London: When ''Sweetgal'', a 29-year-old British Muslim from central England, began looking for a new husband last year, at first she didn't know where to turn.
The answer, it turned out, was on the Internet. She'd been married once – a union arranged by her parents – to a man from Pakistan. It lasted seven years and produced children but broke down due to cultural differences and she didn't want to go through a similar trauma again.
At the same time, being a respectful Muslim who wears hijab, she wasn't going to start 'dating', and knew her parents would have to be involved in her new search in one way or another.
Over the past two years there has been a boom in the use of Web sites that introduce Muslim men and women, not for casual dating, but for those actively seeking traditional Muslim marriage.
Where once young British Muslims might have had a marriage arranged to a spouse from the country of their parents' origin – perhaps Pakistan or Bangladesh -- it is now much more common for them to marry within the Muslim community in Britain.
''Sweetgal'', who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, has been registered on www.singlemuslim.com for several months, in which time she's found someone she hopes could be a marriage prospect. She does not allow her picture to appear on the site.
''My parents are coming round (to the idea),'' she said. ''He's a British Pakistani Muslim and more in line with what I'm looking for.
Where marriages used to be fixed up solely by parents with the help of religious leaders, the Internet now plays an influential role in bringing partners together, even if parents remain part of the equation.
Singlemuslim.com, which calls itself Britain's largest Muslim introductions agency, has seen registered users more than double over the past year to 100,000, as word has spread about its service, not only among singles but their parents too.
Such is the demand for trustworthy introductions that its founder is now opening sites in the United States, Canada and Australia to cater to large Muslim communities there.
''Our success rate is extremely high,” said Adeem Younis, who founded the site from his base in West Yorkshire six years ago. “Two people a day, on average, are coming off the site having found success, which is a lot really. We're seeing the number of traditionally arranged marriages dropping quite rapidly as this becomes more popular.''
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