Daily Times

As media and technology continue to penetrate broader society, it is important to understand that Islam must be kept up-to-date and adapt to the different technological innovations that the world sees today. This is, in fact, essential if we are to ensure that Islam stays relevant, as face-to-face communication lessens and we become more attached to and dependent on the internet, including phone apps; those wishing to ensure that Islam remains relevant must find ways to immerse religious practices and teachings within the technological paradigm that we experience today. Some developers have, indeed, worked to create such innovative, practical, and wholly beneficial sites.

Here are five of the most innovative Islamic apps that 2018 has seen yet:

1.   Athan by IslamicFinder

Athan by IslamicFinder is a one-of-a-kind Islamic app that seeks to change the relationship Muslims have with technology, particularly with respect to religious activities and obligations.

From giving users an automatically-generated Athan that coincides with the time of prayer at their given location, to adjustments between Hijri dates and the Gregorian calendar, all the way to providing Qibla directions, and specific additional Duas that one can read on particular days, the Athan app fully utilizes the power of technology to provide Muslims with a convenient, accessible, customisable, and amenable app to set reminders for and adjust almost all of their religious activities.

Available: Android and iOS

2.   HalalTrip

HalalTrip is, also, a phenomenally innovative app that seeks to provide Muslims with the comfort and convenience they crave when traveling abroad, particularly to non-Muslim countries, where eating halal food, finding places to offer prayer, and finding halal forms of entertainment may not be that easy. HalalTrip is a peer-reviewed online sharing app that allows Muslims to find mosques, halal eateries, entertainment opportunities, plans for trips abroad, in-flight prayer timings, and travel Duas, so that technology is adeptly used to ensure traveling for fellow Muslims becomes as easy and comfortable as possible. Whether you are a young Muslim traveling to a non-Muslim country for the first time or a veteran-traveler going to a new city, HalalTrip seems like the app to go to for Muslim travelers!

3.   Zabiha

Zabiha is a similar innovative app as the abovementioned, that helps connect Muslims to halal eateries and eating options, be it restaurants or places, where one can get halal meat/groceries. Having been functional for quite a while, Zabiha also uses the expertise and information of its users to constantly update its database, where users can tag and mark different places that offer halal food. It provides a comprehensive guide to Halal restaurants and markets, and can be very beneficial for those who travel to new, non-Muslim countries and wish to find halal food. It can similarly also be beneficial for those living permanently in non-Muslim countries – who would mind finding out about a place that sells great kebabs?

4.   Islamic GPS

Islamic GPS is an augmented reality mosque finder that helps users easily find mosques nearby and navigate through its augmented reality platform to reach to the door of the mosque. Particularly, in countries where there are restrictions to the open expression of religion, such mosques may often be concealed, or are otherwise hard to find, and so the Islamic GPS can serve as an ideal companion in helping Muslims find mosques wherever they are, even if the mosque is hard to access. It also provides real-life views of iconic mosques around the world, and so if you really love a mosque and want to get as close as possible to visiting it, downloading Islamic GPS may not be too bad of an idea!

5.   The Sira (Seerah) App

The Seerah App is the last app on our list, but by no means the least. It adeptly makes use of technological tools and the power of the internet to create interactive yet informative scenarios, to introduce the life of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and the beginning of Islam to young children. By using animation and other forms of interactive technological innovations, the app ensures that stories that form the cornerstone of Islam and belief in Islam are developed in a way that is attractive to young children, especially given the lure of other, often un-Islamic forms of animation and attraction. In that sense, the Sira App is essential for all those wishing that their children are exposed to accounts of Islam and the Holy Prophet (PBUH), in a form that ensures their attention.

As has been said earlier, it is very important for Muslims to ensure that neither they themselves nor their religion, become outdated or irrelevant in light of technological developments. Many apps such as Athan by IslamicFinder, or HalalTrip, have played an important role in ensuring that technology is used for the benefit of Islam and all Muslims.

The writer can be reached at majid@islamicfinder.org