A Great Courtship & 'رب اني لما أنزلت إليّ من خير فقير'

I am from a generation raised on Twilight and Gossip Girl, but I preferred the grand passion of Wuthering Heights. That was my idea of a romance - filling each other completely, a religion of love.

It also came from Indian movies - rich girl falls for poor guy, they dance around trees in the rain, then drama ensues from the family, enter Prem Chopra character, the guy runs off with girl, the end.

Sometimes, he would dash in with a monologue and take her away while she was getting married to someone else. How many girls are still waiting for their Salman/Saif/Shahrukh Khan to take them away on a white horse in a red lehenga?

When in love, according to Freud: "Against all the evidence of her/his senses, a wo/man who is in love declares 'I' and 'you' are one, and is prepared to behave as if it were a fact."

This love is so destructive, so impossible. Based on these notions, I have nursed many a heartbroken friend. I remember being in ER after she burnt herself with a cigarette because she wasn't allowed to see him - another time, helping to hide another's bruises under makeup, where he punched her for talking to his buddy.

My own quest was less for the pain, more for the eternal flutter in my heart.

What were we thinking? Allah made us - He put these feelings in our heart, so why didn't we ever think of turning to His book to see how 'boy meets girl' really works? It's all in there.

I read of a great courtship, a love story that is so romantic it's divine.

The setting: Madyan, the land of frankincense. I can almost smell it lingering in the air. Historian Abdullah al Wohaibi writes that Madyan was "a flourishing ancient town with numerous wells and permanently flowing springs whose water had good taste. There were farms, gardens and groves of palm trees."

Here we meet Safura, the daughter of Shuaib عليه السلام at the side of a gushing spring, "keeping back, stopping her sheep from drinking with the sheep of the shepherds." And Moosa عليه السلام, a fugitive on the run for eight days, crossing the burning desert sands from Egypt, feeding off nothing but tree leaves.

Their meeting is a beautiful example of chivalry, a perfect model of what it means to be a man and a woman.

This was her daily routine and she waited out of her sense of modesty. She and her sister were strong women - after all, herding their father's flock wasn't easy work. They were surrounded by rowdy men, reminding me of scenes from Rosebank, Sandton, or Melrose Arch where rowdy boys hang out: men yelling, pushing, with little dignity or sense of composure. He, however, was a gentleman amongst the uncouth.

She didn't need his help, she could have waited until all of the other men were done and then watered her flock, but that's what makes it so special - that he still stood up to help her.

Moosa عليه السلام was thirsty too, but his sense of doing the right thing was stronger than his fatigue or his hunger. He was honorable - he could have ignored the sisters, could have said "I'm too tired, too important." He had no relationship with these women. He didn't know what family or religion they were from. All he saw was someone was being treated unfairly and for the sake of Allah, he was ready to help.

Sisters, a man like that will get you far in life. He will be just with your children, your parents and his parents. He will help you in your faith, your home and your life. As for the ones pushing each other to get the water from the well, they are the same brothers who will keep fighting for the Dunya.

They will keep working away for the next promotion and you will be left on the side, like the two sisters from Madyan.

When Moosa عليه السلام approached the water, he saw that the shepherds had placed an immense rock that could only be moved by ten men, over the mouth of the spring. Moosa عليه السلام embraced the rock and lifted it out of the spring's mouth, "the veins of his neck and hands standing out as he did so." He let their sheep drink and then put the rock back in its place.

After he did this kind act, he went back in the shade of the tree and made dua. Unlike some brothers who like to walk the sisters to their apartments and then ask them if they have food in the fridge, he didn't ask the girls: "Hey! I did you a favor, can you help me out now?"

No, he lies down on Allah's green earth and makes this beautiful dua: "So he watered (their flocks) for them; then he turned back to shade, and said: 'My Lord! I am truly in need of whatever good that You bestow on me!'"(Qur'an, 28:24) Ata bin As Saib said in Tafsir ibn Kathir: "When Moosa عليه السلام made that dua, the women heard him."

What a beautiful dua to make for all of us who are looking for a good partner or bliss in our married lives. This one dua to Allah gave Moosa عليه السلام a job, a house, and a family all at once. When you have nothing left except Allah, then you will find that Allah is always enough for you.

The two sisters came home with the well-fed sheep, surprising their father Shuaib عليه السلام. He asked them what had happened, and they told him what Moosa عليه السلام had done. So he sent one of them to call him to meet her father. She said: "My father is inviting you so that he may reward you for watering our sheep."

In Tafsir ibn Kathir it states: "There came to him one of them, walking shyly, meaning she was walking like a free woman." Narrates Umar ibn Khattab رضي الله عنه: "She was covering herself from him (Moosa عليه السلام) with the folds of her garment."

Safura is intelligent and intuitive. Abdullah bin Masud praised three peoples' intuition: Abu Bakr Siddiq رضي الله عنه about Umar ibn Khattab, Yusuf عليه السلام's companion, and Safura's, when she asked her father to hire Moosa عليه السلام: "Verily, the best of men for you to hire is the strong, the trustworthy."

Her father said to her: "What do you know about that?" She said to him: "He lifted a rock which could only be lifted by ten men, and when I came back with him, I walked ahead of him, but he said to me: 'Walk behind me, and if I get confused about the route, throw a pebble so that I will know which way to go.'"

He didn't follow her, looking at her from behind - subhanAllah. Imagine the scenario: he was a prince who must have had women throwing themselves at him but he 'lowers his gaze', which is the hukm for all Muslim men, but how many really adhere to that?

Here Moosa عليه السلام is not Safura's husband yet, so he asks her to walk behind him, knowing very well that he doesn't know the way but she does. It wasn't a matter of ego or superiority - he was concerned about her honor as he was alone, without her sister. This way he was protecting her. Look at their society too - if all the men were such boors, could you put it past those people to gossip about her walking with him?

I often wonder how Moosa عليه السلام grew up to be this way? He came from such privilege, so much corruption existed in the court of Pharoah - he could have had any woman he wanted. But he learnt how to honor women from his pious foster mother, Aasiya رضي الله عنها, and continued this respect even hundreds of miles away from his mother's eyes.

Mothers can be shields for their sons - even if their fathers are Pharoahs.

Back to our courtship: Moosa عليه السلام takes Safura's 'lead' by making her throw stones to direct the route. Brothers, there's a lesson for you here: it's okay to ask for directions and consulting with a woman. Such a man's bravado would be insulted today; he would be considered crazy or sexist for asking a woman to walk in his shadow and then make her do all the work!

Armed with our liberal arts education, we often undervalue a man's masculinity. Such hoopla is made over where the husband walks - in front, side by side, behind you.

Safura then hires Musa Moosa عليه السلام and chooses to marry him under her father's guidance. There was no long engagement and no endless conversations - no promises of unending love. How many times do we pass up great partners because we haven't 'clicked?'

What did she like about him in those short meetings? First of all, she sees he is not a wimp. He stood up for her when they were strangers, imagine what he would do for her when she becomes his wife. He complements her life - she needs a man in her household, to help her run her business (we see the same theme in the blessed union of Prophet Muhammed صلى الله عليه و سلم and our mother, Khadija رضي الله عنها).

This story reinforces in me the reason why my husband is always going to be the leader of my family. He leads well so that I may willingly follow.

Moosa عليه السلام agrees to the terms Safura's family sets for their marriage. She admires his trust in Allah, his ability to problem solve, his strength and his manners. If women looked for these four characteristics in a man, instead of the countless other things we focus on, will we not find our own beautiful Moosa?

Furthermore, if we are consumed by the love we have for our spouse, will there be space in our hearts for Allah? Heathcliff and Catherine of Wuthering Heights had replaced God for each other. They needed to fuse their identities and thought they had attained heaven. Bronte's mysticism notwithstanding, love like theirs is asocial, amoral and irresponsible.

After reading Moosa and Safura's love story though, I learned that we should love for the right reasons: for his support, his strengths, and his sense of responsibility for the sake of Allah. He doesn't need to complete you. It's enough that he complements you. And it is this evolving courtship that will inshaAllah knock the tunes out of every Indian movie.

DISCLAIMER: I have not written this, nor do I know who wrote this. If there are any errors factually or grammatically, I apologize. I merely received this piece years ago, and thought it was beautifully written, and as such it contains many lessons for us. جزاكم الله خيرا