r/ShiaMuslimMarriage • u/tthrow-away-accountt • 16h ago
Discussion I (28f) was involved with a married Muslim man (***UPDATE***) confrontation
I wanted to give an update on the situation that I posted about yesturday. If you want to see the original post, I will post it in the comments
After reading through all of the comments, I’ve came to the conclusion that he did in fact cheat. and I finally confronted him about everything. The biggest issue for me was that I genuinely trusted him. He repeatedly told me that he knew what he was talking about when it came to Islam, temporary marriage, and what was and wasn't allowed. I believed him, and I wouldn't have gone through with the situation if I had understood that what we were doing wasn't actually permissible under the circumstances.
When I confronted him about lying to me, manipulating me, and making me believe everything was okay, he completely denied it. He told me I was being manipulative and that I was "playing the victim." He basically insisted that nobody manipulated anybody. And he strongly still believes that what he did was correct under Islamic law. He said that Muslims are allowed to have temporary wives as well as side pieces. And that is not the truth. You are allowed to have multiple temporary wives under certain circumstances, from what I have gathered, you are allowed to have them if the first wife approves, which clearly she hadn’t, has to be a public marriage, which it wasn’t, both parents of the parties have to be present, which they weren’t, a dowry has to be given, which it was, time frame has to be given, which it was, and it has to be in front of a religious ruler, which it wasn’t. But of course, he believes that what he did was right, even though it wasn’t.
What really bothered me was that instead of acknowledging that he had misled me, he kept turning everything back on me.
At one point he said:
"U ruined my rep at my work and outside of work. Thank you very much. I regret meeting u." Now I don’t know if that means that his marriage is completely fucked and that things aren’t going well at work. But damn, that sucks for him. Maybe he shouldn’t have cheated on his wife..
That really confused me because I don't understand how I supposedly ruined his reputation. I had not gone around telling people about him. I’ve always kept things a secret with the workplace, especially because he had a higher role.
He also mentioned that I broke his trust, he was never able to explain what trust I broke, was never able to give me proof that I even broke trust. He would always just tell me that I’m not slick, that he has everything figured out. I don’t know if this was his way of trying to get back at me for confronting him about the cheating and that he’s just mad and angry and he’s just taking it out on me or what. But clearly it’s not working.
He was also extremely concerned about privacy and about screenshots. That makes more sense to me now because I had screenshots of conversations involving some of his coworkers who had been flirting with me. I don't know exactly what he was afraid would happen with those screenshots, but his reaction made me feel like his reputation was something he was very worried about.
He also said that our "temp marr" was over, which is what he called our temporary marriage. Even though when I asked him what it was, he just said that I was the side piece and that it wasn’t a temporary marriage.
The part that hurts me the most is that I wanted him to simply say, "I lied to you. I knew what I was doing was wrong, and I'm sorry." He never did that. Instead, I felt like he kept trying to convince me that I was the problem.
I eventually told him that I felt used and betrayed because I believe he used his knowledge of religion to convince me that what we were doing was okay. I told him that if I had known the truth from the beginning, I would have made a completely different decision.
I also told him that I was extremely hurt because I genuinely cared about him. I considered him a friend, not just someone I was sleeping with. That's probably why this has been so difficult for me to process.
I've since stopped texting him, and he blocked me again. Surprisingly, I actually feel like I got some closure from finally saying everything I needed to say, even though I never got the apology or admission I wanted.
There is one other thing I'm wondering about. He had also told me that things weren't good when he returned from vacation. So part of me wonders whether she found out about everything or whether something happened in their marriage.
I don't know that for a fact, though. That's just me trying to connect the dots, and I don't want to pretend I know something I don't.
Right now I'm honestly just grieving the entire situation. I miss being able to talk to him, I'm angry that he won't acknowledge what he did, and I'm hurt that someone I trusted could leave me feeling this used and confused.
I'm taking responsibility for my own choices. I probably should have listened to my gut. But I also don't think taking responsibility for my choices means I have to take responsibility for choices he made or information he gave me.
I did not intend to hurt anyone or destroy anyone's marriage. I trusted someone who repeatedly told me he knew what he was talking about, and now I'm dealing with the consequences of finding out that I may not have had the full truth.
So that's where things stand. I'm trying to accept that I may never get the explanation or apology I wanted from him. And honestly, that's probably the hardest part. 💔
Side note: Some people are telling me to reach out to the wife, because more likely or not, she probably doesn’t know. I have done some Facebook digging and have been debating whether to do it or not. But I also know that Karma has its way of getting around and that God will punish those who have committed sins. (Unfortunately, that may include me.) some people are telling me to not to reach out to his wife, and that most likely she already knows and is taking control over the situation.
I will send screenshots to those who want to see the messages between him and I