North Texas couple blends their cultures to make their own love story
US serviceman who converted to Islam, and his Moroccan wife, find love after their arranged marriage.

Rhonda Hughes, NBC 5 CADDO MILLS, Feb. 18, 2001

For David Hultsch, the recipe for happiness came in an unexpected way. “I just make it up as I go along,” he said. After one failed marriage, David started a journey he didn’t plan - a path to a new way of life and a woman from the other side of the world. “They sort of sprang her on me that I was even supposed to meet her that night,” David said.

David met Najma Jebari in London on a blind date. “Oh God, I was scared to death. I couldn’t even look at him the first time we met,” Najma said. “I really didn’t see her face. All I could see was the top of her head because she was looking down,” David said. Before the two met for the first time, their destiny was decided. Najma’s best friend had already arranged their marriage. “She was like, ‘You’ve been single long enough. It’s time for you to get married,” Najma said.

So how does an American serviceman raised in the Methodist faith end up in an arranged marriage? It started while David was in the Air Force, making regular trips to Turkey. David said, “I met some very interesting people and I got curious because these were the first Muslim people I’d ever met.” Until then, David’s only impressions of Muslims came from TV - news stories like the Iran hostage situation. But he became enchanted with the Turkish culture, began studying Islam and ultimately converted. “And the more I read about it, the more convinced I became,” David said.

Najma grew up in Moracco and Islam was the only way she had ever known. “Family and religion is one thing - you can’t separate the family from religion,” she said. As a child, she had never even heard of America. “I never even thought about it. I just thought about home, where it was at that time and that’s it,” she said. Now, Najma calls Texas home. And during her 9-year marriage to David, she has learned just how different their backgrounds are.

As is customary in Islam, Najma covers her head with a scarf, called a hijab. David has a typical “American” sense of humor, including friendly insults between friends. David said, “Where she’s from, you don’t do that. So I’d be joking around with my best friend and she’d be kicking me under the table - stop it - what are you doing!” David and Najma say they’ve mixed their cultures to build a strong marriage. “We kind of met each other in the middle,” David said. What started as an arrangement has all the right ingredients for a happy life. David said, “Love is something that grows out of a successful marriage. It’s not necessarily what you must have before you can have a successful marriage.”