Monday, October 19, 2015

Swipe right for a SECOND wife: The 'Muslim Tinder' that sets up married men with their next bride

  • Dating app 'My Diaspora' aimed at Muslim men to flirt and find second wife
  • Men using the app - popular in Britain - can message up to three potential brides-to-be every day
  • Women on the site are asked whether they would be happy to share their husband and be prepared to be a second wife
  • They are asked about their morals and attitude to smoking and alcohol 
  • App even has 'Add Father' feature, allowing brothers and dads to join in the conversation between two matches  
  • Russian inventor says Western-style dating is condemned in Islamic areas
An explosion of dating apps means finding love in the 21st century is only a swipe away.
Now already-married Muslim men are joining in the fun, thanks to a new Tinder-style app dedicated to helping them find a second wife.

Created by a Russian inventor, the 'My Diaspora' app uses the same principles as Tinder and enables polygamous Muslim men to log on through Facebook and find women close by to flirt with.

But while singletons on Tinder are usually just looking for a date, a relationship or a one-night stand My Diaspora is specifically for men looking for a second wife, and lets them message up to three potential brides-to-be a day.

Signing up: Women can also register to chat to married men who are looking for second wives. They are asked whether they are prepared to share a man and for their views on smoking and alcohol
Signing up: Women can also register to chat to married men who are looking for second wives. They are asked whether they are prepared to share a man and for their views on smoking and alcohol
High demands: A Muslim man posts his expectations on the Tinder-like app My Diaspora where men can flirt with women to find themselves a second wife 
High demands: A Muslim man posts his expectations on the Tinder-like app My Diaspora where men can flirt with women to find themselves a second wife 
Second time lucky: Muslim dating app 'My Diaspora' is designed to help men find a second wife to marry
Women are asked when they sign up whether they would consider becoming someone's second wife - ticking 'Yes', 'Probably' or 'Definitely No'.
Second time lucky: 'My Diaspora', a dating app, is designed to help men find a second wife to marry. Men can contact up to three would-be brides a day

 Women who download the app are asked whether they would consider becoming someone's second wife - ticking 'Yes', 'Probably' or 'Definitely No'.

They are also asked if they are willing to move to another country and convert religion after getting hitched - as well as being asked to provide details about their number of siblings, their jobs and whether they smoke or drink.

App developers even have an 'Add Father' feature, allowing brothers and dads to join in the conversation between two matches, in keeping with Muslim tradition of men and woman meeting in the presence of a patron. 

And on many of their profiles the men list their own high expectations - hoping to get lucky second time around.

One Muslim man said he wanted to meet a 'beautiful Muslim girl should be modest and (have) Islamic culture values' in the hope of attracting a suitable woman.

Others using the app stand posing for photos, with one portly man in traditional dress outside a carpet shop, declaring: 'I want a good women who married with me.' 

Another, hoping to attract women with his positive attitude, writes alongside a selfie: 'Cheer up for yourself, nobody else is as much going to love you as yourself.'

The developers claim to have taken advice from Muslim holy men on the service and stress they allow women to keep information hidden unless they choose to show it.

One man using the controversial service in Russia, which has the same marriage laws as the UK, said he signed up because he wanted a second family.  

'I have already notified my wife. Let's see what happens next. Perhaps, she'll mess it up at the wedding, like in some comedy,' he told a local news site.

Popular: British men are said to be signing up in numbers to the smartphone app My Diaspora, looking for potential wives
Popular: British men are said to be signing up in numbers to the smartphone app My Diaspora, looking for potential wives

His second bride-to-be, Amina, knew he was already married from his application as he had ticked a box saying he was looking for 'wife number two'.

She said she wanted to join as she was unmarried and wanted a family. 

'I am 30. But Allah hasn't given me a husband. I already want to have children, so I feel okay to be a second wife,' she said.

Because such marriages are not recognised by English courts — and around 70 to 75 per cent of Muslim weddings go unregistered — those who marry under the system are not subject to prosecution.

The Ministry of Justice told MailOnline that anyone committing bigamy in the UK faces a prison sentence of seven years. 

I am 30. But Allah hasn't given me a husband. I already want to have children, so I feel okay to be a second wife 
Amina, engaged to be a second wife 
It is estimated that around 20,000 polygamous marriages have taken place in the UK. 

Arsen Kazibekov, the creator of the app, dubbed a Muslim version of Tinder, said the service was simply responding to demand.

'We respect and acknowledge the laws of the countries we're operating, and if there are demands for banning this particular service, we can possibly do that, there are technical ways to do so,' he said.

'Polygamy is legal in 40 countries, and we're not trying to make it more popular.

'In fact, we only launched that service because people were messaging us with their life stories and asking us to do that. 

So we did. It's a tribute to tradition.' 

The app also offers Muslim-friendly dating to its followers, explaining that more than half of those registered are based in either Muslim or conservative societies including Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, which generally look down on Internet dating.

These people need to find the right partner, but this cannot be done by existing online dating services because of the cultural needs, it claims. 

'A potential spouse is selected not by appearance or personality, but by nationality, religion, class, and many other social conditions,' the website explains.

'Dating as we know it in the West is either prohibited or quietly condemned. Meanwhile, small nations - there are more small nations than large - strive to preserve their national identity and have a need for national Web resources.

'Using the Internet to find the right partner and content which matches one's ethnic and cultural upbringing becomes even more important when people move from their homeland and become members of the diaspora.'

Images advertising this web service have labelled it 'dating according to Oriental traditions' and say it is working towards an international Halal license, which guarantees compliance with all Islamic norms.

The application is understood to operate from Dagestan, a strife-torn mainly Muslim area of southern Russia, which has previously come under attack from ISIS.

But its creators said the application was designed to help migrants to better adjust to the countries they move to, while adhering to traditional practices. 

'Our research shows that migrants do things that annoy others not because they are 'bad', but because no one told them what's acceptable and what's not, what are the traditions of the area and such.

'We're trying to fill in this gap and assist cultural integration by telling what's 'good' and acceptable and providing easy-to-understand info on culture and history of countries.

'Migrants often feel insecure, that's why there are ethnic communities forming - people feel comfortable in the environment they know.'


No comments: