More than a decade ago, when Shahzad Younas started a website specifically for Muslims to meet and marry, he thought his problems would be the typical kind – attracting users, expanding the business, earning a profit. Instead, his biggest hurdle has been figuring out how to fend off a competitor that is suing him in multiple countries on multiple fronts with the aim, he said, of "stifling competition". Younas, 38, a British investment banker turned entrepreneur, has been butting heads since 2016 with the online dating giant Match Group, which owns Match.com, At issue are elements of his website's branding – elements that Match has argued create confusion between its platforms and Younas's. The latest blow came in late April when Younas lost a trademark appeal in the United Kingdom.

"I'm increasingly coming to terms with the fact that I may never get married," said Mustafa, a 34-year-old Black Muslim man who asked that we not use his real name. He has been on two dates with women he met on dating apps in the past year – and they left him feeling fatigued and doubtful that he would ever find a genuine connection with someone. He had turned to the apps, he said, because, there is no dating scene in his British-Somali community. But, he lamented, "it's really hard to find someone. This is not how Mustafa imagined his life would be in his mid-thirties. When he was younger, he pictured himself as a devoted husband and loving father to a couple of children by now. In this mental image of familial bliss, he was also living in a picturesque cottage in the English countryside complete with "a lake or something". Instead, he recently celebrated his 34th birthday single and living in a flat overlooking the Wembley Stadium arch in North West London. But, he added with a shrug, "I've started learning how to cycle." Discussing his hobbies and interests – cycling, reading, writing – he sounds more optimistic. He has directed his energy away from the fickle and unpredictable pursuit of love and towards those variables of his life he can control, like picking up new pastimes. 'All they see is a Black guy' Although the United Kingdom's Black Muslim community is culturally diverse, including people from a wide range of African and Caribbean backgrounds, it only comprises 10 percent of the UK's Muslim population. This can make dating or finding a marriage partner particularly difficult. A recent survey by Muzmatch, a Muslim-specific dating app that has been heralded for helping 20,000 Muslims meet and marry since its launch in 2015, revealed the challenges faced by Black Muslims dating in the UK. Muzmatch asked 471 of their members from different ethnic groups if they felt that race and ethnicity affected the matches they received and whether they had negative experiences as a result of this. In their answers, Black users pointed to a range of issues – including fetishisation, colourism and discrimination. Most of the Black women surveyed complained about being fetishised and branded "exotic". One West African woman described how dark-skinned women were considered unattractive and how she had been called the n-word by one user. A Sudanese man expressed concern that he was matched with women with similar interests to him who subsequently rejected him because their family wouldn't accept him. "It doesn't matter if you're on your deen and have a successful career.

First came the idea of making Covid vaccinations mandatory to go to the pub, while Israel offered free pizza and beer with a shot. Now UK officials have hit on what they hope is an even more persuasive reason for young people to get their jab: more chance of getting a date. In an eye-catching policy coinciding with the rollout of vaccinations for the under-30s beginning this week, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has teamed up with popular dating apps to encourage take-up of the programme. Users of Tinder, Match, Hinge, Bumble, Badoo, Plenty of Fish, OurTime and Muzmatch will enjoy a series of benefits if they add their vaccination status to their profile, including virtual badges and stickers. Most of the apps are also giving people who say they have been vaccinated free bonuses such as a certain number of "boosts", which promote their profile to potential dates, offering the tantalising prospect of a greater stake in what has already been billed a post-pandemic "summer of love".