Muslims Seek Courtship on the Internet

June 6, 2004

Source: The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18646-2004Jun5.html

On June 6, 2004 The Washington Post reported that Muslim men and women are using the internet to court one another online."Like other online dating services, the Muslim Web sites ask their members to post photos, biographical profiles and descriptions of what they are looking for in a spouse. But instead of moving quickly to the dating stage, the user of a Muslim site typically spends weeks or months exchanging comments online with a potential mate before deciding whether to seek a meeting... Not all Muslims interpret the rule against social interaction with the opposite sex in the same way. But there is wide consensus among U.S. Muslim clergy that Western-style dating is forbidden, and many even disapprove of a social telephone conversation between a man and a woman because 'the voice can be sexually arousing,'said Yvonne Haddad, a professor of the history of Islam at Georgetown University. The matrimonial Web sites, however, are quickly gaining acceptance even among conservative Muslims, according to Islamic scholars and local imams."

See also: Islam, Women