Why I started Project Arafah
Assalamu alaikum. My name is Aaliyaan. I am the developer of Project Arafah, and I would like to tell you, in a few words, why it exists.
I have to begin with something that is not easy to say. For most of my life, I was not a good Muslim. I missed my prayers. I hardly ever opened the Quran. I was far from Allah, and I did not even feel how far.
Then, in 2026, Allah invited me to His House. I performed Hajj. And on the most important day of Hajj, I stood on the plain of Arafah, among pilgrims from every part of the world, all of us in the same simple cloth, all of us asking the same Lord for forgiveness. I had nothing to bring to Allah that day except my mistakes. That was the day that changed me. I still do not know why He chose someone like me, but I came back a different person. For the first time, I wanted to pray. I wanted to read the Quran. I wanted to learn the duas I had never learned.
So I did what most of us do: I picked up my phone and looked for apps to help me. I found many, and I am grateful to the people who made them. But most of them carried ads, or asked for payment before I could go on. I do not blame anyone for that. I only found myself wishing for a quiet place. A place with no ads, nothing to buy and nothing to sign up for. Only a Muslim and the words of Allah.
I am only a developer. I am not a scholar, and my own knowledge of Islam is still small. I am learning, like many of you. But building things is the one skill Allah gave me, and I wanted to give it back to Him.
So I asked Allah to help me, and I began. I named it Arafah, after the place where my own heart turned back to Him. Every time I see the name, I remember that day, and what I asked Allah for.
From the first day, my intention was that this project would be a sadaqah jariyah. I hoped it could be a small good deed that continues after I am gone, from someone who came to the path late. That is why it is free. And in sha Allah, it will stay free for as long as I live. It is not for profit and it never will be. If one person reads one ayah here, or offers one prayer on time because of it, I hope Allah accepts a small share of it from me.
Alhamdulillah, people began to use it, and some of them wrote to me. Brothers and sisters I have never met made dua for me. I do not have the words for what that means to me. I did not deserve it. It is only the kindness of Allah, and the beauty of my deen, Islam, which joins the hearts of people who have never met.
Their duas gave me a bigger hope. If Allah gives me the strength and the years, I would love to see Project Arafah become much more than an app. I hope it can make the way to Allah a little easier for every Muslim it reaches, and be of some real use to our communities, wherever they are. I cannot promise how far it will go. I can only try my best and leave the rest to Allah.
There is a lot to do, and every hand helps. If you would like to volunteer, if you can help with research or checking the content, or if you have a voice that can carry Arafah to more people, please write to me. And if you only want to say salam, or tell me something I should do better, I would love to hear that too.
If Arafah has ever been of use to you, I ask you for one thing only: please remember me in your dua.
Aaliyaan