Izzy Mo wrote: "This is John, better known by his Muslim name Yahya. He was raised in a moderate Christian family and converted to Islam after he took a class in World Religions. He recalls to us in our April 23rd meeting this story. 'So, after being a Muslim for about two years, I figure it's time for me to be married. You know, fulfill the other half of the deen. I'm looking around for potential spouses, letting everyone know I am interested in marrying a good Muslima. I was so rejected. There was even a nice Pakistani sister who I seemed to have a lot in common with but her father flat out rejected me. "Convert someone from your own community." I thought this was my community.'"
"Convert someone from your own community." Actually, this is what John and Juan, our African-American and Hispanic brothers, would be told. White American Muslim converts, both male and female, tend to be sought after by non-American (and sometimes even American) Muslims. (Heck, I had a black American brother - a friend - tell me that he wished he had a sister so that he could have her marry me. I was very honored by that comment.)
The problem is, I've heard lots of black and hispanic Muslim brothers complain, in person and over the internet, about how difficult it is for them to find spouses among the immigrant community (which, of course, represent about half of the American Muslim population - a very significant number). In looking for my own wife, I had very few problems. I did initially try the internet matchmaking option, and got tons of responses to my ad. (I quickly realized that I didn't need to hunt for women to write to; why should I bother? They all wrote to me first.)
And so I understand why Izzy wrote the above, but this problem tends not to be ours (meaning, us white Muslims).
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