Salaam - Would you try a fully private platform for serious Muslim relationships?
Salaam everyone, I'm a Muslim developer (Somali background) and I've been building something to help a common challenge in our community: how to pursue serious, marriage-minded relationships while keeping privacy and dignity intact. Quick overview of the problem: - Many modern apps show your profile to lots of people, which can lead to family, coworkers, or friends stumbling on it. - That exposure can harm professional reputation for teachers, doctors, community figures. - It can feel demeaning to be shown to people you wouldn't consider compatible. - Many of us want to preserve hayā (modesty) in the process. My approach - privacy as the base, not an add-on: 1) Invisible by default: no public feed or searchable profiles. 2) Mutual threshold system: you set what you want (for example, only surface to people 80%+ compatible). 3) Two-way gate: someone only sees you if they meet your standards and you meet theirs - both must be true. 4) No browsing, no exposure: if thresholds don't match, neither of you is aware of the other. Standard privacy features (not paywalled): - No “people nearby” or location exposure - No mutual friend lists that could reveal activity - Full control over what info is shared and when - End-to-end encrypted messages - No selling or sharing data with third parties Why this is aimed at Muslims: - Respects modesty and dignity in searching - Allows family considerations to be part of matching - Includes religious practice level as a core matching factor - Built for serious intentions, not casual dating I’d really appreciate straight answers to these: 1) Would you personally try a platform like this? (Yes/No/Maybe - and why) 2) What would make you hesitant to use it? 3) If it worked well, would you pay for it? If yes, what feels reasonable? If no, why not? 4) What immediate concerns come to mind? 5) Any other feedback I haven't asked about? What I’m not asking for: praise, recruitment, or sales. Just honest thoughts - concerns, deal-breakers, whether this actually meets a real need. To be clear, this is not for casual dating or hookups, it’s not meant to replace family involvement (it’s a tool to help), and it’s not another swipe-based exposure app. Jazakum Allah khair for any input - even brief answers are really helpful.