Interview with Maimouna Ahmed, founder of Mynikahnow

In a world where religious practices are reinventing themselves in the digital age, the question of online Islamic marriage arouses as much interest as debates. Through this interview, we meet Maimouna Ahmed, founder of Mynikahnow, an innovative application that allows Muslim couples to celebrate their nikah at a distance, ethically, in accordance with Islamic tradition and adapted to contemporary realities.

Born in the middle of the pandemic, the initiative meets a very real need: allowing believers to unite religiously without being blocked by institutional or geographic obstacles. Between spiritual commitment, legal challenges, digitalization of rituals and support for couples in all stages of their marital life, Mynikahnow offers a new way of thinking about Muslim marriage.

In this exchange, Maimouna Ahmed returns to the origins of her project, the deep motivations that guided her, and the concrete solutions implemented to combine technological modernity and respect for the foundations of Islam.

What has motivated you to create Mynikahnow, and how does your application meet a specific need in the Muslim community?

Mynikahnow’s idea was born during the covid period, when many Muslims could no longer celebrate their Nikah. We then realized that it was not only the health restrictions that were problematic, but also certain legal obstacles and rigid requirements imposed by certain mosques. All this prevented young couples from marrying in a halal way and in accordance with Islamic ethics.

Mynikahnow meets a very concrete need: offer simple, flexible and independent access to the legal state framework to the religious celebration of marriage. This is particularly relevant in a context where civil marriage loses in attractiveness, or can even be accompanied by disadvantages for certain couples.

In France, the law prohibits any minister of worship from celebrating a religious marriage without a civil marriage has been celebrated beforehand. However, your application makes it possible to organize a Nikah without demanding this legal step. How do you justify this choice, even though some Muslim authorities insist on respect for this order, and that the question of the articulation between religious framework and institutional framework remains sensitive in public debate?

We do not question French legislation – each country has its standards, from its history and culture. But our platform is legally based in the United Kingdom, where the State does not interfere in the privacy of citizens in the same way.

The question we ask is simple: why force Muslims to submit to a state legal framework to be able to live a relationship in accordance with their faith? Even when non -Muslim couples are free to choose their lifestyle? Is it not a form of paternalistic interference to dictate to religious communities How to organize their relations?

Mynikahnow respects local laws but creates a space of freedom for those who, for personal, legal or religious reasons, choose to marry themselves religiously.

Can you explain to us concretely how a ceremony of Nikah (Islamic religious wedding) is taken place with Mynikahnow, and how do you guarantee that it complies with Islamic rules?

The Nikah ceremony with Mynikahnow is done in a few simple steps. Each partner installs our application and creates their account. After verifying their identity, they can connect their profiles by QR code or by e-mail. Then one of the two can initiate a request from Nikah. It is possible to choose additional options: presence of two male witnesses, printed certificate, ceremony video, etc. An express service allows you to organize a ceremony within 48 hours.

The ceremony itself takes place online, but follows exactly the same course as in face-to-face. Our imams are qualified, experienced, and before starting, we identify the couple, wali and witnesses. The cameras must be lit, the faces visible. All this guarantees that the ceremony remains fully in accordance with Islamic rules, even in a digital setting.

The ceremony takes place entirely online, often via Zoom. How do you make sure the confidentiality, security and religious validity of a Nikah celebrated remotely?

What distinguishes Mynikahnow is our professional structure. All processes – from registration to the ceremony – are secure and transparent, and go exclusively through our application.

Our company is based in England and led by Muslims. The protection of the privacy of our users is essential: our infrastructure is based on secure and encrypted cloud servers. Even Zoom, which we use for ceremonies, responds to high security standards with modern encryption technology.

As for religious validity, several recognized scholars have affirmed that the nikah remotely is lawful, provided that the validity conditions are strictly respected, as is the case with us.

You offer ceremonies in several languages: French, English, Arabic, Albanian, German … How do you select your imams and guarantee the religious and human quality of each ceremony?

Mynikahnow is a young startup with a reduced but committed team, made up of around 15 people, mainly freelance. Until now, we have voluntarily recruited our imams in our confidence network: they are active people in religious institutions recognized in their country of origin, and who enjoy a good reputation both on the religious and human level.

To guarantee quality in all languages, each new imam is rigorously evaluated by our team on their religious skills, their experience, and its ability to support couples in a respectful and benevolent manner.

Religious marriage has no legal value in many countries, some couples may be without legal protection in the event of separation or dispute. Furthermore, we know that religious unions can sometimes be used to get around civil marriage. How does Mynikahnow take these challenges into account, and what do you set up to avoid the abuses or diverted uses of the platform?

At Mynikahnow, we clearly emphasize that our service only gives rise to a religious union, without legal effect. The Nikah allows the couple to live together according to the principles of Islam. The continuation – for example a possible civil union – depends entirely on their own choice.

In Europe, several devices exist to regularize a civil union later. Our goal is not to get around the law, but to offer Muslims an alternative religiously valid, ethical and responsible. Of course, we cannot completely exclude abuses, but we bet on transparency, pedagogy and individual responsibility.

Some may see in the digitalization of the Nikah a form of denaturalization of a religious act. How do you answer those who think that a nikah online lacks solemnity or meaning?

The world changes – and religious practice is also evolving. Today, we pay your zakat via an application, we reserve the Hajj online, we listen to preaching in podcasts … Islam has always been able to adapt to new contexts, while respecting its foundations.

Many young Muslims now meet on the internet or via Muslim meeting platforms, sometimes at a distance, between continents. In these cases, a physical ceremony is not always possible. Our digital offer responds to this reality without compromising religious integrity: all the pillars of the Nikah are respected, the participants are identified and visible, and the course is in accordance with tradition.

The dignity of a Nikah does not come from the format, but from the intention (Niyya), the sincerity of the spouses, and the respect of the principles of Islam.

Your application offers, in addition to the Nikah, services linked to the Talaq (divorce initiated by man), Khulu (divorce requested by women) and Ruju (resumption of conjugal life during the period of ‘IDDA). These approaches are often sensitive and complex. Why did you choose to integrate them into the same platform, and how do you make sure that acts like the Talaq remain supervised, ethical, and are not too commonplace by online format?

Obviously, we always hope that each marriage lasts all life. But reality is that many unions fail – including in our community.

Integrating the Talaq, Khulu and Ruju into our application therefore seemed natural to us, because they are elements inherent in marital life in Islam. It is also a way of better supporting couples in these difficult times, especially women, who can thus receive an official certificate of religious divorce and start on good bases after the IDDA.

Our application supports these steps with seriousness and clarity. It records the Talaqs, indicates whether a Ruju has been pronounced, displays the remaining duration of the IDDA via a countdown. In the event of pregnancy, this can be communicated to the ex-husband, which automatically extends the IDDA until childbirth.

Everything is thought of so that these decisions are made with maturity, respect and in accordance with Islamic standards.

You offer a paid service with express formulas. Isn’t that risk of transforming a religious act into a simple market service? Where do you place the border between religious service and economic model?

We have created Mynikahnow with a clear intention: facilitate access to Nikah for all Muslims, all over the world, in a modern and accessible way. This project is not motivated by the search for profit, but by a sincere desire to offer a useful and reliable religious service.

But to guarantee quality, you need a solid structure: qualified imams, available witnesses, a stable and secure application … All this has a cost. We are fully self -financing, without debts or interests, and we remain transparent on our prices.

The express option simply meets concrete needs: some couples are pressed by time – imminent travel, family constraints – and are ready to pay a small supplement to accelerate the procedure. But the content of the ceremony remains exactly the same. What we are invoicing is the organizational effort.

Compared to the costs of a traditional wedding – room, caterer, decoration – our service begins at £ 99, which is very affordable. Our priority is always the spiritual dignity of the act. The economic model is simply a way to make it accessible and durable.