The title of this repo is a play on the "awesome-lists" people create to highlight great products/services/etc. The inclusion of aweful is to highlight just how bad some of the marriage apps/websites can be.
The internet is a powerful enabler for many aspects of life that were previously limited to your known physical social-circle. If used properly, concepts like finding a spouse online would be a whole lot smoother and possible.
Unfortunately, as marriage is a fundamental aspect to Muslims for both physical and social reasons, exploitation of this need to make a profit is also possible.
The table below will display all the Muslim marriage websites ranked according to their results in the search engine DuckDuckGo.
| Site | Deceptive* | Spam/Fake Profiles** | Owned by(Muslim/Non-Muslim) && jurisdiction*** | Clicks to Pricing**** |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| https://www.arabiandate.com/ | No1 | likely | SOL Networks Limited(Unknown), Malta | 2++ 1 |
| https://www.singlemuslim.com/ | No | likely 2.1 | Single Muslim Matrimonial services (Pvt Ltd)(Unknown), Pakistan/UK2.2 | 4++ 2.3 |
| https://www.qiran.com/ | No3.1 | likely | CRONOMAGIC CANADA INC(Unknown), Canada3.2 | X++3.3 |
| https://www.muslima.com/ | Yes | likely | Cupid Media Pty Ltd(non-Muslim), Australia | X++4.1 |
| https://www.islamic-marriage.com/ | No | likely5.1 | Islamic marriage c/o Samer Fahed(possibly Muslim), Germany | X++5.2 |
| https://meetmuslimsingles.com/ 6.1 | No | likely6.2 | Meet Muslim Singles, LLC(unknown), USA6.3 | Free/NA |
| https://www.shaadi.com 7.1 | Yes | likely | People Interactive (I) Pvt. Ltd(non-Muslim), India | X++7.2 |
| https://isnamatrimonials.net/ | No | likely8.1 | ISNA Online Matrimonial Service(Muslim), USA | 28.2 |
| https://www.halfourdeen.com/ | No | unlikely | No Business Name(unknown), USA9.1 | 2 |
| https://www.lovehabibi.com/ 10.1 | Yes | likely | No Business Name(unknown), unknown jurisdiction10.2 | X++10.3 |
| https://www.muslimmarriagesolution.com/ | No | likely11.1 | Muslim Marriage Solution UK(unknown), UK11.2 | X++11.3 |
*A deceptive site is one that says it is free, but the only way to actually use the site properly is to pay
**The presence of spam/fake profiles is based on the combination of business-model, jurisdiction and level of transparency the site has concerning its pricing/ownership/operations. The rank is either/or: unlikely/likely
***Analyzing which company owns the website, are they visibly Muslim and what jurisdiction governs the entity. Jurisdiction is important for privacy-minded people
****A simple analysis for how many times you need to click to find the pricing page. The higher the clicks, the worse you can consider the site to be, as they purposely bury this information and induce you to signup. "++" indicates that an actual pricing page cannot be found and the company is very vague about how much their memberships cost
1ArabianDate doesn't actually have a visible pricing page and you have to navigate to their "About" page to find out more concerning how the system works. The site doesn't say it is free, but the "About" page is mind-boggling and they even have an FAQ titled "4. Why might members on arabiandate.com look more attractive than members on some other sites?"
2.1Relies on a freemium model where women get full access for free. The likelihood of fake women accounts increases
2.2This site raised some eyebrows. The only way to find out which entity owns the website is to check: https://www.singlemuslim.com/page/contactus and then too, it is unclear if the entity is Pakistani or British, as they have a British PO Box but a Pakistani postal address
2.2It took me 4 clicks to learn that a Gold membership exists and that there is some £10 per month offer, but the pricing page cannot be found
3.1The site purposely remains ambiguous and uses the phrase (in bold) free registration
3.2The name of the company is hidden in their T&C page . There is no "about" section and the "contact us" page does not use the correct company name
3.3It took 3 clicks to get to Paid Services , but when clicking on Premium Membership , the link is locked behind a signup-wall
4.1It took me about 4 clicks to find this link upgrade account but that link is locked behind a signup-wall
5.1The vetting process for the profiles is unclear. The Registration page doesn't have any signup asking for payment details. Scrolling through 10 pages of female member profiles, the photos on some of the accounts appear to be the same ones used on other sites
5.2The closest I got to a Pricing page was this URL: https://www.islamic-marriage.com/fees/ which links to the "Muslim Marriage Success" page
6.1Site is not even HTTPS secured. Attempting to visit HTTPS version results in an error
6.2Although they admit themselves that spam is an issue help
6.3Jurisdiction was hidden under privacy policy
7.1The site caters to a vast array of religions and has a subsection for Muslims
7.2It took me 2 clicks to get Membership plans but comparing plans is locked behind a signup-wall
8.1The site offers a 7 day Free Trial. Depending on the spam-prevention measures and cleanups of the free accounts, spam accounts are likely
8.2The pricing details are stored under FAQ and there is no clear Pricing page
9.1Checking the Contact , Privacy Policy or Terms page did not yield an actual business name. The site also has no "About" information relating to the company
10.1The site caters to a vast array of religions and has a subsection for Muslims
10.2This has raised the most concern, as the entity name or jurisdiction governing it is completely unknown. Checked Contact , Terms , Privacy Policy and Cookies . I even checked the HTTPS certificate to see if a business name was found, but nothing found there either
10.3Checking the FAQ confirms there is a Premium membership, but no links to find out what it costs
11.1The site says all profiles are 100% real, but does not explain what type of filtering processes they use to reduce spam
11.2I checked the Contact , Help , Privacy and Terms which all yielded nothing. I checked the Android appstore for a name, which gave Muslim Marriage Solution Limited and the developers details towards the bottom of the page. The responses to negative reviews on the Android store raised some worrisome concerns too
11.3Although the site claims to be free, checking the Apple appstore reveals that they have a freemium model and have in-app purchases. None of this information is available on the website