Coffee Wives: Polygamous Muslims

By Linda Ayers

The tell of four women who find a way to get along as they share one husband. Through a good cup of coffee and religion, these women work together in order to raise a family of humble Muslim children.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Apr 1, 2014
• ISBN: 9781493191468

Linda Ayers

Life is a mystery for most of us on this plane. We travel by nights with dreams that seem to disappear as the morn comes about us. I looked at life for many years through the eyes of my mother. My family traveled to different churches seeking instruction for life. As my own mother took a back seat to my religious life, I took the wheel, and followed a different path than my family. Being Muslim defines me as a person and it makes sense to what I have always believed, but was discourage to follow. Alhamdulillah, I am Muslim!

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Copyright © 2014 by Linda Ayers.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2014905790

ISBN:      Hardcover      978-1-4931-9147-5

                 Softcover         978-1-4931-9148-2

                 eBook            978-1-4931-9146-8

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 03/28/2014

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Contents

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1:   The Beginning

Chapter 2:   Helping Others Is Like Helping Yourself

Chapter 3:   Seeing Brown

Chapter 4:   Trouble Shakes The Vine

Chapter 5:   The Next Generation

Chapter 6:   Growing In Life

Glossary

Bibliography

PREFACE

A lhamdulillah, I am Muslim! Being a part of the Islamic faith has given me a unique perspective of how life flourishes in a beautiful way. Many people make false assumptions about what goes on in the lives of Muslims. This book presents an inside look of how life is for a polygamous Muslim family. Polygamy is accepted by Allah with certain conditions. Families join together for a common goal and are successful by the grace of Allah; yet sometimes, in the news, we are portrayed as having an unsuccessful family life. Many Muslim families enjoy their religious freedom. Most Muslims grow, learn, marry, and live their lives with little or no outside interference.

I hope that after you read this book, you will have a better understanding of how we as Muslims live, and will be able to see the beauty in our religion.

INTRODUCTION

L ook at us – a world of Muslims – growing, learning, and living only to please the One God, Allah. Many people judge us before they meet us, and they sometimes have erroneous notions about the mysterious women of Islam. As with any other religion or group of people, we have families that have issues, yet life goes on. As with any religion, there are those who read the Holy Books and live their lives as is said in the Books. Muslims are no different. We want our families to gain knowledge of their existence from the Quran and the Sunnah and to learn how they should live their lives in accordance with the guidelines of the One who created us. We want to be able to take care of our families and communities and pray and have religious freedom.

In this book, I have used actual common marital situations of some Muslim families in our community. These experiences have been joined in a polygamous relationship to show how typical Muslims families grow together harmoniously. As in real life, in this story, the characters are faced with challenges that can either make the family strong or break it. But with the remembrance of God, their lives succeed.

There are many polygamous families in our community, yet most people don’t know or don’t care to know. There are women who strive to keep their families together and are private so as to protect them. Many polygamous families live all over the world, including in America. They don’t announce themselves, but they are here, and life is great. As in a monogamous family, life has its ups and downs, yet the family is there to support one another and to raise a loving group of children. I think children are the ones that benefit the most in a polygamous family; they help and guide one other. In a Muslim polygamous family, religion is the thing that keeps the family strong and enables them to work things out. If for any reason, religion is not the center focus, then the polygamous marriage, like all marriages, becomes rocky and is subject to fail. You may ask yourself how does polygamy work in a society that says that it is forbidden. In response to that, Muslims marry according to the guidelines of the faith and not necessarily according to societal standards.

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THE BEGINNING

A s the coffee wives sat in Maryam’s living room sipping on coffee and observing their children playing and reciting Quran, they think about what brought them here. Maryam remembers the day that, as she walked out of the masjid, she caught glance of a young, kind-faced Muslim brother smiling and saying: Al Hamdulillah. Allahu Akbar. He too had just left the masjid. He was alone, and had caught her eye because he was continuously praising Allah aloud.

What she didn’t know was that Muhammad had just completed his long, tiresome, and controversial struggle at a prestigious university. He loved learning, yet his mode of dress and his long, dark beard usually caused a stir at the university. Because of Muhammad’s white thobe, which seemingly flowed like a dress, accompanied by his full beard and open-toed sandals, he looked odd. The other students would stare, point, and laugh at him. Muhammad had an intense passion for learning. He had one of the highest scores on the SAT even before he entered the tenth grade. It was therefore no surprise when he was offered a scholarship

Reviews for Coffee Wives

[Maria · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Such a sweet story of a Muslim extended family. Of man with heart too big to let anyone around him suffer and about his wives who formed strong bond like no other. It is truly inspirational to read such stories about true sisterhood and about working together towards common goal.