Apps for Muslims who can say ‘dating’ without blushing

A new mobile dating app is hoping to fill a void that many Muslims and millennials struggle with: melding Western social norms with cultural expectations found in their homelands. For first- and second-generation Muslims in the U. There are other apps geared toward Muslims on the market, including Minder, Ishqr, Muzmatch and Salaam Swipe, but some of them have a reputation within Muslim circles as hookup apps, Bahawdory said.

In addition to women making the first move on the app, Eshq differs from other online dating apps for its friend finder feature, video uploads and Spotify integration, Bahawdory said. There are also planned Eshq events, with the goal of connecting people who have things in common and similar life goals. A lot of these dating apps and websites are just worried about quantity and not quality.

The Eshq dating app is geared toward Muslims and people from South Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa. It allows women to make the first.

Some call it haram — or forbidden — but more Muslims than ever are turning to apps like Minder and Muzmatch to find romance. When my friend first told me she was looking for a partner on Minder, I thought it was a typo. She didn’t. Minder is a real thing, an app Muslims use to browse local singles , much like Tinder. As a Muslim, you get used to people not understanding your life. They don’t get why you cover your hair or why you don’t eat during Ramadan, the holy month of fasting.

And they definitely don’t get how Muslim relationships work. I’ve been asked countless times if we get hitched solely through arranged marriages. We don’t.