Muzz, a Muslim dating app, takes your matchmaking on the go

On a Thursday night in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, about 250 Muslims gathered at a halal Italian restaurant for a singles dating event. Some of them walked away from the cameras, citing privacy concerns, while others said they were afraid to appear “desperate.”

The event was organized by Muzz, a London-based Muslim dating app with eight million users worldwide, according to the company.

Prayer mats were set up in an outdoor dining tent for the Maghreb, the fourth of five daily prayers for Muslims. Inside the restaurant, tables and chairs were cleared to make room for mingling guests, and plates of hummus, chicken kebab wraps and Mediterranean salad were served.

‌Topics of conversation included halal Thai food in New York (“Top Thai: we should go see it,” one person told another) and the difficulty of meeting new people while working remotely.

According to Muzz, which was founded in 2011, 400,000 couples have married after meeting on the dating app, which offers free and paid memberships. “The heart of the app is empowering young Muslims to find a partner in their own right, but doing so in a way that respects their faith, culture, traditions and family,” Shahzad Younas, founder of Muzz, said in an interview. Their goal is to “embrace the quirks of Muslim marriage,” he said, including a “sweet spot” of family involvement. He noted that families serve as a vital support network for couples.

On a North American tour in May, Muzz hosted dating events in four cities: Toronto; Jersey City, NJ; NY; and Baltimore. Last month, they hosted events in London and Dubai.

When the Brooklyn event kicked off at 7 p.m., there was initially a clear and nerve-racking divide: women talking to other women and men mingling with men. It was a curious sight for a straight singles dating event.

At 7:30 pm, Mr. Younas climbed up on a table in the corner and made a welcome announcement. The women had received a sheet of eight green stickers and the men a sheet of eight red stickers. To help make it easier for people to introduce themselves to others, he said, stickers should be exchanged with people after a conversation; everyone’s goal is to “meet the one,” he said, adding “inshallah,” or God willing.

The encouragement worked, and the two groups began to mingle.

Some people came just to network and meet others of a similar faith and cultural background. Ali Fall, a 34-year-old financial consultant, said he had always dated non-Muslims and his ex did not understand his religious beliefs and obligations. Arriving at the event, he had no expectations. “I believe in destiny, everything is written,” said Fall, who lives in Harlem.

Others were looking for “the one.” What matters to Mohammad Binmahfouz, a 33-year-old global relations coordinator, is “respect and trust,” he said. “And he prays… and fasts.” Mr. Binmahfouz drove two and a half hours from Meriden, Conn., to attend the event.

Others were making a statement about how they find their partners. Even though their parents had arranged weddings, many young Muslims still want to make their own decisions about whom to date, respecting cultural and generational traditions.

For example, Salmah Ahmed, 25, and Mohibbah Abdul-Ahmed, 27, two sisters from Hillside, New Jersey, said their parents pressured them to get married and tried to pitch them potential suitors. “It’s annoying,” Ms. Abdul-Ahmed said with a smile.

“We want to find the men we want,” he added.

The sisters, who are Ghanaians and nurses, only had a red sticker on their name tags. “I feel like when I was walking, people would look through me to get to someone else,” said Ms Ahmed, who has experienced colorism within the Muslim community and that he noted the lack of black Muslims at the event. In the app, they both use the race filter, specifying that they are looking for other black Muslims.

But the filters set in the app don’t necessarily translate in person. Mr. Younas is aware of the difficulties of achieving an even mix of races and ethnicities at in-person events, but tries to appeal to all backgrounds. He said the event in Jersey City had a large population of African Muslims, while the event in Brooklyn was held in a predominantly Arab community and therefore attracted more Arabs.

Muzz, like many other religious dating apps (Eden, Mormon Match, and Meet and Right among them), does not serve LGBTQ people. However, there are several communities for LGBTQ Muslims, such as the queer muslim project.

Expanding the app to LGBTQ people is not in Younas’s plans, he said. “We are still at a stage where the premise of our app, even for direct marketing, is considered taboo.”

Other Muslim dating apps include Salams, formerly Minder, which has around four million users according to the company.

As for events, he said, “whether you know someone or not, you should at least have a good night.”