How Nikkah works
Nikkah is a matrimonial introduction platform for Muslims in South Africa. It isn’t a dating or chat app: everyone here is looking for marriage.
Who can join
- Applicants create and manage their own profile.
- Family representatives (a parent, wali, sibling or other relative) can create a profile for someone, with that person’s permission.
- Matchmakers can manage several profiles, each with the applicant’s permission. Our team approves matchmaker accounts first.
A wali isn’t required, but families are welcome. Whoever manages a profile is always shown to other members, for example “Managed by family (mother)” or “Managed by a matchmaker”.
Creating a profile
The profile form is split into short sections: basic details, marital history, education and work, appearance, community and religious views, lifestyle, an optional health section, personality, marriage expectations and partner preferences. You can save a draft at any point and come back later. Optional and sensitive questions are clearly marked, and each one says who can see the answer.
Verification and approval
Every profile is checked by a moderator before it appears. Applicants and families upload an identity document, a face photograph and a full-length photograph. These are encrypted, seen only by authorised moderators (every view is recorded), never shown to members, and deleted after the check.
Matchmakers don’t upload ID documents. Instead, they confirm they have the applicant’s permission and accept responsibility for the information.
What other members see
- Only approved members who are logged in can browse. Profiles never appear on the open internet or in search engines.
- Members see a first name and surname initial (or initials only, or the full name if you choose), age, city and province. Never your ID number or exact address. Contact details are shared only after a match, and you choose whether your health answers are shown to members or only after a match.
- You choose who sees photographs: approved members, nobody, or only someone whose introduction you’ve accepted.
- You can choose to show selected answers, such as community background, religious orientation or polygamy details, only after a match (an accepted introduction).
Introductions
- Browse and filter. Shortlist profiles you’d like to think about, and mark ones that aren’t suitable so they stop appearing.
- Request an introduction with a short, respectful note.
- The other side responds. They can accept, decline, or ask for more information first.
- After acceptance, both sides see each other’s contact details. You can exchange short messages to arrange the next step, such as a family meeting.
Each profile can have a limited number of open introductions at a time, and each introduction has an expiry date. If you need more time, either side can ask for an extension, with a reason, and the other side agrees.
Keeping profiles current
We’ll ask you every month or so, by email and in your notifications, to confirm that the profile is still looking and up to date. Emails come from Nikkah at nikkah.co.za, so please check your spam or junk folder if you don’t see them. Profiles that aren’t confirmed are hidden from search until you sign in and confirm them. You can pause a profile, mark it as married (alhamdulillah), withdraw it, or delete it at any time.
Safety
Every profile and introduction has a report button. Reports go to our moderators, who can warn, suspend or ban accounts and remove profiles. You can also block a member so that neither of you can see or contact the other. Decisions can be appealed, and appeals are reviewed by a different moderator.
Please involve your family, take your time, meet in safe and appropriate settings, and never send money to someone you’ve met online.
Free, for the sake of Allah
Nikkah is free to register, browse and use. There are no paid memberships, boosts or paid requests. Voluntary contributions towards running costs are welcome.