Muhammed's Blog

Building Islamic Tech - Opportunities and Challenges

Why This Underserved Market Needs More Developers

1 min read

1.8 billion Muslims worldwide, but Islamic tech is still in its infancy. Here’s why this space needs you and what you need to know before diving in.

The Gap

1.8 billion Muslims but quality Islamic apps are rare. Most are cluttered with ads, poorly designed, privacy-invasive, inaccurate, unmaintained.

The Opportunities

1. Prayer Apps

Accurate prayer times with multiple calculation methods (ISNA, MWL, Egyptian). Features: offline functionality, qibla direction, no ads, privacy-first design. Use Aladhan API.

2. Quran Apps

Clean Quran reading with translations, tafsir, memorization tracker, bookmarks, offline access. Use Quran.com API or Tanzil.

3. Islamic Calendar

Accurate Hijri calendar with Islamic events. Challenges: Hijri calendar is lunar (354-355 days), month start varies by location. Use Moment Hijri or Hijri Date.

4. Halal Food Discovery

Find halal restaurants and verify certification. Include certification proof, filter by strictness, community ratings.

5. Islamic Learning

Hadith search engines with authenticity ratings, Islamic Q&A platforms, Arabic learning, fiqh references.

The Challenges

1. Scholarly Accuracy

Source content from verified scholars. Allow users to select preferred madhab (school of thought). Have scholars review your content.

2. Diverse Opinions

Islam isn’t monolithic. Different madhabs have different rulings. Let users choose preferences, don’t impose one view.

const prayerSettings = {
  calculationMethod: "ISNA",
  asrJuristic: "Shafi",
  highLatitudeRule: "middle-of-the-night"
};

3. Privacy Concerns

Collect minimal data. Be transparent. Offer anonymous usage. No third-party tracking. E2E encryption for personal data.

4. Monetization Without Compromising Values

Ethical models:

  • Freemium with respectful upsells (core features free, premium features paid)
  • One-time purchase
  • Donation-based (sadaqah jariyah model)
  • Institutional partnerships

What NOT to do: Ads during prayer times, selling user data, paywalling basic worship tools.

5. Localization

Muslims span every continent. Support: Arabic, Urdu, Indonesian, Turkish, English, French. Include RTL text rendering for Arabic:

.arabic-text {
  direction: rtl;
  text-align: right;
  font-family: 'Amiri', 'Scheherazade', serif;
}

Getting Started

  1. Identify a real problem - Talk to Muslims in your community
  2. Research Islamic rulings - Consult scholars
  3. Use existing APIs - Don’t reinvent: Aladhan, Quran.com, Sunnah.com
  4. Build privacy-first - Minimize data collection, work offline when possible
  5. Open source when possible - Islamic knowledge should be accessible
  6. Get community feedback - Beta test with real users

Resources

APIs: Aladhan, Quran.com, Sunnah.com, Tanzil Open Source: Quran.com, Sahih AI Learning: SeekersGuidance, Bayyinah

Building Islamic tech means serving 1.8 billion people with tools that respect their values. The opportunities are vast, impact is real, need is urgent.

Start building. May Allah accept it as sadaqah jariyah.