5 situations that make us feel finding a rishta in Pakistan is difficult
..and we might have found a way to counter them.
Finding a life partner in Pakistan is not for the faint of heart. Dating is often stigmatised, traditional matchmaking is restrictive — and inherently misogynistic — and the idea of two people getting to know each other before agreeing to spend their lives together will, if discussed publicly, lead to an aunty somewhere fainting from shock.
In this dark and lonely night, two heroes have emerged to make sure people don’t die alone: Hamza Ali Abbasi and Naimal Khawar.
Surprised? Shocked? Questioning reality? We were too, but let us explain. The husband-wife duo have resolved to work together and develop a matrimonial platform where users can find a match based on “Islamic values”.
The couple announced the launch of the app, named Marriage 4 Life, on Monday. What makes this one different, in Abbasi’s own words, “is on-ground offices in multiple countries, as of now we have offices in [the] UK, Norway, Paris. We have offices in Denmark…in Lahore.”
He said these offices weren’t just to help people find partners, but also offered pre and post marriage consultations. He said the network was set to expand to Karachi and multiple locations in North America and the Middle East.
The most important feature, as Abbasi put it, is the Wali function, which allows parents or guardians to monitor communications between two users vying for a match. This function comes with two modes, messages can be tracked in real time, or an AI bot can be tasked to flag any ‘indecent’ words in the messages exchanged and alert the parents.
The actor also said the app has the “most detailed bio-data system” with agents on the ground to review and confirm the information provided. He also said they have psychologists and therapists on staff to help with any problems arising before, during, or after the matchmaking process.
Abbasi called the app, which is available on the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store, an “all-in-one solution to all your marriage problems”.
While the concept is certainly novel and there is an ever-present need to get many Pakistani couples into therapy or counselling, we’re left wondering how different the messaging system is from the age-old practice of putting a girl and a boy together while the family watches and asking them to get to know each other on the spot.
Abbasi and Khawar said this was just an informal introduction and we can expect more detailed presentations in the coming days. We’ll be following those closely to see how this idea takes shape.