My Story
Q
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Hey, I'm Qasim

A man building something real in this dunya. If you are looking for someone who shows up the same way every single day - keep reading.

🕌 Muslim 📖 Quran complete 🎙️ Podcast host 📚 MS student 🌍 Somali roots 🗳️ Politics 🏗️ Founder 🏔️ Outdoorsy 🌗 Ambivert ✈️ 7 countries

1 of 5 sections explored

scroll

Start with My Story - or skip straight to the . It is the most honest thing here.

Who I am
A life built with intention
The roots
Somali diaspora, two worlds
Growing up between cultures taught me how to listen without assuming and how to hold onto who you are no matter where you land. I produce content in both English and Somali because the community matters to me in a real and practical way. 7 countries visited so far. Somalia and the Haram are the two that stayed with me longest.
The student and the builder
MS in Business Analytics. Founded Kulan Group Ltd.
I believe the moment you stop being a student of something you start going backwards. I also built an education technology company from nothing. I co-host a podcast called Intel Cast and co-founded Rise Community Development because giving back has never felt optional.
The real week
A Tuesday looks like this
Up before most people. Fajr. Then the laptop opens and it does not close for a long time. MS coursework in the morning, company decisions by afternoon, podcast prep somewhere in between. By evening I am usually still at it. Around 11pm I sit with a book or just with my thoughts. That is not a performance. That is just what building actually looks like from the inside. I want a partner who understands that this is not me neglecting her.
What home means to me
Somewhere with meaning
I do not picture a house. I picture a feeling. Quran in the morning. The smell of food being made without rush. A place where conversation never feels forced and silence never feels awkward. I hike alone sometimes and think about what it would feel like to have someone worth talking to beside me. That is the version of home I am building toward.
The next chapter
Looking for a partner in all of it
Not someone to complete me. Someone to build alongside. Someone with her own fire, her own deen, her own vision who chooses to share the journey with mine. Ideally somewhere in East Africa or a Muslim country where the azan wakes you up.
The real me
Tap the cards to reveal
🌗
My energy
tap
Ambivert. Quiet in a crowd, fully present one on one. I notice what people do not say.
💌
How I love
tap
Slowly and completely. You will feel it in the small consistent things more than any grand gesture.
⚡
Inside
tap
Constantly thinking, building, solving three problems at once. The calm outside is earned.
🤝
In conflict
tap
I talk it out. I do not shut down or go cold. Communication is not optional for me.
😄
My humor
tap
Dry, deadpan, comes out of nowhere. The people who get it really get it.
🗳️
Politics
tap
Geopolitics, governance, policy, the Horn of Africa. I follow it closely, discuss it on the podcast, and think about what actually fixes things rather than what just sounds good.
🔧
Still working on
tap
Letting people in without feeling like it costs me something. Showing that I care before I am asked to.
My traits
Emotional depth95%
Patience90%
Ambition98%
Loyalty100%
Communication88%
Extroversion55%
What I bring to you
You will never feel like a burden for being honest with me
I chose to listen before I chose to respond
I notice when you go quiet and check on you without being asked
You should never have to ask me to check on you
I will be your biggest supporter without losing myself in it
Your wins feel like mine. That is just how I work.
I will remind you of Allah when the world pulls you away
The best a spouse can do is make the deen feel lighter
What I need from you
Honesty, even when it costs something
I can handle the truth. I cannot handle being managed.
Deen that is real and chosen, not just inherited
I want a partner who chose Islam, not just someone born into it
Communication when things get hard
Go quiet from the world, never from me
Your own purpose and drive
I want a partner, not a passenger
Let's be honest

These are not preferences. They are actual dealbreakers.

✕If religion is decoration and not direction for you
✕If your idea of resolving conflict is silence until it blows over
✕If you need external validation before you can hold your own opinion
✕If ambition in a husband reads to you as unavailability
✕If home is just somewhere you sleep and not something you actively build
What I think about

Not passively. Actively.

→Why Somalia is decades behind where it should be and what would actually change that
→Whether Western governance models can ever really translate to East African contexts
→How diaspora communities build real political influence back home rather than just talking about it
→Why most political commentary misses the point entirely and what they keep getting wrong
Books that shaped me

Islamic scholarship, politics, philosophy.

Ihya Ulum al-Din
Imam Al-Ghazali
A complete manual for cleaning the soul and building a life with meaning. I return to it constantly.
Riyadh al-Salihin
Imam An-Nawawi
Every time I open it something recalibrates quietly inside me.
1984
George Orwell
A book about truth and what happens when people stop questioning things. Still uncomfortably relevant.
Animal Farm
George Orwell
Orwell said plainly what most people dress up in complexity to avoid.
The Wretched of the Earth
Frantz Fanon
Decolonisation, African independence, how colonised people reclaim identity and power. Directly relevant to Somalia and the diaspora. A book that makes you think differently about history and who gets to write it.
Sapiens
Yuval Noah Harari
How human societies organise themselves at scale. It changed how I see economics, religion, politics, and power. The kind of book that makes everything else make more sense.
The Prince
Nicolo Machiavelli
How power actually works versus how people say it should. Uncomfortable and honest. I would rather understand reality than be comfortable with a version of it that is not true.
Meditations
Marcus Aurelius
A Roman emperor writing to himself about discipline, leadership, and how to stay grounded when the world is pulling you in every direction. It sits well next to Ghazali.
The most important thing about me
My deen
وَمِنْ آيَاتِهِ أَنْ خَلَقَ لَكُم مِّنْ أَنفُسِكُمْ أَزْوَاجًا لِّتَسْكُنُوا إِلَيْهَا وَجَعَلَ بَيْنَكُم مَّوَدَّةً وَرَحْمَةً
And of His signs is that He created for you from yourselves mates that you may find tranquility in them, and He placed between you affection and mercy.
Surah Ar-Rum 30:21
"The world is a provision, and the best provision of the world is a righteous wife."
Sahih Muslim
"When a man marries, he has fulfilled half of his religion. Let him then fear Allah regarding the remaining half."
Al-Bayhaqi
I completed the Quran
The book that shaped everything I believe and how I move through this world
I used to teach Islamic studies
Teaching forced me to go deeper into everything I thought I understood
Fiqh is my favorite subject
The way scholars reasoned through complexity across centuries fascinates me
Tarbiya is the real work
Cleaning the nafs, building the character. The outward is easy compared to the inward.
The scholars who shaped me
Imam Al-Ghazali
1058 to 1111 CE · Philosopher, Theologian, Scholar of the Soul
Hujjat al-Islam. He left prestige and comfort at the height of his career to search for what was real. His Ihya Ulum al-Din is the most thorough guide I have found for building a life of inner integrity.
Imam An-Nawawi
1233 to 1277 CE · Jurist, Hadith Scholar
His 40 Hadith is something I return to constantly. Riyadh al-Salihin sits near where I sleep. He had a gift for making the profound feel accessible without losing any of its weight.
Tazkiyat al-nafsFiqh al-ibadatIhsanAkhlaaqQuran and tafsirHadith sciencesUsul al-fiqhSpiritual discipline
A dua I make often
رَبَّنَا هَبْ لَنَا مِنْ أَزْوَاجِنَا وَذُرِّيَّاتِنَا قُرَّةَ أَعْيُنٍ وَاجْعَلْنَا لِلْمُتَّقِينَ إِمَامًا
Our Lord, grant us from among our wives and offspring comfort to our eyes and make us a leader for the righteous.
إِنَّمَا الْأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّاتِ
Actions are but by intentions.
Hadith - Bukhari and Muslim
From me, to you
A letter I have been meaning to write
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
To the one I have not met yet,

I do not know your name yet. I do not know what your laugh sounds like or what your face looks like when you are thinking hard about something. But I know you exist somewhere and when we find each other it will feel like it was always supposed to happen.

I want you to know that I have been building. Not just a company or a degree. I have been building the version of myself that is actually ready for you. Patient enough to hold space for the hard days. Grounded enough in deen to be your anchor when things shake. Present enough to actually see you, not just what I want you to be.

I grew up between worlds. Somali roots, American soil, a faith that held it all together. That taught me that belonging is something you build, not somewhere you arrive. I want to build that with you, ideally back home or somewhere in East Africa where the azan wakes you up and the community is still the community.

Politics is something I follow obsessively. Geopolitics, governance, policy, the Horn of Africa. I discuss it on the podcast and write about it because I genuinely believe ideas matter and someone has to be paying attention.

I have walked trails alone and thought about what it would feel like to have someone worth talking to beside me. I have sat in the Haram and made dua for you by name, even though I did not know it yet. That is how real this has been in my mind before we have even spoken.

I think about the world a lot. Not in a passive way. In a what are we going to do about it kind of way. The politics, the governance, what Somalia could be if things were different, what the diaspora owes back home. These are not abstract questions to me. They are things I carry.

I will not be perfect. I have things I am still working on and Al-Ghazali would have a lot to say about some of them. But I will always be honest, I will always choose you over my ego, and I will never let you feel alone in something we are supposed to face together.

Just come as yourself. No performance, no curated version. I am not looking for finished. I am looking for real. Take your time. Khayr inshallah.

Qasim
Could we?
Let us actually find out

You have been reading about me for a few minutes now. This is where it gets interesting. Answer honestly, imagine openly, and see what comes up. No right answers, no pressure. Just two people figuring out if this makes sense.

0
Warm up - this or that
Round 1 of 12
or

One honest thing before you start. I want to live in a Muslim country, ideally back in Somalia or somewhere in East Africa. That is not a dealbreaker question but it is an honest one. You deserve to know that going in.

Your progress
Warm up
1
The compatibility quiz
Question 1 of 150%
2
Quick check - optional enrichment
We would work if...
Tap what resonates

Tap everything that sounds like you. Be honest.

3
Green flag check - optional
Green flag or red flag?
Be honest with yourself

Tap 🟢 if it is true about you. Tap 🔴 if it is not. No judgment either way.

4
The final step - tell him about you
Let me get to know you

You have been learning about me this whole time. Fair is fair. Answer honestly and at the end you can send your answers directly to me.

1 of 14
What should I call you?
2 of 14
How would you describe your relationship with your deen right now?
It is the foundation of everything I do
I practice sincerely and it is growing
I am somewhere in the middle and being honest about it
It is more cultural right now but I want more
3 of 14
When it comes to where you want to build your life, what feels right?
A Muslim country, ideally Somalia or East Africa
Open to a Muslim country, still figuring it out
Western country but with a strong Muslim community
Wherever opportunity and family are
4 of 14
What is your love language?
Quality time, undivided attention is everything
Words of affirmation, tell me you see me
Acts of service, show up without being asked
Physical touch, presence and closeness
5 of 14
How would your closest friends describe you in one sentence?
6 of 14
A close friend tells you something about your spouse that bothers you. You have not verified it yet. What do you do first?
Talk to my spouse directly, always
Ask the friend for more context first
Sit with it alone until I am sure
Depends on what it is honestly
7 of 14
What are you actively working on about yourself right now?
8 of 14
What is something your closest friend would say is your blind spot?
9 of 14
What is one thing you need in a marriage that you have never been able to fully say out loud before?
10 of 14
What is one thing you need your partner to understand about you from day one?
11 of 14
How connected are you to Somali culture? Be honest.
It is central to who I am. I speak the language and live it.
I am connected but more diaspora than back home.
I have some connection but I am still learning.
I am not Somali but I am open to learning and embracing it.
12 of 14
Do you speak or understand Somali?
Fluently. It is my first language.
I understand it well but my speaking is limited.
A little. Mostly words and phrases.
Not yet but I genuinely want to learn.
13 of 14
How important is staying connected to the Somali Muslim community?
Very important. Community is everything to me.
Important but I value quality over proximity.
Somewhat. I have a mixed community.
Not something I have prioritised honestly.
14 of 14
Tell me one real thing about yourself that a profile would never show.
?
Something real

This goes straight to Qasim. No screening, no middleman. Just him reading every word you wrote.

Now say something. Anything. Even just hi.

Not sure what to say? 😊
Press the button and get a suggested opener. Edit it however you want.

If you made it this far, Qasim noticed something about you.

Five years from now
Picture a moment

You just woke up. It is a Saturday morning five years into marriage. Where are you? What does the morning smell like? What are you both doing at 9am?

Write whatever comes to mind. There is no right answer. This goes to Qasim with your other responses if you choose to send them.

No filter
Ask me anything
Choose a category below
Pick a category and I will answer honestly. No filter.
Just imagine it
A day in our life

Press the button and picture it for a moment.

Press the button below.