 Sometimes in our communities, people imagine that when two people get married who hitherto that point and not know each other, that's arranged. No, on the contrary, you may find someone in the community who can arrange for the two of you to get to know each other. There's a difference between arranging a meeting between two people and arranging or forcing two people to get married to one another. So, following on from Prophet Muhammad, how was his marriage built or arranged with Hazrat Khadija As-Salamu Alaih? What were their relationship? He of course works with her and it's beautiful because he works for this woman who no doubt has a fundamental position in early Islamic history. She's got these wonderful names already in early Islam. She's known as Taher, the pure lady. She's known as Ameerat Quraish, the lady who was seen as the princess, for example, of Quraish. And everybody reveres her. Everyone's revered her. Father Khwailid. These are all families who are known as Hanifs. They've stayed on the Abrahamic path. They've never disobeyed in the sense that they've never worshipped an idol or ever been affected by polytheism. And he works for her. And when he works for her, he's still this young man in his mid-20s who's still humbled and awed by her presence. And at the beginning, when he's told to propose for her and when she's told about him, both of them, their answers are the answers of humility. This is sometimes you could turn around and say, who's this person to come and propose for me? Or who does this person think that they think they can have a chance at marrying me? The Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon his family, seen as the absolute embodiment of knowledge and absolute embodiment of humility. And it can be seen in these moments because he doesn't see himself as being, oh, I can marry her easily. I'll point my finger and she'll marry me. On the contrary, you find that there are matchmakers involved. There's the ladies who work alongside her. There's Abu Talib, peace be upon his side. And they don't shy away from telling each of them what you guys are waiting for. And sometimes, those matchmakers, you need them. You need their push. So with the Prophet and Sayyid al-Khadija, it wasn't the Prophet Muhammad directly going to her one day and saying, I want to propose for you. But rather, there were people who were around who begin to institute what later becomes an extremely wonderful act of piety, which brings upon Allah's mercy and that's bringing two people together. We underestimate how much reward there is in the traditions of the Ahl al-Bayt al-Masalam for those who bring two people together in marriage. From the rewards of heaven being guaranteed for them, to the rewards that Allah's mercy depends on that person, to the rewards that the angels seek forgiveness on behalf of a person who brings a couple together and gets them married. So you find with the Holy Prophet, peace be upon his side, and Sayyid al-Khadija, there were a number of people around them who were involved in matchmaking and bringing them together. So in terms of matchmaking, then, how far can you go to make sure a marriage happens? Because I've heard, for example, with Qibers, obviously Haram and not recommended to do, but if someone comes and asks you about a specific person that they're interested in marrying, you can almost be an open book about them. What does Islam allow you to do with matchmaking? How far can one go in that sort of situation? Well, I don't think matchmaking is only about giving references for people. Matchmaking is also an awareness of those in the community who may be single, those who may be divorced, those who may be widowed from the male and the female side, and are looking to get married. So the first step is building a database of people in the community and a database of confidentiality that whoever's going to run the matchmaking site or the matchmaking group in the mosque has to be someone who is known to be a person who can keep the people's secrets because this is the people's private lives. They've already probably been through an extremely sensitive time, either not getting married, which for some of them is so difficult to take, understandably, or a very difficult time, for example, after a divorce, or after the loss of a husband or a wife. So the first thing is to get this database of people who can trust you, you trust them, then to get three, four members of the community who you know very well can work alongside you because they are people of very renowned social circles. That's an area which is fundamental, that we have people in our communities who don't realize just how many friends they have. They may have so many friends out there and they may know that this person's looking for a wife, that person's looking for a husband. You know what? Let's try and bring the two of them together. Now, how do you bring the two of them together? That's the third area. Maybe you pick the house of the one who has collected this database in confidentiality and maybe five, six, 10, 15 people come together. And if you, for example, click with someone, then you may mention, for example, that there may be number tags and things like this. And I know certain people laugh at these things and some people say, well, you know what? I don't need to go through this process. You may be fortunate to be part of a community where you're surrounded by people who are lovers of Ahlul Bayt, let's say. There are certain people who belong to communities made up of 10, 15, 30, 40 people. The father, for example, had to move to get a job somewhere in the middle of nowhere. They bought a few Arakes, a couple of Pakistanis, a few Iranian, Lebanese, Afghani, reverse this India. They bought them together. They made an Imam baria. They made a Hussainiyah. They made a jamiah of 40 people, 50 people. You're not going to find all of a sudden for your three daughters, three guys. If you're fortunate, Alhamdulillah, but it's very rare. So you need this database. Now, whether it's online, whether it's face-to-face, it is an act of piety, and it should be done. If there is someone out there who says, for example, why you say the traditions say that God's mercy descends on the one who brings two people together, if they say to you, okay, the Ahlul Bayt, alayhum salam, did anyone seek a matchmaker from them? It's an interesting question. If you look at the Ahlul Bayt, alayhum salam, I would say, Imam Ali Ibn Abi Ta'ab, alayhi salam, one of his marriages was a matchmaker. I would say, Aba al-Fadl al-Abbas, alayhi salam's marriage to Lubaaba was a matchmaker. I would say Imam Al-Hussain's marriage to Sharbanu was a matchmaker. Either they use the Imam present in their time, Aba al-Fadl with his brother, Imam Al-Hussain with his father, or Imam Al-Hussain uses his own brother, Aqeel. When Imam Ameer al-Mu'min, alayhi salam sees that Fatima al-Zahra has passed away and he sees, for example, that he's got these orphans at home, they're young, and he wants to marry someone. He marries a smart bint Umayz, for example. He marries Khawla bin Ja'far, she gives him Muhammad bin Al-Hanafiyah. But then he asks his brother, Aqeel. Aqeel used to know that and Saab, the genealogies, and he asks his brother, Aqeel, he says to him, find me a lady who from her ancestors, there are the bravest of warriors. I ask you, Sayyid Ja'far, Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib, alayhi salam. Could not himself just find someone? We don't believe Imam is the gate to the city of knowledge? He could, but then it wouldn't be a lesson for us to date a father. The Ahlul Bayt, every aspect of their life is a lesson for us. Aqeel satruhim, Aqeel used to place like a mat in the mosque of the Holy Prophet, peace be upon his family in Medina, and people would come and ask him about the different ancestors, and so Aqeel satruhim, he satruhim, give me a month. I'll get back to you. When he later comes back to him, he says to him, there's a lady, Fatima bint Hizam, and this lady, her ancestors are the bravest warriors. Now, nobody knows bravery like Ali ibn Abi Talib, Ali ibn Abi Talib, alayhi salam, from Ammar, the way he knows your marhabs, he knows your Amr ibn Widd al-Amariz, you know, he's fought some warriors, yes, he's fought, you know, he's fought, he's fought others of that ilk. He says to him, he says to him, shall I mention to you the names of some of her ancestors? Now, this is a matchmaker, there's also a matchmaker duo. A matchmaker can see someone who's looking to get married, asks them the criteria, and then after that, there's a hope that, ya Allah, bring them together. Ultimately, it's Allah's mercy when two people come together, and so you find that he says to him, Amr ibn Sa'sa'a is one of her ancestors. And Amr ibn Sa'sa'a as a hobby used to go out in the desert to look for wild animals. Me and Jew would run away from a wild animal. Amr ibn Sa'sa'a used to go, is there any more wild animals that I can go after? I don't want to mess with this guy. And I certainly don't want to mess with his descendants. They said, who else? He says, And when Amr ibn Umni hears these two names, he knows, ya, her family, not to be messed about with. And eventually she is known as who? And she gives him four of the most noble, honorable sons any human being can have. Notice how I put noble and honorable. I don't need to always talk about bravery. Ab al-Fadl, above all else noble, is a noble human being. People always say, Ab al-Fadl, sword, fight, war. There are many who achieve swords and fights. But not many can go to the Euphrates and turn around and say, how can I drink the syrup of this cold water while my brother drinks the syrup of death? So there exists in our history. And that's why when I hear in our communities that there are people who are bringing people together and you hear some people laughing, what's this nonsense, they made this app, they made this site on the country. I have full respect for those. I believe that they continue to follow the path of the Ahl al-Bayt, saying salam and trying to bring members of our communities together. And you know, the way the world of marriage works is unbelievable. As in you sometimes imagine, well, there's only one way. And that is, for example, if my mom knows someone who knows someone, then maybe something can happen. You know what? You may never have imagined that that would be your future partner. But then someone told you, did you know down the road, down the street, in this area, on this area, Allah SWT is the greatest of planners. And so let's try and incorporate more of this into our communities, inshallah.