Yusuf and I also had similar values: We both prioritized education. We both valued our faith. We both tried to pray five times a day, though sometimes the day would get ahead of us, and we’d miss a prayer or two—and we both wanted to be better at that. We also wanted to find love in a halal way: find a marriage candidate, get to know them, and if things looked promising, get our families involved. The latter part would be easy for us, at least: in typical Pakistani American fashion, our families already distantly knew each other—some second cousin of mine had married one of his second cousins.
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