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.
A Zurich city councilor has apologized and reportedly sought police protection against threats after she fired a sport pistol at an auction poster of a 14th-century Madonna and child painting, and posted images of their bullet-ridden faces on social media. Green-Liberal party official Sanija Ameti, 32, put the images on Instagram over the weekend before quickly pulling them down. She later wrote on social media that she had been practicing shots from about 10m and only found the poster as “big enough” for a suitable target. “I apologize to the people who were hurt by my post. I deleted it immediately when I
The governor of Ohio is to send law enforcement and millions of dollars in healthcare resources to the city of Springfield as it faces a surge in temporary Haitian migrants. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine on Tuesday said that he does not oppose the Temporary Protected Status program under which about 15,000 Haitians have arrived in the city of about 59,000 people since 2020, but said the federal government must do more to help affected communities. On Monday, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost directed his office to research legal avenues — including filing a lawsuit — to stop the federal government from sending
At first, Francis Ari Sture thought a human was trying to shove him down the steep Norwegian mountainside. Then he saw the golden eagle land. “We are staring at each other for, maybe, a whole minute,” Sture said on Monday. “I’m trying to think what’s in its mind.” The bird then attacked Sture five more times on Thursday last week, scratching and clawing the 31-year-old bicycle courier’s face and arms over 10 to 15 minutes as he sprinted down the mountain. The same eagle is believed to be responsible for attacks on three other people across a vast mountainous area of southern Norway
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is to visit Russia next month for a summit of the BRICS bloc of developing economies, Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) said on Thursday, a move that comes as Moscow and Beijing seek to counter the West’s global influence. Xi’s visit to Russia would be his second since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. China claims to take a neutral position in the conflict, but it has backed the Kremlin’s contentions that Russia’s action was provoked by the West, and it continues to supply key components needed by Moscow for
RSS