I suppose someone had to go there; where there is a market, there’s an app for it. And judging from this app, there’s a market for already married Muslim men looking for second, third and fourth wives. Enter two savvy Russians with an eye for opportunity, and you have My Diaspora a Tinder-style app dedicated to helping Muslim men find a second wife.

Just like Tinder, you have to log on through Facebook to find women close by to flirt with. However since this is a marriage app and not a dating/hookup app, men are allowed to message up to three potential brides-to-be a day. Yep, we don’t want these men to get too many women’s knickers in a bunch at one time, now do we?

Of course this app wouldn’t work if there were no actual women on it. Women who do join know what they’re getting into – in a way. They’re asked if they would consider becoming someone’s second wife by ticking ‘Yes’, ‘Probably’ or ‘Definitely No’. They’re also asked if they’re willing to move to another country, convert their religion and other usual dating site questions like their jobs and whether they smoke or drink. One thing not so usual to regular dating apps/sites is the fact that a woman can add their fathers into the conversation by using the “Add Father” feature. While to non-Muslims this might just fall into the creepy side of things, it is actually keeping with the Muslim tradition of men and women meeting in the presence of a patron. So yeah, no nekkid selfies or sexting will happen on this app.

It goes without saying that the men on these apps have high expectations as to who should be their second wives. Most want ‘good, modest, Muslim girls’ – obviously, or else they wouldn’t be on this app.

The developers claim to have consulted Muslim holy men before developing the app, so that they could build something that both Muslim men and women can use guilt free. They also stress that the service allows women to hide information unless they choose to show it.

The developers claim to have taken advice from Muslim holy men on the service and stress they allow women to keep information hidden unless they choose to show it. In an article in the Daily Mail, Arsen Kazibekov, the creator of the app, said the service was simply responding to demand. ”We only launched that service because people were messaging us with their life stories and asking us to do that. So we did. It’s a tribute to tradition.”

I know a lot of people are up in arms about this app, and while it’s totally not my cuppa tea, the truth of the matter is, no one is forcing anyone to get on this app. The women and men are there freely. If a man is ‘cheating’ on his wife and trying to find a second one, as far as I know, as long as he informs his first wife, he is allowed to do so. So there’s that. Either way, it’s interesting!