I'm Sumit.
Born in India. Muslim since 2017. In Dubai since 2022.
Solo founder. Twelve years behind me in social media, marketing, and PR. I built Barakah because the Muslim apps I needed as a new revert did not exist, and the ones that did were running every dark pattern I had spent a decade learning.
The shahada, and the silence that followed
I took the shahada in 2017, in India, where I was born and raised. The first month I reached for my phone the same way every revert does. I needed to learn how to pray, where the qibla was, what to say after salah, whether my breakfast cereal was halal. Every app I opened was loud. Ads for things I did not want. Permissions I did not understand. A push notification trying to upsell me to a fifty-nine dollar a year plan before I had even prayed Fajr. One app was openly fighting a war between madhabs in its FAQ section.
India did not have a clear path for a new Muslim in 2017. No uncle to call. No masjid to walk into. Just a phone and a search bar and a thousand opinions. The two people who actually helped me through that first year were Mufti Menk hafidhahullah and Sheikh Assim al-Hakeem hafidhahullah, through their Instagram and YouTube. I never met either of them. I owe both more than I can repay in this life. May Allah preserve them and accept from them.
The years before, in a sentence
I started in social media in 2014 with a single meme page that grew unexpectedly. I made another, then more. The network passed twenty million followers across the pages before Facebook's 2017 policy changes ended that model for page operators. I sold what I could and pivoted into proper marketing, then crypto marketing, then PR. Campaigns, Wikipedia management, crisis communications for clients who had made the news for reasons they regretted. The agency work paid the bills and gave me, over a decade, an inside view of how attention is bought, shaped, and weaponised.
Moving to Dubai changed the deen for me
In late 2022 I came to the UAE and ended up staying. The adhan from the masjid five times a day, the halal food without a hunt, the Friday that is actually Friday, the mosque on the walk home. The first few months in Dubai my salah settled into a rhythm I had been chasing for five years. India had taught me how to keep the deen alive against a setting that did not support it. The UAE taught me what it feels like when a setting does.
What Barakah is
One app and one website for the parts of Islam an English-first Muslim actually uses on a Tuesday. Prayer times you can trust. Qibla that does not lie indoors. A thirty-day path for new Muslims written by someone who took it himself. The 99 Names with a verse citation for each. A halal scanner that reads the ingredient list and tells you the truth. Zakat in five minutes with the madhab note where the four schools disagree.
Free for everyone, forever. Premium for the people who can pay it; free for anyone who cannot and just asks. Sadaqah jariyah for the ones who do.
What Barakah is not
Not a substitute for a qualified scholar. I cite my sources and link them, but for serious life decisions, find a local imam who knows you.
Not selling your data. I do not track you. I do not have advertisers to satisfy. I would rather take the App Store cut than sell anyone's location to a broker. I built the engagement machinery for clients for years; I refuse to use any of it here.
Not affiliated with a madhab or sect. The four Sunni schools disagree on things in good faith; where they do, I name the position I present and the alternative. The Quran and the authentic Sunnah come first.
How I work
Every Islamic claim in Barakah cites its source. Quran with surah and ayah, hadith with collection and number and the grade (sahih, hasan, or da'if). I read drafts out loud before they ship to make sure the voice stays warm without losing the reverence the subject deserves.
I write in English first because that is the audience I came from. Arabic always carries its transliteration and English meaning so non-Arabic speakers can follow without guessing.
I treat user money seriously. 10% of revenue goes to masaajid and people in need, published every quarter on the blog. 20% goes to new-Muslim outreach, free Premium seats for those who cannot afford it, and vetted Islamic charities, published every six months. The remaining 70% runs the platform. All of it is laid out on the Support page.
How to reach me
The fastest way is email. I read every one. If you found a bug, if a hadith citation is wrong, if a city is missing from prayer times, if you cannot afford Premium and want it free, just write.
For journalists and other writers
The story, key facts, brand assets, and direct quotes you can use without back-and-forth are on the press kit.
Open the press kit →A small dua, before you go
Rabbana taqabbal minna innaka anta-s-sami'u-l-aleem. Our Lord, accept from us. You are the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing. (Surah al-Baqarah 2:127)
If this work benefits you, dua is more valuable to me than a five-star review. May Allah accept it from all of us.