The issue of choosing a spouse is characterized by the change in marriage criteria with the introduction of modernization elements, such as the lack of clarity and even the presence of false beliefs. On the one hand, Quranic teachings provide enrichment for the “spouse selection criteria”. The transformation of these teachings into operational functions and applicable weights in a matching system has been less systematic. This research was conducted with the aim of linking Quranic sources to a decision-making model for “spouse selection”. First, 122 related verses were collected and the 14 components of the topic were coded. Then, by conceptual integration, the components reach 10 final qualities that are built with recent research in the field of family: faith and value alignment, chastity and social boundaries, loyalty and secrecy, good morals and capable beings, transparent economic intimacy and empathy, the connection of faith and value, etc. Fairness, veil or dignity and adornment are subordinate to faith. Normative weighting of criteria was done using the AHP method and based on pairwise comparisons of experts. The final result can be integrated with the data of the "Huda" system: the result is a model that, while relying on Quranic foundations, makes the introduction of the candidate standard and explainable and forms the basis for training, consultation, and follow-up monitoring.

The issue of youth marriage, with the introduction of modernization elements such as modern education, mass media, welfare, and modeling from non-local cultures, has led to changes in marriage criteria towards reducing nepotism, coercion versus freedom, increasing education, increasing awareness, changing the family structure (Nikparvar et al., 2011), and the desire to freely choose a spouse in the modern era (Kazemi, 2010, p. 300). Choosing a spouse faces challenges such as mismatched expectations, lack of clear criteria, and even the existence of false beliefs (Sepehri and Hassanzadeh, 2011, p. 417). Due to these new requirements, changes have also occurred in the methods of choosing a spouse, one example of which is the emergence of matchmaking systems with the function of introducing suitable candidates for choosing a spouse. In such a context, if matchmaking systems lack valid and explainable normative frameworks, they either gravitate towards variable criteria of taste, or reach decisions that lack sufficient scientific and religious justification.

Quranic teachings list criteria such as religiosity, morality, equality, health, and socio-economic status (Mazaheri, 1995), but they are usually limited to the level of “statements” and do not lead to systematic weighting. Some social research has also shown that men attach more importance to physical signs and women to socio-economic signs (Kanaani et al., 2016). In academic environments in Iran and the region, the role of religious values ​​in mate selection preferences has also been confirmed (Rafiei, 2022), without these findings being connected to the Quranic normative system and expert weights.

The present study, with the aim of filling this gap, first extracted thematic focus of the relevant verses and drew their conceptual mapping to a set of key criteria in choosing a spouse. Then, by summarizing and eliminating overlaps, the criteria were reduced to a final set of 10 criteria that cover fundamental Quranic dimensions such as faith and value alignment, chastity and social boundaries, loyalty and secrecy, good ethics and conscientiousness, intimacy and empathy, safe communication and non-violent conflict resolution, economic security and financial transparency, participatory leadership and fair division of labor, as well as hijab or dignity and decorum as a function of faith. The strength of this research approach is that the weighting of the criteria is based on expert opinion and using the AHP method; thus, a stable and defensible normative weight vector is obtained that can be the basis for the decision to introduce a candidate in the system.

The main innovation of this work is the link between Quranic sources and an operational decision model that can be applied in a real system (such as Hada): on the one hand, it preserves valid epistemic and value foundations; on the other hand, it gives order and efficiency to the introduction process with a measurable language and numerical weights. In addition, the proposed framework has the capacity for “continuous monitoring and improvement”: the experts’ weights can be revised at specific intervals and calibrated with field data obtained from the follow-up of the introduced pairs. Thus, the model is not a static version, but a learning system that establishes a dynamic link between texts, expertise, and field evidence.

Overall, this research makes a practical contribution to standardizing and clarifying matching decisions: (1) extracting and integrating Quranic criteria into a clear 10-criteria system, (2) weighting experts with AHP and providing a reliable normative weight vector, and (3) explaining the logic of integrating these weights into the candidate introduction process in the Heda system. The paper focuses on the Quranic normative model and the weighting mechanism; details of the implementation tools of the introduction stage are presented only as an operational appendix.

Overall, this research makes a practical contribution to standardizing and clarifying matching decisions: (1) extracting and integrating Quranic criteria into a clear 10-criteria system, (2) weighting experts with AHP and providing a reliable normative weight vector, and (3) explaining the logic of integrating these weights into the candidate introduction process in the Heda system. The paper focuses on the Quranic normative model and the weighting mechanism; details of the implementation tools of the introduction stage are presented only as an operational appendix.