Where will my destined spouse come from?
Assalamu alaikum, I live in the US and my roots are from Palestine. I’m not thinking about marriage right now, but honestly, this thought pops into my head every single day. Over here, we don’t have that tight-knit community feel like back home, where people are always at your house, connections flow from the village or your friends and neighbors, and that’s how marriages happen. Anyway, my family and I are pretty steadfast in our deen-strict about not chatting with non-mahrams needlessly, no dating, no getting to know someone online or even private messaging. We stick to the Islamic way: if a man is interested, he comes and proposes through her family, not those so-called ‘halal’ dating apps, because they’re basically the same as regular dating apps-private texting without a third person, which is haram. I’m totally against haram relationships and I don’t approach or talk to non-mahrams unless I really have to. Even if I ever have feelings for someone, I don’t think he needs to ‘get to know me’ before approaching my parents. (Sorry for the long ramble.) The main issue is we literally know nobody here. Like, my mom has a couple of friends and my dad knows a bunch of people, but it’s as if none of them even realize I exist or that my dad has a daughter who’s ready for marriage. Where will he come from? How will he know I’m here? People say connections, but connections come from going out, weddings, family friends, and such. We only have two relatives here, that’s it. I feel like in this place, I’ll never find anyone. Can anyone share how they met their destined spouse? Or how do you cope with these questions?