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By Fareeda Ahmed February 8, 2010 Ah it’s that time of year again, Spring is around the corner, love is in the air. Well, maybe love is in the air. Or maybe I can’t smell anything because it’s freakin’ freezing here. Anyway - something to melt the wintry cold is the heartwarming rituals and melted chocolate of Valentine’s Day. And how will single Muslims be spending it? You might be familiar with some well-known sites that cater to Muslims looking for love. Here’s a cute spoof video of a Persian-type match site, ”P Harmony.” So true! Especially on the “I knew she was the one when my mom said she was the one!” and “I knew he was the one when he came over to my house with his bank statements.” Other Muslim dating sites, or sites that cater to Muslims as a cultural subset, have proliferated in recent years.  You may recognize names like Naseeb.com, Shaadi.com, MuslimDarlings.com, ArabLounge.com, and SalaamLove.com. I actually have friends who have met each other on such sites, and have hit it off successfully. My preconceptions on such sites have certainly been challenged.  While some of these websites are notorious for misspelled personal ads (check out these winners ), others are actually on par with robust and polished sites like J-Date.com, Match.com, Chemistry.com, and Eharmony.com. E-dating has evolved since its stigmatized inception, even for Muslims. At the onset, dating sites were generally seen as a less-than-desirable way to meet people. One associated their users with people who hadn’t been photogenic in years (hence the high school yearbook photo), didn’t get out of their basements, or were hiding some sort of deep dark secret fetish for shoelaces (which are wonderful, don’t get me wrong). But then, something started to change. People started to meet people...and fall in love! Since then, opinions on e-dating have changed...mostly. The hit film Napoleon Dynamite both helped and hurt the e-dating situation. In the movie, Kip, Napoleon’s geeky older brother, meets his girlfriend, LaFawnduh, online. And the scrawny geek lands a catch...kind of. Well she’s certainly out of his league. In any case, it’s clear that meeting online has gotten out of its mother’s basement and made its way into legitimate society. So: Where did you two meet? My brother introduced us. We met at a wedding. He changed my tire when I was stuck in the pouring rain. He saved me from a runaway dumpster when my shoe was caught in a sewer grate. She almost stole my watch on the subway. We met online. It’s all part of the same story now. Here’s to finding someone special this Valentine’s Day, and to hoping they like shoelaces too! Where did you meet your Valentine? http://www.elanthemag.com/index.php/site/blog_detail/love_is_in_the_airand_for_muslims_online-nid178696362/