Would you bring your parents with you on a first date? That’s what some young Muslims are doing at a speed-dating event in Malaysia. Dressed in a headscarf and full-length robe, young women take notes as the man before her introduces himself. This is Halal Speed Dating, a new matchmaking event in Kuala Lumpur a way for Malaysian Muslims to find partners in a largely conservative society where marriages are usually arranged. This service is called halal, meaning permissible under Islamic law, but with an Islamic twist: women speed daters must be chaperoned by a guardian or parents until she they are married.
