In this spellbinding story from author Waheeda Joosab, a beautiful, intelligent, and strong-willed Muslimah, Zainub Habib, finds herself in a nikah, arranged over-night, thanks to her terminally ill father, with a successful, good looking, and free-thinking lawyer, Ahmed Mia.
Ahmed Mia never intended to marry, EVER! When his late dad’s friend, Uthman Habib calls on him to help wind up his estate so that his daughter, Zainub, wouldn’t have to, he wasn’t counting on being asked to marry her too! Zainub Habib dropped out of medical school to become her father’s primary caregiver when he became terminally ill. Tending faithfully to her father’s daily needs, the last thing she expected when Ahmed Mia appeared on their doorstep one fine morning was that he was about to become her husband overnight. Life becomes complicated when Ahmed realises that the union compromised his lifestyle and preconceived philosophies. Living with a simple, unpretentious Niqabi, whose charming simplicity and mesmerizing beauty was attractive and intriguing, hooked him enough to scare him away from the temptation of ever loving her fully. In her quest to be a loving wife and daughter in-law, Zainub must wait to find out whether the roses she thinks she sees in Ahmed will blossom from the water she pours on his thorns…
Durban-based author, educator and wellness counsellor, Waheeda Joosab is a mother of two who holds a BA Hons degree in Psychology. She is founder of Educator Wellness SA, an enterprise that focuses on the wellbeing of teachers. Waheeda also sustains an award-winning blog called What Waydi Says, where she focuses on positivity and spirituality. Kismet - for roses to blossom... is her first book.
This book follows a beautiful strong-willed muslimah, Zainub Habib who finds her herself in a marriage of convenience arranged by her terminally ill father with a successful, good looking laywer, Ahmed Mia. Ahmed never had the intention to settle down but when Zainub's father asks him to help settle his estate so that his daughter doesnt have to, he doesnt expect to be asked to marry Zainub. When her father became critically ill, dropped out of medical school to care for him. Having carefully attended to her father's everyday requirements, the last thing she expected when Ahmed Mia came on their doorstep one morning was that he was about to become her husband overnight. When Ahmed sees that his marriage has jeopardised his lifestyle and preexisting philosophies, his life becomes complicated. Living with a simple woman like Zainub,whose simplicity and captivating beauty fascinates him enough to scare him away from the temptation of ever truly loving her. "In her quest to be a loving wife and daughter in-law, Zainub must wait to find out whether the roses she thinks she sees in Ahmed will blossom from the water she pours on his thorns…"
*mini spoilers*
I literally wanted to climb in this book and comfort Zainub. I could relate to her so much, especially through her grief because I've personally gone through the loss of a parent and I cannot imagine having to uproot your life after such a daunting experience. Ahmed on the other hand had me so frustated through most of the book & was a literal red flag but i dont fullly dislike him. This man had his own insecurities and guilt within himself and didnt really know what he fully wanted essentially. This book also showed the everyday obstacles that many people encounter through marriage. I loved this muslim romance.
Looking foward to the author's future work
In this book; - muslim romance - impromptu nikkah - love after marriage - opposites attract - under one roof - resilence through spiruality
This was such an easy read... It was so well written and definitely relatable in many ways! Zainub and Ahmed are married due to very uncoventional circumstances. An arranged marriage of sorts..and obviously, marriage not being a bed of roses and all, they have differences they need to work through.. I don't want to give too much away, but they both were brought up in very different ways and need to figure out how and if they can work well together!
I absolutely loved Zainub's character, and her life is one that so many Muslim women go through with regards to her studies and home responsibilities.. Ahmed is more of a loner, coming from a broken home and definitely not used to sharing his life. Ahmed, referred to as a "red flag" by quite a few readers, really made me mad at times! At one point, he literally made my heart break for Zainub, and I hated him.. but having his POV in some chapters helped to understand the internal battles that he was fighting! I feel that both the characters showed growth throughout the book!
I only wished for more love between them.. some of the situations they faced were so tense that I wished they would just kiss and make it all better!😅
All in all, I could have devoured this book in one sitting, and once I started, I wanted to keep reading!
Refreshing, insightful read. I enjoyed exploring the thoughts and feelings of a niqabi in contemporary South Africa and her relationship with God. The author tackles romance in a beautiful, halaal way which makes the reader reflect on their own relationships. Vivid imagery and a unique romance I will remember for a long time.
*Contains spoilers* Seeing the marketing of this book, I was led to believe that it was some great halal love story. Unique story, beautifully written, the reviews said. So, of course, I had to buy it and see what the fuss was about. I'm not sure if everyone else read the same book as me, but this book was a major disappointment. It had no romance at all. The characters were flat, lackluster, and had no personality. There isn't much happening in the story bedside Zainub cooking, cleaning, and serving Ahmed hand and foot while he completely ignores her. The reason for his ill-treatment of her didn't even make sense. He marries Zainub for the sake of honoring his dead father whom he didn't have a relationship with. They supposedly have this magical wedding night and then when he takes her back to his home in Durban, he can't believe he acted so impulsively and proceeds to ignore her and lets her sleep in the guest bedroom. Being the meticulous lawyer that he was, he didn't stop to think what marrying a niqabi would mean apparently. While he doesn't bother with her at all, he makes sure to hand over his jacket and bag each time he comes home because man-child can't put it away himself. He also lives the good life of enjoying the food she cooks and making sure she knows he's in charge.
But let's not vilify him too much because he does feel guilty about the way he treats her even though it continues for 7-8 weeks. *Insert bombastic side-eye.* I read this was a grumpy-sunshine book. No, this is what abuser and abused look like. He emotionally abused her. He eventually realizes he needs help for his daddy issues but never gets that help, but apparently, Zainub ends up going for therapy? He was able to solve his problems himself apparently.
When everything comes to a head, their solution was to take a sabbatical by having separate apartments and communicate mostly via text message or phone call, and somehow that was enough for Ahmed to fall in love with her? Don't make me laugh. He takes her out once in this entire book. I won't even get started on the date. Ahmed never redeems himself at all in my opinion because while he apparently loves her, later he tries to accuse her of infidelity and refuses to allow her to explain the situation. When he does finally decide he is ready to listen, Zainub is the one who thinks she has to get over her ego and explain. Really?
Everything went according to what Ahmed wanted. He was nothing more than a petulant child. Some cringe moments of them talking about pizza toppings is not going to melt my heart. There was so much talk about Zainub being intelligent and ambitious but none of that is shown. She cooks, cleans, goes shopping, repeat. NOTHING ELSE! The only time it is told that she finishes her studies of becoming a doctor is in the epilogue. She had to google hobbies for goodness sake!
As an editor myself, I'm uncertain how the glaring inconsistencies in the story were missed. The descriptions were tedious. Why were 2-3 pages to explain how a room looked necessary? This book could have been easily cut by at least 50 pages and still, you would have missed nothing. The head hopping gave me whiplash. There is a reason why in most books a chapter is told from one person's point of view. How can three characters' internal dialogue and narrative be mentioned and change between paragraphs?
An epilogue is meant to focus on the couple, instead, I'm told how the wedding hall looks, how their daughter's wedding dress looked. And the last two or so pages tell me about Ahmed and Zainub. Did anyone else notice the mention of emotional infidelity in the epilogue? R200 for anyone who can guess who that probably was. Even though I only paid a dollar for this book, I want my money back. If this is what South African Muslim readers are looking for, then I think I will pass. There are much better overseas Muslim authors whom I can support.
I really wanted to love Kismet, especially since Muslim-centered romance novels are so rare. But this one completely missed the mark for me. I get that the author may have been trying to portray a more realistic take on marriage—but when your leading man is a walking red flag and your heroine spends the entire book apologizing for things that aren’t her fault, it stops being realistic and starts becoming just plain unhealthy.
Ahmed is emotionally distant, controlling, and difficult to empathize with. Zainub, who initially seemed like a strong and independent character, quickly fades into someone constantly tiptoeing around him, blaming herself for everything. That’s not a relationship—it’s a warning sign.
Honestly, I kept waiting for someone to file for divorce. Not sure how anyone found this “heartfelt.” I just found it frustrating
I literally subscribed to KU to get a copy of this book. I was so excited to see a muslim romance book, after having read one before. Only ONE! (Side note: we NEED more muslim romances!!)
Ups: This was a beautifully illustrated realistic story of the typical arranged marriage in a conservative muslim household. I admired reading about a female muslim character in a fictional town the same as mines about her experiences as a new wife.
I also really enjoyed reading a purely realistic love story emerging between the two characters who were seemingly polar opposite but later turned to be so much alike.
I really admired how she always turned to Allah (God! in all moments of hardships and how the authors showed that slowly but surely her prayers were being answered. The theme of spirituality was deep and well conveyed. The resilience and strong belief of Zainab was greatly conveyed with such admiration. It was really inspiring to read about a character who portrayed such a high spiritual connection and was adamant to make her marriage work, seeing that this book realistically conveyed the ups and downs of new marriages.
Downs:
I was really hoping to know whether Zainab continued her medical studies later on in life and assumed it would be addressed in the epilogue. I felt the epilogue skipped too far ahead into their time and would love to have known more about how their relationship blossomed before they had their first child, let alone their first child’s wedding
I felt Zainab’s character was very closed throughout as all she did was cry, excluding those deep in prayer. Hers & Ahmed’s relationship could have gone slightly more in depth if they had actually spoken to each other more as much of the story showed each of their inner thoughts/ stories but none of which were expressed to each other.
Or maybe because I personally hate the miscommunication trope.
Ahmed was a major red flag for me as I felt her really didn’t need to take his anger out on Zainab all the especially since they didn’t know each other & that she had JUST lost her father whom she had only lived with her whole life.
Quick aspects I enjoyed about this book and why I would recommend it:
🤍Muslim romance 🤍Pure/ realistic romance 🤍Love after marriage 🤍Impromptu wedding/ nikkah 🤍Quick romance
The best novel I have read in a long time! It's hard not to fall in love it...The story is so beautifully written. I really enjoyed that it touched on many different topics, giving the reader a wider and deeper perspective of life and how to stay afloat the challenges that inevitably surface. A sense of warmth radiates from this lovely story, and I personally love the string of fatherly love woven into the fabric of it, from the first page to the last. It emphasises how valuable and impactful parents are in a child's life, and how we should always be grateful to them and for being blessed with them. ❤️ Essentially, this is one of those books you want to read over and over...teaching profound lessons centered around placing your complete trust and reliance in Allah, The Most Wise. ❤️ no matter what.
I initially gave it a two star and decided that was being too generous, one seems more befitting. That one, goes to Zainub for being the amazing woman that she is. A woman who got dealt a bad hand at life at a young age and unfortunately at love also, but somehow still manages to see the positive in all.
Hate doesn’t begin to explain the feeling I harbor towards Ahmed. He’s an immature, mean, self serving, abusive, bad temperamental, and ill mannered gigantic caricature looking red flag.
Like, what exactly was the point of this book? To highlight the hypocrisy and abusive nature of marriage? He never deserved Zainub, not even for a day, nor does he even deserve anyone half as good as her. Even I got tired of his weakass excuses and had to slam the book shut.
I found absolutely nothing romantic about this book, which is disappointing. I picked up this book because I wanted to read something light and put a positive light on halal and Islamic marriage. Instead, all I read about was what a marriage should never be about.
Salam.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Amazing storyline, a must read for young Muslim boys and girls. It deals with real life issues ,the misunderstandings between spouses, the emotional roller coasters that each partner goes through and only through the patience, tolerance, good akhlaaq and firm faith in Allah displayed by Zainub and the rethinking, re evaluating and admitting to his mistakes and making amends by Ahmed that brought about the much needed change to make a success of their marriage.
This is must read. The plot is unique, the story telling is engaging and the writing is on point. People who read romance want to get lost in the world that the author creates and Waheeda manages to draw you into real spaces that are at the same time a fantasy. She managea to give you romance that is clean, fun, realistic and at the same time heartstopping. Its a page turner.
Kismet was an amazing read. It showed the real life everyday obstacles that many encounter in their marriage. The book was very interesting and captivating Marriage is by no means a fairytale and needs alot of hard work from both spouses, irrespective of whether you are newly married or married for many years. Great job Waheeda
The plot had potential but i just wish the characters had more depth. The writing didn’t vibe with me. It felt more like a story telling book instead of me being inside the character’s story and hearing them talking, ygm?
It was so much descriptive and the author stating what’s going on with the characters’ lives. I just wish it had more dialogue.
This was a lot of fun to read and the main character was very easy to root for! The dialogue was a bit off sometimes and there could have been more showing rather than telling, but over all it was a good book.
I read this book in one day that’s how much of a turn page it is. The book is well written and the characters are very well developed. I will definitely read it again and will buy the ward copy to add to my library.