Assalam walaikum, I (M) have been working at a job where there’s not many Muslims at work for a couple of years now. And being the only Muslim at work it’s very rare for me to see other Muslims aswell.
Some people came down to my work from another branch for a couple of months and one of them happened to be a Muslimah. I of course kept things professional, but was interested to get to know her but didn’t want to push boundaries and didn’t even know if she already married. But once during the weekend I had mentioned that I’m going to see family as someone was going to a medical procedure. And thought nothing of it. I then during the weekend got a message from her asking how my family’s going, from there we chatted for a bit on messages.
I still thought she was just being nice to check in. But we’ve been chatting more during work about both our lives, families and careers getting to know each other a little bit more. A he’s also been helping me with work as she is better at it than me.
My question I need guidance is on is that she’s been the one initiating every time we’ve interacted. I feel like she’s definitely interested and so am I. I just don’t know how to move forward respectfully to I guess the next stage. I’ve never been in this situation before so it’s all kind of new to me. Should I reach out in messages or is it appropriate for me to ask her for a causal cafe hangout to talk more freely.
We both live away from our families for work. So it’s not like I can ask my family for advice and to be honest don’t know if I’d feel comfortable asking them for advice anyway.
I just don’t want to push boundaries as I’ve been brought up in a very western place where causal dates are normal to getting to know each other.
Any input and advice on how I should move forward from this would be appreciated. Jazakallah