• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, February 10, 2025

Can Muslim marriage traditions coexist in today’s modern dating world?

Two Muslim-American matchmakers say yes in the new Hulu docuseries “Muslim Matchmaker” premiering Tuesday (February 11).

The tone of the show is sunny and upbeat as the two -- Hoda Abrahim and Yasmin Elhady (left and right, respectively in the above photo) -- practice their profession of connecting Muslim men and Muslim women who are seeking marriage.

The clients start out on dates, of course, but it is dating “with the intention of marriage,” says Yasmin. 

With the male and female clients both seeking that same goal, Yasmin believes the deal can be wrapped up without a lengthy dating period.

She has a formula she counsels her clients to adopt that she calls “Rules of Three: Three dates, three months and 300 questions.”

Various cultures still practice some form of marriage-arranging. I’m no expert, but in times past, the tradition of matching young men and women for marriage often involved not including them at all in the process.

In “Muslim Matchmaker,” however, the prospective matches made by Hoda and Yasmin start with the men and women.

In one scene in the premiere episode previewed by the TV Blog on Friday, their hunt for clients included approaching a young woman sitting alone in a Houston coffee shop and asking her if she was (a) Muslim and (b) looking to find a marriage mate. She answered yes to both.

Throughout the episode, Hoda and Yasmin demonstrate repeatedly that they are hip to all of the means by which singles meet each other today -- mainly, by swiping right and left on dating apps.

In the matchmakers’ first meetings with clients, the clients often say they are tired of the dating-app scene and as they approach 30 years of age, are seeking to readjust their lives in conformity, at least in part, with the conservative traditions they grew up with.

In the show, the point is always to match Muslims with Muslims. Despite the matchmakers’ evident modernity, this aim might come across as narrow-minded in today’s world where marriages across races, religions, ethnicity, gender and sexual preference are more common than ever. 

In Episode One of “Muslim Matchmaker,” no mention is made of matching up gay or lesbian Muslims, or matching up anyone with non-Muslims.

In one scene, a male client looking for a Muslim mate lists the types of non-Muslim women he has dated -- including Jewish, he says -- but he is now ready to settle down and create a Muslim family.

Episode One contained no incidents of dissension or friction in the land of Muslim matchmaking, but it is also possible that conflicts will arise in subsequent episodes.