Dozens of young singles gathered this month to meet potential marriage partners in Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahore, the first attempt by a UK-based matrimonial app to help people find spouses in person in the conservative Islamic country.
Typically, marriages in Pakistan are arranged by parents who look for suitable matches for their children from within their communities or the extended family. Dating apps are generally stigmatized and gender segregation socially and at work remains common in the country of 240 million people.
The Lahore event was organized by Muzz, formerly Muzzmatch, which said its app is based on Islamic etiquette.
Photo: Reuters
The app is restricted to Muslim users, and, in a nod to traditional values, gives the option of blurring pictures except for specific matches and allows for chaperones to oversee meetings.
Other smaller events are also emerging in the country to challenge traditional matchmaking norms.
Despite criticism online in the past for the app, the Muzz event was attended by about 100 people.
Aimen, a 31-year-old woman who did not want to be further identified, said she used the app on the recommendation of her US-based brother.
“I used the app for two weeks, but then I saw an ad for this event and thought, why not meet people in person?” she said.
Her mother would have accompanied her as a chaperone, but could not attend because of her health, she said.
Muzz, launched in 2015 in the Britain, which also has a sizeable Muslim population, has more than 1.5 million users in Pakistan, its second-largest market after Morocco.
Moaz, a 27-year-old man, said he has been using Muzz for a year and that he was hopeful of finding a wife through the app.
“I do get matches, but they have different priorities,” he said, adding that girls on the app expect him to involve his parents from the beginning.
“That is not [immediately] possible,” he said, stressing the need of getting to know someone before taking the next big step.
Annie’s Matchmaking Party, another Lahore event last week, used an algorithm to match 20 young professionals after a selection process and invited them to the meet.
Noor ul Ain Choudhary, the 30-year-old organizer, faced criticism online that her event promoted a “hookup culture.” She countered that it aimed to provide a safe space for singles to meet and connect.
“In Pakistan, we’ve had two options: biased arranged marriages or time-consuming dating apps with no guarantees. Safety during meetings is also a concern,” she said.
Abdullah Ahmed, 22, was bullish about in-person events and said he was convinced he may have found his perfect match at the Muzz gathering.
“The highlight was meeting an amazing girl,” he said, beaming with excitement, adding that they instantly clicked and swapped social media handles.
“We’re both Marvel fans. We’re already planning to catch the new Deadpool & Wolverine together,” he said.
Kehinde Sanni spends his days smoothing out dents and repainting scratched bumpers in a modest autobody shop in Lagos. He has never left Nigeria, yet he speaks glowingly of Burkina Faso military leader Ibrahim Traore. “Nigeria needs someone like Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso. He is doing well for his country,” Sanni said. His admiration is shaped by a steady stream of viral videos, memes and social media posts — many misleading or outright false — portraying Traore as a fearless reformer who defied Western powers and reclaimed his country’s dignity. The Burkinabe strongman swept into power following a coup in September 2022
‘FRAGMENTING’: British politics have for a long time been dominated by the Labor Party and the Tories, but polls suggest that Reform now poses a significant challenge Hard-right upstarts Reform UK snatched a parliamentary seat from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labor Party yesterday in local elections that dealt a blow to the UK’s two establishment parties. Reform, led by anti-immigrant firebrand Nigel Farage, won the by-election in Runcorn and Helsby in northwest England by just six votes, as it picked up gains in other localities, including one mayoralty. The group’s strong showing continues momentum it built up at last year’s general election and appears to confirm a trend that the UK is entering an era of multi-party politics. “For the movement, for the party it’s a very, very big
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
SUPPORT: The Australian prime minister promised to back Kyiv against Russia’s invasion, saying: ‘That’s my government’s position. It was yesterday. It still is’ Left-leaning Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday basked in his landslide election win, promising a “disciplined, orderly” government to confront cost-of-living pain and tariff turmoil. People clapped as the 62-year-old and his fiancee, Jodie Haydon, who visited his old inner Sydney haunt, Cafe Italia, surrounded by a crowd of jostling photographers and journalists. Albanese’s Labor Party is on course to win at least 83 seats in the 150-member parliament, partial results showed. Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s conservative Liberal-National coalition had just 38 seats, and other parties 12. Another 17 seats were still in doubt. “We will be a disciplined, orderly
RSS