Meeting, approval, and gift giving. Those steps are apart of how two Muslim young adults reach engagement. though common in the Middle East, Saudi Arabian marital traditions are still practiced as the people of the culture come to America.

With a Krispy Kreme coffee being their preferred beverage, young Zain and Ahmed have a lot to discuss on a windy summer day at San Francisco State. Ahmed, having a thick beard, stands next to to his fiance, Zain, wearing a blue and purple floral head scarf. Located near a tree by the Humanities building, they smile as they converse about the natures of how their saudi arabian engagement came to be.

“She says to me, ‘she’s beautiful.’ ”

Ahmed hears those word from his mother as she describes Zain to him, before meeting his potential fiance.

Zain smiles in charm at the complement.  In Muslim traditions, the mother of the man visits the female’s family to get some inside on the possible wife.

Jump ahead in time. Ahmed has met with Zain and they have dated. He has visited her at her house and she was allowed to let her hair out of her headscarf. Eventually, Ahmed decides that she is the one so they decide to get engaged. The families then celebrate the planned marriage of the couple.

The step in which Ahmed has to take next is to present his soon to be wife with dowry and jewelry. Ahmed explains that it’s not all the same for all families.“Some families they don’t care about money.”

The couple is content with their marriage commitment and plan to have a traditional Saudi Arabian “big wedding.”

On the topic of having kids, Ahmed is at first not sure to have them. Zain, on the other hand, thinks “Of course! but later.” Her fiance then has his opinion changed to agree with her.