Our story

It started at Jumu'ah.

With a friend who couldn't follow the khutbah - and a translation app that couldn't keep up.

The moment

Emre was at Jumu'ah one Friday when he noticed something that stuck with him.

A friend sitting nearby had Google Translate open on his phone, trying to follow the khutbah as the imam spoke in Arabic. It wasn't working well. The app would catch a few words, spit out a fragment of English, then go quiet. When the imam switched to English mid-khutbah, the whole thing fell apart - Google Translate doesn't know what to do when the language changes underneath it.

His friend wanted to understand. The tools available to him weren't built for that.

The idea

So that's what we set out to build.

Not another generic translation app. Something that understands the context - the Qur'an, Islamic terminology, the rhythm of a khutbah where Arabic and English might both show up in the same ten minutes. Something that detects the language on the fly and switches for you, so you're not the one fumbling with settings while everyone else is listening.

Emre reached out to Osman - a close friend and the developer - and they started building what became Aqala.

The team

Emre had the problem and the vision. He'd seen it firsthand: people who want to understand, stuck with tools that weren't made for how Islamic talks actually work.

Osman built it. As a developer, he took that frustration and turned it into something you can hold in your hand - live translation, surah detection, prayer times, all in one place.

Mission today

We believe access to understanding the Qur'an and what your community is teaching should be within reach. If Aqala helps you follow a khutbah, catch a verse mid-recitation, or save a translation to read again later - that's the whole point.

If you want to support the work, you can. Every bit helps keep the app running for the Ummah.

Support Aqala

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