A love story between an Iraqi and a Moroccan via the Internet .. crowned marriage in Ankara

Ahmed Al-Dabbagh-Mosul

Those who said that love does not make miracles, Bilal al-Iraqi and Fatima of Morocco were able to draw a story of challenge in their love, which ended in marriage, despite the many obstacles and distance between their countries.

Bilal al-Nuaimi, 24, is from Mosul, northern Iraq, while Fatima al-Zahra, 23, is from the Moroccan city of Safi, 200 km south of Casablanca.

The story began in the summer of 2017, when Bilal told Al-Jazeera Net that after the removal of Mosul from the organization of the Islamic State traveled to Kirkuk (north of Baghdad) to complete his studies at the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Mosul (alternative site).

He explained that his story was when she was introduced to a Moroccan girl through the application of the intimation in June 2017. The story of an honest relationship was created, which, months later, developed into mutual admiration and love. Bilal asked Fatima to marry after graduating from the university in the summer of 2019, But he offered to speed up the request for marriage.

Bilal gave Fatima's sermon from her father through the wattasab. The approval came a week later, noting that her father's approval to marry his daughter to an Iraqi was a surprise for him.

Fatima al-Zahra said in her interview with al-Jazeera Net that love comes without warning, adding that she was afraid that her parents would not agree to be associated with an Iraqi young man separated by thousands of kilometers.

Fatima said that the dowry, gold and wedding supplies are secondary matters as long as love exists, asking about the usefulness of money without love between spouses.

Will wither iron
According to Bilal, the first logistical obstacle to his marriage was the distance between the two countries, estimated at about six thousand kilometers.

When Bilal tried to travel to Morocco to proceed with Fatima's request for marriage, he was surprised that Iraqis had been barred from entering Morocco since 2015, as well as the absence of diplomatic representation for Morocco in Baghdad, which made it impossible to enter Bilal.

Not only that, in July 2018, the Kingdom of Morocco issued a compulsory recruitment decision for both sexes, and Bilal had to be married before November of the same year, the month of entry into force of the resolution.

Several attempts continued for four months Bilal decided then to come Fatima and her father to Turkey, to be married in Ankara.

Another problem Bilal encountered was the financial costs of completing his marriage to Fatima and her father, along with the cost of preparing for the wedding, but he was able to overcome them with the help of friends and family to be married on 22 November 2018.

Parents' opposition
Bilal was initially opposed to his father. Bilal's father, Mashhal Saleh, told Al-Jazeera Net: "I was surprised by Bilal's request to marry a Moroccan girl and I rejected his request in the first place."

He explained his refusal that Bilal had a volatile temperament, as well as the difference of character between Morocco and Iraq and how Fatima would fit in a city like Mosul, which destroyed large parts of it.

However, after extensive insistence and discussion with Bilal, his father agreed, provided that Bilal bore the consequences of his decision.

Fatima's father, Mohamed Hanzaz, told Al-Jazeera Net that he was hesitant to approve his daughter's marriage to an Iraqi and what it would take after she built thousands of kilometers.

When he spoke to Bilal on the phone, he began to change his mind and was convinced that the young man had been prepared to marry his daughter. He felt great determination and love and finally convinced him that he would marry his daughter Bilal.

Pros and Cons
In this regard, says sociologist and professor of cultural anthropology at the University of Mosul Qusay Riyad in his speech to the island Net that the advantages of marriage through social networking sites bring people and cultures closer.

He pointed out that the negatives are manifested through the intellectual, moral and behavioral differences between the two parties, as well as the absence of a sensory environment that facilitates emotional rapprochement between the spouses in the event of distance between them. This may contribute to concealing many of the defects and negatives that emerge after marriage, Controversy.

He pointed out to caution about this method of acquaintance in the shadow of Iraqi tribal society under the rule of religious and social values, which puts the family in front of many challenges.