Misaq: what it is, what the name means, and where it works
The name
مِّيثَـٰقًا غَلِيظًا
“…and they have taken from you a solemn covenant.”
Surah an-Nisa 4:21. Uthmani text and translation retrieved from quran.com and checked character by character against the API response rather than typed from memory.
Mithaq is a covenant. Not a match, not a connection, not a profile view. The whole product is an argument that the word should mean something.
People arrive at this page searching for one of a few things: what Misaq is, what the name means, whether the app has launched, or whether it works in their country. All four are answered below, and there is a page for each of the 23 countries at the bottom.
On this page
What the name means
Misaq, ميثاق, is Arabic for a covenant: an agreement with weight, entered deliberately, that both sides are held to. The Qur'an uses it of marriage in Surah an-Nisa, in the phrase mithaqan ghaliza, a solemn covenant. The same construction appears in Surah al-Ahzab 33:7 of the covenant taken from the prophets, which gives a sense of the register the word carries.
We spell it Misaq in English, one word, capital M. In Urdu it is written میثاق.
The name was chosen before the product, and it constrains the product. You cannot name a thing after a covenant and then build an infinite feed.
What Misaq is
Misaq is a marriage app for Muslims who want the process to involve their family from the start rather than at the end. Four things define it:
- The wali is registered before matching begins and has their own dashboard. Not informed afterwards — present from the first step.
- Every member is verified with government ID and a live selfie.
- One compatible match at a time. There is no feed to scroll and no pool to browse.
- Free until a real connection happens. We are not paid for your search continuing.
What makes it different
| A typical matrimonial app | Misaq | |
|---|---|---|
| The family | Told afterwards, if at all | Wali registered before matching, with a dashboard |
| Who you see | A feed to scroll | One compatible match at a time |
| Identity | Self-declared | Government ID and a live selfie |
| What you pay | Monthly, while you are still looking | Nothing until a real connection happens |
| What the business wants | Your search to continue | Your search to end |
The last row is the one that matters. Everything above it follows from it.
What is available today
Misaq has not launched yet. We are saying that plainly because the alternative is letting a page like this imply otherwise.
Two things are open right now, and they are the same everywhere:
- The waitlist. Founding members get access before the app opens publicly.
- The community. We post the build as it happens and answer questions there.
When the app does open, it opens to the waitlist first.
Join the communityInvest in Misaq
Misaq by country
Muslim marriage is not one problem. In Pakistan the difficulty is the rishta system; in Canada it is that half the community arrived recently and left its families behind; in the Gulf it is that almost nobody's wali is in the same country. We have written up 23 of them, together covering roughly 1.26 billion Muslims.
Each page carries the Pew Research population figures for that country and what we think the specific obstacle is. None of them claims the app has launched there, because it has not.
- Misaq Indonesia239.1 million
- Misaq PK226.8 million
- Misaq India213.2 million
- Misaq Bangladesh151.5 million
- Misaq Nigeria120.1 million
- Misaq Egypt104.1 million
- Misaq Turkey83.6 million
- Misaq Morocco36.5 million
- Misaq Saudi Arabia28.7 million
- Misaq Malaysia21.7 million
- Misaq UAE6.9 million
- Misaq France6 million
- Misaq Germany5.4 million
- Misaq UK4.3 million
- Misaq USA4.1 million
- Misaq Kuwait3.5 million
- Misaq Qatar2.1 million
- Misaq Canada1.9 million
- Misaq Netherlands970,200
- Misaq South Africa968,960
- Misaq Singapore904,820
- Misaq Australia900,900
- Misaq Sweden838,350
Common questions
What does Misaq mean?
Misaq, written ميثاق, is Arabic for a covenant or a binding pact. The Qur'an uses the phrase mithaqan ghaliza — a solemn covenant — of marriage in Surah an-Nisa 4:21. The name is the positioning: this is not a dating app with an Islamic skin.
What is the Misaq app?
A marriage app for Muslims. The wali registers before matching begins and has their own dashboard, every member is verified with government ID and a live selfie, you see one compatible match at a time rather than a feed, and it is free until a real connection happens.
Has Misaq launched?
Not yet. The waitlist is open and the app opens to the waitlist first. Anyone telling you otherwise is not us.
Which countries will Misaq work in?
Misaq is built to work anywhere there is a wali willing to take part, including when that wali lives in a different country from the person being matched. We have written up the situation in 23 countries.
Is Misaq free?
Free until a real connection happens. There is no monthly subscription. An app that charges monthly is paid for your search continuing, which is the incentive problem underneath most of this category.
Who built Misaq?
Misaq Inc, a Delaware company. It was founded by Muhammad Moiz Khurram and Muhammad Hashir Khurram.
Related reading
- Nikah and dating: the difference is structural
- How to get married in Islam, step by step
- The wali: what he is for, and what he is not
- How big is the Muslim marriage market?
Sources
- Pew Research Center, "How the Global Religious Landscape Changed From 2010 to 2020" (June 2025). pewresearch.org — every population figure in this cluster.
- Qur'an 4:21 and 33:7, Uthmani text and Saheeh International translation, retrieved from the quran.com API and compared programmatically.
General information, not a religious ruling. Population figures are Pew Research Center estimates for 2020 and are stated as such.
Stay with us while we build
We post the build as it happens. Follow whichever one you actually read.