Muslim matrimonial networks: Historically, young Muslims have been able to depend on their parents and other relatives to help them find wives and husbands who are compatible. This, historically, was what you depended on as your matrimonial network. Today, things are different. Parents and relatives who were brought up traditionally in the East, no matter how open-minded, are likely to not understand what their sons and daughters are really looking for in a spouse; and in fact, with the variety in cultures and upbringings Muslims have in the Western world, you may not be certain yourself what kind of young man or woman will make you happy.

This is where online Muslim matrimonial networks can help. These are services located all over the Internet where young Muslims can go to find like-minded people seeking a spouse. Muslim matrimonial networks have a number of advantages over traditional matchmaking.

• You have a much larger pool of people to choose from. In America and other Western countries, there aren’t necessarily a lot of young men or women you can meet in the normal course of things, as there might be in the East.
• You can meet men and women based on your tastes, not on those of your parents.
• You can have some of the advantages of Western dating – meeting and knowing well several different prospective spouses – without the dangers or the risk of going against your faith.
• You can broaden your horizons by meeting young people from many different parts of the Muslim world. Even Muslims sometimes don’t realize the wide variety of cultures who share their own faith.
• You can familiarize yourself with the practical parts of the life you will be sharing with your prospective spouse: finances, male and female roles, children, where you’ll be living, and how much a part of your lives religion will play.
• It’s a dignified, graceful way of meeting multiple prospective spouses, and allows either of you to easily remove yourselves from the developing relationship if you find that you are incompatible for any reason.

By taking this kind of care with the spouse you choose, you will be much more prepared to commit to a lifetime with him or her. And if you’re more prepared for your marriage, you will be much less likely to enter into a commitment that may end in divorce, as so many modern Muslim marriages do.

Muslim matrimonial networks can be found online through Muslim websites and Muslim organizations, and many of them are free. To find them, start by looking at the Islamic Circle of North America and the Islamic Society of North America. Both organizations have Muslim matrimonial networks hosted on their websites, though they may not be as extensive as other networks online. You should also do a web search for Muslim matrimonial networks, as you’ll almost certainly find a large number of them.

When locating Muslim matrimonial networks, don’t limit yourself to just one or two; this is a mistake. Instead, sign up for several, and try them out. Most of them are at least partially free, so all you’re spending is time; and by participating in several networks you’ll be maximizing your chances for meeting the perfect spouse.