It’s that time of year once again when millions of Muslims across the world are fasting for the month of Ramadan.
During the Muslim holy month, they fast every day from dawn to sunset and it is meant to be a time of spiritual discipline – of deep contemplation of one’s relationship with God, extra prayer, increased charity and generosity, and intense study of the Quran.
With the world changing thanks to the exponential growth of the Internet, there are now apps to help you reach your spiritual goals during Ramadan. Here are six essential apps we found that can help you make the most of the Ramadan season.
Pillars: Prayer Times
This month of Ramadan is all about getting back into a routine and rhythm. For Muslims who struggle with praying, Pillars has reminders and a feature for the qibla directions so you can pray on the go. You can even track your prayers so that you can see how you’ve done over the past week and what prayers you prayed. With one of the cleanest design for prayer timetable apps, the graphic for Pillars also changes depending on the time of the day. Another point that makes this app better than the other apps is the menstrual hold feature which shows a respect, understanding and inclusion of Muslim women.
Daily Deeds: Prayer tracker
If you struggle with keeping up with your prayers, Daily Deeds allows you to track your daily prayers with the ability to log reasons and get statistics. The app allows you to select up to five reasons for praying on time and when you logged your reasons, the app helps you compile the data and statistics so you can see what affects your prayer life. That way, you can understand how you form good praying habits and learn how to improve it when you look back.
iQuran
Since the Quran was revealed during Ramadan, Muslims will be encouraged to read the Quran. If you’re looking for a clean and simplistic app, iQuran allows you to read the Quran in Arabic alongside its translation with colour coded Tajweed. At the top, you can see the last ayahs that you were reading, and you can download the audio for them as well.
Golden Quran
The Golden Quran provides you with the latest Quranic programmes specialised in presenting the Holy Qur’an and listening in an accessible, interactive way. Besides that, the app preserves the aesthetics of the Noble Qur’an from the lines and inscriptions of the verses and suras. If your Arabic is quite good and you want something a bit more detailed, Golden Quran shows you the Arabic meaning of words, the translations, and even allows you to bookmark. The app also has a ton of additional recitations that you can download the audio for.
Quranly
Quranly gamifies reciting the Quran so that it’s much more attainable to hit your Quran reciting goals. You first choose how much of the Quran you want to recite and it helps you to break down your goal. The habit-building Quran app brings a focused, routine-driven approach with a visual representation of your progress. With great designs and challenges, it makes reading the Quran fun and you can see track your hasanats as well.
ShareTheMeal
During Ramadan, acts of charity are obligatory for those who are able to do so. For the month of sharing and caring, ShareTheMeal is the charity app from the United Nations World Food Programme that allows you to feed a hungry child with a few taps on your phone. The simple but effective app allows you to extend charity this month as well as donate to different causes. With the app, you can choose how much you want to give to hungry children wherever you are, whenever you want.
