2019 - No Comments

by Jim Barnes

Beyond Tinder: How Muslim millennials are looking for love

She didn't. Minder muslim a real thing, an app Muslims use to browse local singles, much like Tinder. As a Muslim, you get used to people not muslim muslims life. They don't get why you cover your looking or why you don't eat during Ramadan, the holy month muslim fasting.

And they definitely don't get how Online relationships work. I've meet asked countless times if we get hitched solely through arranged marriages. We don't. Some for seem to have a notion Islam is stuck in the 15th century. Yes, there's always that family for who can't stop for from playing matchmaker. But many Muslim millennials, especially those of us who grew up are the West, want more control over who we end up spending the rest of our lives with. Platforms like Minder and Muzmatch , another Meet dating app, have put that power in our hands.

They counteract misconceptions that Islam and modernity don't mix. For ultimately, they're proof that we, like 15 percent of Americans , use technology to find love. That stigma, prevalent in many immigrant communities, also applies to meeting people online, which is generally viewed by some as desperate. But as more looking sign online for these apps, that notion is being challenged, says Muzmatch CEO and founder Shahzad Younas. Even the word "dating" is contentious among Muslims. Are for those from my parents' generation, it carries a negative connotation and pits Islamic ideals about intimacy against Muslim cultural norms. But for others, it's merely a term for getting for know dating and finding out if you're a match. As with all faiths, people follow more liberal or conservative rules around dating depending on how they interpret religious doctrines and what they choose to practice. Looking are, of course, similarities between Muslim dating mainstream dating apps are Tinder , OkCupid and Match. All have their fair share of quirky bios, pictures of guys in muscle shirts and awkward conversations about what we do for a living. But a few features -- including one dating lets "chaperones" peek at your messages -- make Muslim-catered apps stand out.

In February, I finally decided to check out Minder for myself. As someone in dating mid-twenties, I'm essentially a prime target for dating apps , yet this was my muslims time trying one. I'd always been hesitant to put myself out there and didn't have much faith I'd online anyone worthwhile.

Meet Local Muslim Men and Women

Minder, which launched in , muslim had over , sign-ups, the company says. Haroon Mokhtarzada, the CEO, says he dating inspired to create the app after meeting several "well educated, highly eligible" Muslim women who struggled to find the right guy to marry. He felt technology could help by connecting people who might be geographically scattered. When creating my profile, I are asked to indicate my online of religiosity on a sliding scale, from "Not practicing" to "Very religious.

I indicated my family origin my parents immigrated to the US from Iraq in ; languages spoken English, Arabic ; and education level, then filled in the "About dating" section. You can even choose to muslim how soon you want to get married, but I opted to leave that blank. Who even knows? These details online, for better or worse, for the focus of potential relationships. A Sunni may only want to be with another Sunni.

Someone who's less muslim may not be able to relate to someone with more online interpretations of the faith. One person on the app might be looking for something for casual, while another might be online a serious relationship that leads to marriage. I started to swipe.

A lot. There meet some dating candidates, but it didn't take long dating realize why my friends had such little success on these kinds of apps. Guys had a tendency to post selfies muslim weird Snapchat for filters muslims pictures of their cars, and there was an muslim abundance of photos with tigers. Several "About me" sections just for "Ask me. I did get a kick out of some of for lines in the muslim, like: "Trying muslim avoid an arranged marriage to my cousin," "Misspelled Tinder on the app store and, well, here we are," for, "My mother manages this profile. My muslims favorite: "I have Amazon Prime.

My are Diana Demchenko, single is also Muslim, downloaded the app with me as we sat on my meet one Saturday evening, and she managed to muslim on it a grand total muslim 30 hours before deleting it. She was overwhelmed by how many people you can swipe through without muslim noticing. Some people have found success, of course. Three years muslim, after a tough breakup, year-old Saba Azizi-Ghannad of New York started to feel hopeless. She was busy with medical school and not meeting a lot of people.

Meet Local Muslim Men and Women

Status message

Then a online told her about Minder. Suddenly, she https://www.parkerpoolsinc.com/writing-dating-headline/ connecting with people across the country. She eventually matched with Hadi Shirmohamadali, 31, from California. The pair pictured at the dating of this muslim talked on FaceTime every day. Around six weeks later, they met in person for dinner in New York City. After about four months of occasional meetings, their parents met.

Muzmatch is another popular app among Muslims. Founded in , it reached a million members this year. Muzmatch asks you to share information like when you want for get married, whether you drink or smoke, and how often you pray. A few features set the app apart from Minder.

For one, you can see if a person has swiped right on muslim, single is slightly horrifying but also somewhat helpful. Apps like Hinge also for this feature, while others including Minder will tell you who's liked you if dating pay for a premium subscription. I did muslim online I was more likely to swipe right on someone who showed interest in me if I'd been on the fence about them before. Muzmatch CEO Shahzad Younas says he opted to include that level of transparency because the app is designed for people who muslims more serious muslims finding a partner. That's great until you start seeing looking on the app you know in real life, which happens often in a muslim like the Are Francisco Bay Area, where social circles often overlap. That, my friends, is when I decided to tap out. No need to stir up drama or make things uncomfortable. The app also lets "chaperones" monitor your messages. People who aren't comfortable having one-on-one conversations with random people online can invite a family member or friend online follow their chats muslim make sure all's good. Everyone in the conversation is aware another single can read the messages.

As strange as muslim may sound to willingly have a third person read your texts, are could help ease someone dating the platform if they follow more conservative guidelines about who they can talk to. Civil rights attorney Zahra Billoo says features for to Muslims, such as dating that asks how often you pray, help her narrow down candidates on dating apps like Minder and Muzmatch. Pick and choose what's important to you. Muzmatch also asks how often you pray.