It all Began With a Hajj Trip! Relish Simbiat & Sukanmi’s Nikah + Love Story

You know that feeling you get when you find some money in your pockets while doing laundry? Or say, a packet of chocolate in your bag? Yes, finding something really sweet especially when you weren’t even looking, sure hits different! For Simbiat and Sukanmi, they were simply fulfilling their spiritual needs when they found love along the way. Sweeter than chocolate or even money, we must say!

The two met for the first time as they prepared for their Hajj trip and it was indeed the beginning of a beautiful love story. Now, the lovebirds have begun a new journey and it’s the one that lasts forever. Simbiat and Sukanmi got hitched in a lovely Nikah ceremony with friends and loved ones present to celebrate their love with them. After the ceremony, came the reception and it was totally lit! From their outfits to the undeniable vibes and joy in the air, #TheMuritalaPlan was simply one for the books!

Enjoy everything about #TheMuritalaPlan Nikkah wedding below.

How We Met

By the bride, Simbiat:

Sunkanmi and I met at the 2019 Hajj medical screening. He was one of the doctors on the medical team and at the time, I was a pilgrim who went for her medical screening. There, I met a senior colleague who was the head of the medical team and he asked me to volunteer to help with the screening due to the workload.  Let’s just say Alhamdulillah I did! By the way, at this time, I was seeing someone else but the relationship was hanging by a thread so I kept an open mind! The week I resumed, I kept to myself and mostly interacted with only my boss from work – this was me trying to mind my business, not knowing someone was “feeling” the girl from afar.

There were times when my boss wasn’t available so I had to review some of the cases with other doctors since they had been there longer than I was. Sunkanmi was one of those doctors but he wasn’t my go-to person because I felt he was rigid and uptight. However, one day I got locked out of the hall where we were having the screening when I went to buy toast (a girl has to eat ? ). I didn’t have anyone to call. I had to stand by the window looking in and trying to get anyone’s attention. Luckily, he saw me and came to help out, I was so relieved.

I didn’t want to get stuck in the same situation again so I asked for his number (my husband till this day swears that was me making a move on him) but baby girl just wanted to have him on speed dial in case I needed saving some other time! By the end of the day, I got a text from him asking if I got home safe and I wondered “when did this one start?? On top say we exchange number”. Still, I didn’t take it as anything but him being nice because we usually closed late at night. Calls and texts became more frequent, we would take our breaks together, talk about everything! It felt good having someone I could talk to about anything.

Soon, it was time to leave for Makkah and flights were in batches, so he left before I did and I was to leave two days after he did. Those two days felt lonely, I missed him a lot and it dawned on me that I liked this man! Now in Makkah, we would take long night walks, watch movies together at the hall till 2 am (we kept it Halal of course). There are rules guiding Hajj and one of them includes not asking or making your intentions known with asking a woman to marry you so we never spoke about it even when we both knew how much we meant to each other.

We performed our Hajj in keeping with its ruling and it was a beautiful journey with Sunkanmi there. I would say we grew together spiritually and that had a positive impact on us individually! Hajj ended and that same afternoon, I remember it raining heavily and we stayed in the rain while still in Ihram, praying together as a couple now and asking for Allah’s guidance through our newfound love! A year later, he proposed and we got married the following year 2021!