Q: Is it true you guys are not allowed to date before you marry? Okay. How do you get to know each other to know if this is the person you want to marry? I know this is silly, I'm just curious. No, no no. I don't men it's silly to not date. I mean my asking is about it is kinda silly. No disrespect intended
A: Well a physically intimate interaction is completely forbidden, before marriage. Therefore dating in the sense of intimate physical encounter is an impossibility. In my case, (as well as in the case of my brother), I went to the house of my wife along with the family, without my wife knowing, the purpose of the visit. Once my parents got my approval, they sent the proposal to the parents of my wife. And after the investigations, that were carried out by my inlaws, and after consultation with my wife, they got her approval. And that is how we got married. And when we got married, it was like as if we knew each other already. It may be a rare case, but the bottom line is that we went along each other very well. Both I and my wife were flexible and adjusted according to one another. In fact we do enjoy each other's co. very much. We are blessed with each other and also with very loving and well behaved children. Marriage, in my opinion, is still a matter of a gamble. No matter how much precautions you may take and how many calculations you do about your partner. It can still be a success as well as a failure. Our system some how works. The very high success rate of marriages in Pakistan is a clear manifestation of that. @Edit: I was engaged before I got engaged with my wife. My first fiance talked to me on the telephone and soon decided that I was not compatible to her. So the engagement ended. I and my wife remained engaged for about 7-8 months and did talk to each other on telephone. Though we did not have much in common, yet compatibility was not an issue. Therefore we got married and by grace of Almighty we are a happily married couple.