By I know that talking about the benefits of being a single Muslim might sound like I’m advocating against the nature of our collectivist culture, in the sense that our Muslim community relies more on interdependence, whereas being single complies with individualist cultures that focus on independence and self-fulfillment.
However, this post is for my Muslim sisters who are still single and feel like they’re missing out on life.
If you’re fantasizing about having fun like Instagram married couples, and if you feel unsatisfied about your current life, know that God is keeping you single so that you can make the most of it before you “find the one.”
And so being single is actually a huge blessing, especially in these times that we’re living in.
If you’re ready, here’s a whole stack of benefits waiting for you as a single Muslim.
the Top 11 benefits of Being a Single Muslim That’ll Transform Your Life in Every Shape & Form
benefit #1 – You Can Set (& Reset) Whatever You Want, However You Want, Whenever You Want, Wherever You Want
We’re all a work in progress, and we can go through a lot of massive changes in just one year. Now the thing is: when we change, our thinking patterns change, our behaviors change, and thus, our priorities change as well.
When you have a partner, sometimes changing as a person can be difficult — particularly if they prefer a certain mental image that they have about you. You’ll find yourself unable to add some priorities into your life that are really necessary for your character development just because they contradict one of your responsibilities as a spouse.
However, when you’re single, you already know that you don’t have that kind of pressure in your life. You can add new priorities, erase some, and even reorder others based on your current situation and what works best.
Even better, you don’t have any feelings of regret, guilt, shame, or blame because of such decisions — especially when you know that these decisions can be completely life-changing.
benefit #2 – You have All the Time to Develop Your Relationship with Allah
In case you’re a revert, or a non-practicing Muslim that would like to be one, being single will make it ten times easier for you to make that commitment and be consistent with it.
For one, more often than not, feeling like your life is complete as a non-practicing Muslim can distract you from spending some time to do the work for your hereafter.
In fact, what usually happens is that you can completely forget that there is a next life.
And so, when you’re single, you’re not distracted by somebody else. The good news is, if you feel like your life is still incomplete, that’s a bonus point for you because you can use this time to learn how to find happiness within before you find it with someone else.
As a starting point, try to invest a few minutes of your day to do a simple step toward getting closer to Allah. You can give charity, for example, or do an act of kindness to someone you don’t know.
You’ll be surprised by how satisfied you are because:
- You did something good; and
- You did it without having to tell anyone about it beforehand.
It’s easier to develop your relationship with Allah through many amazing acts that you don’t want to tell anyone about because you’ll feel they’re too sacred to you that you don’t want to share them with others. And being single helps you with just doing that and more!
benefit #3 – You’re ALWAYS Ready!
Got an opportunity to relocate to another state? Have a sudden once-in-a-lifetime experience thrown at you? Life is full of surprises. And one major benefit of being single is that you’re not restricted by someone else.
You’ll be able to enjoy the spontaneity of life instead of stressing because of it. On the contrary, married couples usually become preoccupied with creating a sense of security and familiarity for their family — especially if they have children.
But when you’re single, you’re only responsible for yourself. You might not be aware of this on a conscious level most of the time, but when you suddenly get some job in another state, a scholarship for example, or anything of that sort, you’ll thank God that you don’t need to worry about being selfish for dreaming big.
benefit #4 – You’re Enjoying the Luxury of Having a Quiet Life
Of course, you can have a lot of problems related to family, friends, and/or work, but being single spares you a whole lot of problems that could’ve been coming your way.
For one, marriage comes with responsibilities, and the more responsibilities you have, the less “quiet” your life will be.
You can finish your work-related tasks, but then, you still need to take care of your children, settle some child-related issues, or do any of the remaining house chores. It can get really depleting in the long run.
But now, as a single Muslim, you can finish all the tasks you have for the day and get some “me, myself, and I” time during which you’ll just appreciate the quietness, relax and thank Allah for all His blessings.
benefit #5 – You’re Unbeatable, Unshakable, & Unstoppable
If seized correctly, being single will teach you how powerful you are as an individual. You weather a lot of storms without the help of anyone else. You do all the work you need to do for your own well-being by yourself.
You educate yourself, sustain yourself, improve yourself, encourage yourself, affirm yourself, acknowledge yourself, find beauty in yourself, and even more!
When you make the most of your single life, you’ll learn how to want validation from yourself and not other people — which is critical, especially when doing the right things isn’t the trend. Being single can teach you how to get the audacity to do what you want to do without caring about what others might think of you.
There’s nothing more powerful than recognizing that caring about others’ opinions of who you are is actually you letting go of your power and giving them the permission to determine the quality of your life.
And so, when you’re someone who’s always stepping up for themself, it’s much easier to acknowledge that even though the ultimate power is in Allah’s hands, you do have so much power over how things can go in your life.
Recognizing that — as a single Muslim, you’re exercising all the power and authority that God has given you over your life — means you shouldn’t care about anything other than becoming better for the sake of Allah and yourself. That’s when you’ll understand how invincible you truly are.
benefit #6 – You Can Heal All Your Traumas
First things first, if you have traumas, it’s not your fault. It’s normal. But being married before dealing with all of your past traumas is the last thing you’d want to do.
Being single gives you the time to revisit your past issues and deal with them. It can be the last conversation you’d want to have with yourself. It can mean you’ll have to face yourself with a lot of bad traits that you developed over the years as survival mechanisms.
It can truly hurt. But, if you want to improve the quality of your future for yourself and your future partner, this honest conversation needs to happen.
There’s a lot of work that needs to be done and a lot of things that need to be unpacked before committing to another person. But once you’re done, you’ll start to honor yourself more by not committing to someone who doesn’t want to do that work — because ultimately, you want a happy marriage. Nobody wants to make it out of a miserable environment and do the difficult work, only to repeat the same cycle.
So if you’re still a single Muslim, it could be the case you’re only one step away from having God get you to your soulmate. And that single step is unplugging from your past self.
benefit #7 – You’re Falling in Love with Who You Are Becoming Every Day
When you shift your perspective of how you think about being single and let go of all the stigma that society can impose on you, you’ll start to regain your self-esteem.
Because then, you’ll be mindful of the fact that your worth isn’t determined by having a partner or a family. Your worth lies deep within.
You’ll have more confidence in yourself and your capabilities that you’ll never fear the unknown or ask yourself, “What if I can’t do it by myself?” Instead, you’ll always find yourself saying, “I have my Lord, and He will guide me through.”
Sadly, you’ll see some married couples in which the wife is petrified of what the future has in store for her and her children if her husband ever leaves — whether it’s because of death or divorce. And if the marriage is toxic, some wives tolerate abuse because they can’t sustain themselves.
That’s why sometimes being unmarried is actually Allah saving you from an unhappy marriage.
And so, being a single Muslim is an ultimate blessing because you’ll have the time to know how valuable you are instead of just wasting it on thinking you need to sacrifice who you are to please someone else.
Benefit #8 – Your Gym Becomes Your second Sacred Haven!
This is where all the fun comes in! You’re not only improving on the inside, but you’re also taking care of the amazing body that God has blessed you with!
Unlike couples, you know that you’re doing all these workouts in the gym not because you want to be more desirable in someone else’s eyes, but because you honor the blessing that God has given you.
Without our human bodies, we wouldn’t have been able to wrap our heads around what it means to hear, see, move, etc. And so, without our bodies, that allowed us to experience all of these concepts, we wouldn’t have been able to understand what it means when Allah says that He hears and sees us — or that He comes to us when we repent.
Being a Muslim who has taken advantage of being single to truly connect with Allah on such a deep level will not only make you want to honor your body, but you’ll also respect all the imperfections that you have because you know these imperfections are what makes you a human being.
This will ultimately help you stand up for yourself if anyone tries to mock your body for any reason whatsoever, because then, you know exactly how blessed you are to have your body and not anybody else’s.
Benefit #9 – Your Definition of Happiness Is in Constant Improvement
Let’s just get what’s obvious out of the way, the narrative that’ll always be sold to you is that your happiness begins when you get married.
And it could be the fact that people who do that have pure intentions. They just want to see you have little versions of yourself. Maybe they just love you that they think pressuring you to form a family is just them protecting you.
Unfortunately, as a single Muslim, you’ll learn the hard way that pure intentions can lead to destruction.
The longer you stay single, the easier it will be for you to let go of the false narrative that we bought earlier as children, thanks to Disney, that you’ll only live happily ever after once a prince charming enters your life — which is far from being the case.
You don’t need anyone else to be happy. You become happy by yourself first, and then you share it with other happy people. That’s how you find people who are happily married. They’re happy as individuals before they’re happy as a couple.
Being single will allow you to discover what really lights you up so that when you come across the right one, you both will add to each other’s happiness.
benefit #10 – You’re More Financially Literate with Each Passing Day
When you’re single, you’re managing every aspect of your life, including making a living for yourself — especially if you’ve moved out of your parents’ house or you just prefer taking care of yourself.
With married people, it’s usually one partner that handles the finances. So, you’ll find the person who’s handling financial decisions is wiser than the other one in the long run because of the experience they’ve gained.
Being financially literate will develop your ability to think strategically about every aspect of your life. If anything, money can reshape your entire life.
That’s why being a single Muslim is a golden opportunity for you to learn how you can save your money, as well as where you should channel it, invest it, and spend it — especially because chances are, nobody ever talked to you about how you can handle your money as a Muslim girl. They’d just assume that someone else will do that job for you anyway.
benefit #11 – consequences for taking risks are much lower
You’re not going to be perfect as a single Muslim. You’ll test a lot of things and you’ll fail many times. But here’s the thing: it’s better to fail multiple times when you’re by yourself than fail when you’re responsible for other souls.
In fact, this period will train you to become a better leader in your personal life so that you can become able to practice co-leadership with your future family.
And so, all the consequences you have right now as a single Muslim can be mitigated since there’s nobody involved with you — because, in any problem, the fewer people involved, the lower the risks.
Being single is the perfect opportunity for you to learn how to develop your problem-solving and risk management skills while putting them into action.
Next Steps: Keep Moving Forward
As a single Muslim, you might think that you’re missing out on life when you scroll through social media or meet your married friends. But the truth is that your current circumstances serve a purpose.
You can transform the quality of your life permanently while you’re still single. If anything, it’s much easier to develop yourself when you’re by yourself.
Being a single Muslim is a blessing from Allah that a lot of people aren’t conscious of. And so, if you’re reading this, know that this is your sign to start seeing the generosity of Allah and start making the most of it.
If you’re wondering how to start, you can begin by reflecting on what your priorities are. And then, develop a clear vision of who you want to become as an individual before you think about marriage.