved of. I told him I cared deeply, but he essentially ended things, saying that wasn’t sufficient. It’s been four months and I’m still heartbroken. I feel betrayed and manipulated - like he let me believe we were exclusive while seeing others. I keep wondering if, had I not looked at his phone, he might have eventually developed stronger feelings and chosen to stay with me. Losing someone who’d become such a big part of my life has been really painful. Any advice or words of comfort would mean a lot right now.