matchmaking

South Asian-American Men Balance Tradition and Modernity to Find a Bride

The Urdu phrase “bus bohot hogiya hay” sends chills down Umair Khan’s spine. Roughly translated as “enough already,” it’s something Mr. Khan, 34, a Manhattan lawyer, has heard uttered by his mother, his aunt and their Pakistani-American friends on several occasions, lately with increasing exasperation. The frustration stems from Mr….

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Jihad Me at Hello

Tinder and Osama bin Laden. Those are two words you wouldn’t expect in the same sentence. Cue mixture of horror and curiosity. Gawker writer Sam Biddle did a social ‘experiment’ on Tinder. He used an unconventional source for his flirtatious remarks – Osama bin Laden’s ‘love letter’ to one of…

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Online Dating – The Real Deal

Rushing into a physical relationship before establishing social commitment is harmful on a personal and societal level.  A sad reality is that the online dating industry is built on this shadiness for purely economic reasons.  A sadder reality is that well-intentioned people are sucked into it.  It’s a downward spiral…

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Muslim Matchmaking Made Mobile

Yelli is a free Tinder-like app for Android and iOS smartphones, created by three New York-based Muslim millennials who wanted to help connect single Muslims in a fun and practical way. The topic of online marriage remains sensitive and controversial, since the assumption in traditional Muslim society is that people will…

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Code-Switching/Matchmaking

I recently decided to step back from actively searching for someone to marry. I’m serious and interested, but aspects of the Muslim matchmaking process are strange for me.
I lost my beloved wife, Joan, just over a year ago. The prospect of starting over with someone new after sixteen years of marriage is daunting. I am a forty-year-old white American male, but I am also Muslim.

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On matchmaking

In a piece in which I discussed the ways we can reform traditional South Asian marriage customs, I touched upon the role of matchmakers. Their role is one I had been pondering long before I conceived those thoughts.

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Muslims need “dating dialogues” to open communication

Young American-Muslims find themselves walking the tight rope between conservative Muslim traditions and liberal American culture. Because of this, Gen X and Gen Y Muslims are well-positioned to pave the way for change. Nearly all have “dated” vicariously through non-Muslim friends. Simultaneously many take their faith seriously and have a sincere desire to propagate it.

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