Modern Love: Dating and Romance at the Intersection of Religion and Popular Culture

Worried about a rising rate of unhappy marriages, several Muslim authority figures have extensively discussed the need to protect marital unions. Beyond religious professionals, cultural producers are also leading conversations around marriage preservation in the American Muslim communities (Thonnart 2023). Understanding the leadership role of cultural producers in shaping religious communities (Jackson 2017), this paper considers the stakes of their socio-religious activism; and how various platforms and (art) forms are mobilized to (re-)imagine the culture of marriage today. One such cultural producer is Yasmin Elhady. Wearing many hats, the former matchmaker has become actively involved in the American Muslim community as a comic and relationship advisor. This paper examines the ethic of relationships and marriage that she articulates and cultivates through her public interventions. It shows how she actively engages members of the Muslim community about becoming “proactive protectors of our union.” (Elhady 2020).