Misaq / Blog / Misaq / the Netherlands

Misaq Netherlands: the marriage app, and the ground it is landing on

2 October 2026 · Misaq · 5 min read

A small, dense country where the Turkish and Moroccan communities are well established and marry largely within themselves.

If you searched for Misaq Netherlands, you were probably trying to find out one of two things: what Misaq actually is, or whether you can use it where you live. Short answers first, then the part that is specific to the Netherlands.

What Misaq is, briefly

A marriage app for Muslims where 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.

The full explanation, and what the name means, is on the main Misaq page.

Muslim marriage in the Netherlands

Pew Research Center puts the Muslim population of the Netherlands at around 970,200 in 2020, 5.5 percent of the country. Over the decade from 2010 that number grew by 16%, with the community concentrated in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht.

Dutch Muslims are mostly of Turkish and Moroccan descent, settled since the labour migration of the 1960s and 70s and now into a third and fourth generation. Smaller Surinamese, Indonesian, Somali and Syrian communities sit alongside them.

The country is small enough that distance is never the obstacle. The obstacle is that the two main communities still marry mostly within themselves, so the effective pool is far smaller than the national figure implies.

Dutch law recognises the civil marriage only, and a religious ceremony before the civil one is prohibited. As elsewhere in Western Europe, the sequence is not optional.

Among the 23 countries in this series, the Netherlands has the 19th largest Muslim population and the 17th fastest growth over the decade.

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

Common questions

Is Misaq available in the Netherlands?

Not yet. Misaq has not launched in any country. The waitlist is open to people in the Netherlands now, and the app opens to the waitlist first.

How many Muslims live in the Netherlands?

Around 970,200 as of 2020, or 5.5% of the population, according to Pew Research Center, "How the Global Religious Landscape Changed From 2010 to 2020" (June 2025). That is a +16% change on 2010.

Will Misaq work if my wali is not in the Netherlands?

Yes, that is the case it is designed for. The wali registers and takes part from wherever they live, which matters because for a large share of the people this is built for, the guardian is in another country.

What is the main obstacle to Muslim marriage in the Netherlands?

A small, dense country where the Turkish and Moroccan communities are well established and marry largely within themselves.

Misaq elsewhere

• Misaq Sweden — Misaq in Sweden
• Misaq Singapore — Misaq in Singapore
• Misaq USA — Misaq in the United States
• All countries, and what Misaq is

Related reading

• What Misaq is, in full
• How to get married in Islam, step by step
• The wali: what he is for, and what he is not
• The questions to ask before you say yes

Sources

• Pew Research Center, "How the Global Religious Landscape Changed From 2010 to 2020" (June 2025). pewresearch.org — population and religious-composition figures for the Netherlands, 2010 and 2020.
• Qur'an 4:21, Uthmani text via quran.com — for the meaning of mithaq.

General information about marriage practice and population, not a religious ruling and not legal advice. Where this page touches marriage law in the Netherlands, check it with someone qualified in that jurisdiction before you rely on it.