Arranged marriage & misconceptions

After a recent conversation with one of my childhood friends, I realized how short life is.
So short that decisions should be made quickly. Not slowly, over time.

They should encompass what you believe in. Not what you detest.

Just two years ago, my husband and I were wed by an arranged marriage. I know a friend who said she'd rather say, "we met through friends," than say "we had an arranged marriage" to avoid rolling eyes and gasps.

I rather tell it like how it is, to clear up the misconceptions of "most" arranged marriages that take place.

Misconception list (in bold) and corrections
a. People get forced by parents to marry a stranger. They are usually not by force. Many arranged marriages are with "someone who knows someone through the family" aka kids of mutual friends or community members.
b. The guy is not 40, the girl is not 12. The age difference among spouses is roughly between 0-10 years apart, in the Bangladeshi culture.
c. They do end up falling in love. In the Quran Allah says "He created for you mates from among yourselves, that ye may dwell in tranquility with them, and He has put Love and mercy between your (hearts), verily in that are signs for those who reflect (30:21)." Basically love comes with the package.
d. It's not always miserable til the end. In fact, the marriage lasts longer. Multiple analysis have been done, showing arranged marriages last longer than "love marriages" or ones in which both partners chose one another since the marriage is based on compatibility; virtue, attraction, status, and/or family background.
e. People in arranged marriages do not get divorced. The Muslim divorce rate is at 33 percent according to "Blissful Marriage" by Ekram Beshir and Mohamed Beshir. The US divorce rate is 50 percent.
f. People in arranged marriages are not happy. Happiness is fixated with compatibility, making the couple work harder to keep the marriage going than resort to divorce. Divorce is the least acceptable deed to do in Islam. In a hadith it says, when people get divorced on earth, the seven heavens shake.
g. Arranged marriages are oppressive. Forced marriages are not allowed in Islam. While women are to take care of the home and men are to provide financially for the family, there are many rules in-between that allow both spouses to grow independently. At the same time, women are given the freedom to spend their money as they wish and/or to support family but they are to be taken care of rather than work on top of taking care of the kids (what the guys always shy away from doing anyways). Knowing who does what helps decrease the strain on relationships.