British Muslim man’s search for wife casts spotlight on enduring appeal of arranged marriages in India and Pakistan

Muhammad Malik, a Britain-based bachelor from a Pakistani Punjabi family, hit global headlines with his unconventional search for a spouse via findmalikawife.com

Rather than showing interest in arranged marriages is waning, his story highlights how across South Asia an ancient tradition is being reimagined with a modern slant

Reading Time:5 minutes

Published: 1:00pm, 26 Jan 2022Updated: 4:03pm, 26 Jan 2022

When Muhammad Malik, 29, a Muslim bachelor from a Pakistani Punjabi family in Britain, went in search of his future wife, he chose to put up huge billboard ads on the streets of Birmingham and London.

“Save me from an arranged marriage,” read the ad, alongside a picture of a reclining, smiling Malik and a link to his website findmalikawife.com.

The adverts gained him publicity but also caught the attention of hundreds of women who got in touch following the stunt to register their interest.

Muslim dating app Muzmatch has now revealed it was behind the publicity stunt and those who click on the website are directed to the dating app. Reactions have been mixed – some call it a great marketing campaign but others say it is unethical.

Either way, Malik’s billboards show how traditional arranged marriages continue to appeal to South Asians, including the diaspora community. Many are reimagining the practice with a modern slant, given that arranged marriages remain by far the norm.

From Pakistan and Bangladesh to Sri Lanka and India, where arranged marriages account for an estimated 90 per cent of all matches, young bachelors and spinsters are trying their hands at finding a spouse for themselves – while also outsourcing the job to their parents as a way of keeping all their options open.

“Arranged marriages are misunderstood and demonised to mean marriages that are forced upon young people by parents, but the modern version of semi-arranged marriage is quite different,” said Sheetal Chadha, a Delhi-based homemaker, whose two children had arranged marriages, but were given complete freedom to choose from their options.

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