Online Halal Dating: AyoPoligami and the Contestations of Polygamy as the “New Normal” in Indonesia

This chapter explores how the online datingDating app AyoPoligamiAyoPoligami expresses a halal lifestyle, lifestyle that has become increasingly popular in IndonesiaIndonesia in recent years. While it is desirable for many middle-class Muslims, both women and men, to live a Sharia-compliantSharia-compliant life and to document this in public, it is questionable to what extent corresponding online services want to be associated with the halal label, label that delivers on this promise. It compares AyoPoligamiAyoPoligami with other datingDating apps, particularly SalamsSalams (previously MinderMinder), a popular datingDating app for Muslims whose slogan is to “find loveLove or friends the halal way.” While scholars have explored Islamic branding and halal products, products as well as online datingDating in IndonesiaIndonesia, an analysis of online datingDating in the context of polygamyPolygamy in Indonesia is under explored. We break new ground with this research by using interviews with users and an analysis of app features to explore how the online app AyoPoligamiAyoPoligami uses the halal label, label to make polygamyPolygamy socially acceptable, to make it the “new normal,” the more visible popular polygamous marriageMarriage.