Muslim Marriage Goes Online: The Use of Internet Match-making by American Muslims
This paper analytically explores the recent rise of Internet use among American Muslims who are looking for marriage. Because American Muslims are a heterogeneous community consisting of individuals who, while confessing to a single article of faith, come from a plethora of ethnic and cultural backgrounds, finding a suitable mate within one’s religious, cultural and emotional sphere has become a complex and, at times, problematic journey. As a result, American Muslims are increasing their use of the Internet to overcome existing spatial and cultural barriers. This paper introduces the background of the Islamic marriage tradition, examines American Muslims’ marriage practices and then analysis how current online match-making sites are accommodating as well as challenging the American Muslim communities’ traditional practices in matters of finding love and marriage partners.