Why I'm Building Layla

Being Muslim in the West isn't for beginners. We're all too aware that relationships and friendships come with their own set of challenges. I've spent the better part of the last five years downloading and deleting Muzz and Salams at various points.

Sure, I've met some good people, and I've even made friends. But after a while the apps tire you. The swipe-based, dopamine-heavy, perfect profile concept becomes exhausting. And if you choose not to go through the family route, what options are you left with, really?

Walking up to a woman who might be Muslim at the coffee shop? What if you belong to different sects? Sure, you don't care about that, but her father does and your potential love story ends before it even starts.

But I digress, the issue is swipe-based matching is exhausting and it's no longer the 1990s where Ross can walk up to Rachel to get her number and they live happily ever after. Unless your name is Riz Ahmed (I digress once again).

Muslims aren't a monolithic group and modern apps don't make room for the complexity of their users. That's why we've introduced a new brand of identity-based matching. By utilizing quizzes, we make room for that complexity, and capture how we think about faith, society, and the future.

I'm a nerd for storytelling and theatre - and throughout my life I've noticed some specific character patterns emerge within the community. You could call them patterns, modes, or archetypes. There are even sociological studies done on Muslim identity in the West which support this theory.

Our quiz will place you within a broader pattern, and ideally that pattern tells you something you've always known about yourself, or something new that immediately feels true. More importantly, that pattern helps determine who you get matched with. Meaning - no swiping.

So to answer the question, I'm building Layla because Muslims in the West deserve a better way to meet, and because a little storytelling never hurt anyone.