Ten thousand people helped it come up with features, thousands reposted it as charity: how a non-profit Islamic app from Saudi Arabia climbed the Red Sea
What it is A fully free, ad-free Islamic app with prayer times, the Quran, dhikr, listening and recitation correction, and a community, all in one.
Why it took off Saudi religious accounts first collected over ten thousand suggestions under a post, then led the launch, saying everyone who reposted would earn reward. Users were also already fed up with old apps full of ads and subscriptions, so they deleted the rest and switched to this one.
CHow you could follow Go to Muslim-majority countries that are also tormented by ad-heavy apps, such as Indonesia, Malaysia, and Turkey. Crowdsource needs through a local religious or charity account first, then launch. Keep it free and ad-free, and ship before Ramadan in February 2027.
- Data (updated daily) · First released 2026-09-11 · Saudi rating 5,226 · 11-08 charted in 13 stores
iOS · Overall Top Free rank · by store YESaudi ArabiaData 2026-11-03 → 2026-11-06 (4 days, 2 observations). Lower rank is higher; gaps mean it wasn't charted that dayiOS · Number of stores charted (top 200 on any chart) Data 2026-11-03 → 2026-11-06 (4 days, 2 observations)iOS · rating count · Saudi Arabia Data 2026-10-28 → 2026-11-08 (12 days, 12 observations). Apple doesn't publish download counts; rating growth is a proxy for downloads.
An indie developer in Saudi Arabia built an Islamic app called Manar (منار): fully free, no ads, no subscriptions. Within 8 weeks of launch, its weekly new ratings in the Saudi store had already reached the top few in the Islamic category, sitting among old apps that have been on the store for over a decade. It barely bought any paid acquisition. It relied on a religious account first getting over ten thousand people to make suggestions, then framing "help repost" as a rewarded good deed. Below: how it took off, why people stay, and what you can take from it. Where it has nothing to teach, I say so.
A prayer reminder
In Nov 1 of 2026, someone posted on X in Saudi Arabia: "Just now Manar pushed me a reminder for the mid-morning prayer (الضحى), and I couldn't help envying the developer. How many Muslims has his reminder woken? How many people has the 'prayer time is ending' notification reminded?"
The person who reposted this was الدافور (@moha_oz), a legal consultant in Jeddah. He has posted over 57k times on X, mostly encouraging good deeds and charity fundraising, and has 57k followers on TikTok. He added: "A few months ago I posted that I wanted to make a comprehensive Islamic app. Over ten thousand people left suggestions under it, we built what they asked for, and they all earned reward. Then we launched, and several thousand people helped repost it, and they all earned reward too…"
The one who actually wrote the code was Muath Alghamdi (X @Muath_Dev) from Taif, co-founder of the outsourcing studio NabeaCreative. The app went live on iOS in Sep 11, and @moha_oz posted it on the afternoon of Sep 17. The opening line: "Starting from an idea, built on your suggestions. Manar, the biggest Islamic app in history." The post ended with: "Note: everyone who helps repost will earn reward from us."
How big it is now
| Metric | Metric | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| iOS rating count, all stores | 5,337, of which Saudi Arabia 5,038 | App Store,11-06 |
| iOS new ratings in the last 7 days | 595 (Saudi Arabia 562) | App Store,11-06 |
| iOS new ratings per day | 10-29 of 29 → 11-06 of 124 | App Store, day by day |
| Saudi Lifestyle Top Free | 11-03 peak #6,11-06 #26 | App Store |
| iOS average rating | 4.8 | App Store,11-06 |
| Android cumulative installs | 43,793, 7 new in the last 4,872 days, rating 4.9 | Google Play,11-06 |
| Self-reported by developer | About 150k downloads, about 50k DAU | Muath's X post, 10-28 (unverified) |
For comparison, new Saudi-store ratings over the last 7 days: Ayah 886, FivePrayer 858, Athkar 799, Manar 562, and the long-running prayer app AlMosaly 480. Most of the apps around it have been on the store for over ten years and have hundreds of thousands of cumulative ratings. The 150k downloads and 50k DAU are self-reported by the developer; working backward from iOS rating counts and Android install numbers, the order of magnitude fits (estimate).
Almost all the volume is in Saudi Arabia. Yemen, Egypt, and Oman also reached category charts, but each store has only dozens of ratings, Egypt has 107.
Where users come from
Crowdsource first, then launch. @moha_oz first posted on X that he wanted to "make a comprehensive Islamic app," and over ten thousand replies under it suggested features. When the app shipped, those ten thousand people felt it was "the app I suggested," which gave it ready-made early users on launch day and a ready-made repost crew.
Turn reposting into good deeds. In the Islamic context, spreading a beneficial religious tool counts as "ongoing charity," and reposters earn reward. The launch post spelled this out, so ordinary people reposting it didn't feel like they were advertising for someone. Later, people on X reposted feature lists one by one; on Threads and Instagram there were recommendation posts saying "the biggest Islamic app, free"; and on YouTube there were reviews titled "one app that replaces every Islamic app."
TikTok creators piled in. On Sep 18, @3zvip (266k followers) posted "best Islamic app⁉️", which got 96k views. The same day @wisdom98 (137k followers) posted too, with 40k views. These videos cluster in the posting window of Sep 17 to 22, which looks coordinated. I could not find whether they were paid.
Every update gets promoted. Version numbers are dates (2026.10.24, 10.28, 10.30, 11.4), and the 11-04 release listed 17 fixes and 20 additions. Before each new feature shipped, the developer previewed it on X: the AI assistant "مساعد منار", short videos "لمحات", the community "الديوان", and iPhone Dynamic Island support. In Nov 3 it reached #6 in Saudi Arabia's Lifestyle chart, and on Nov 6 it added 124 ratings in a single day, timing that lines up with a new version.
No paid acquisition found. The app itself makes no money, so large-scale ad buying wouldn't make sense either (inference).
Why people stay
On the App Store Saudi Arabia store, nearly every review is 5 stars. The one complaint that comes up most: no ads.
"Open another Quran app and the verses are surrounded by inappropriate images and ads, and you get kicked out of the app when you try to close them." (10-22)
"Finally, a complete, clean prayer app that doesn't chase money and has no ads." (10-19)
"Thank you for the 'prayer time is ending' reminder. I looked for this feature in every app and couldn't find it. Thanks too for no ads and no subscriptions." (10-13)
"Being made by a Saudi and not making money off ads is enough on its own." (10-17)
The remaining reasons boil down to three:
- One app for everything: prayer times, Quran, recitation feedback that corrects you, memorization, hadith lookup, Islamic library, Hijri–Gregorian date conversion, all free. One reviewer wrote "deleted all my other apps."
- Local details: prayer times use Saudi's official Umm al-Qura method, with standing-prayer times, a "prayer is coming up" reminder, and a Saudi local seasonal calendar.
- Used every day: prayer reminders five times a day. Going by the developer's self-reported numbers, daily active users run about a third of cumulative downloads, which fits a need-driven tool like this.
Who it's competing with
This is a red ocean. AlMosaly (launched 2011, 570k ratings in Saudi), Athkar (400k), Ayah (550k), and Golden Quran (660k) are all over a decade old. Muslim Pro, the biggest global player, is subscription-based and ad-supported, and adds only 22 ratings a week in Saudi. FivePrayer, newly launched (2026 February), is growing faster than Manar, pitching habit-building around prayer. Ameen is also an ad-free all-in-one, but at a fraction of the volume. Neither Apple nor Google has a native prayer feature.
Manar didn't arrive in an empty market. The older apps are ad-heavy and subscription-based, and their users were frustrated. Manar pulled them over with "completely clean, one app for everything, built by locals."
Where the money comes from
No money. No subscriptions, no ads, no in-app purchases. The "إحسان" donation entry in the app goes to Saudi's national charity donation platform, not to the developer. Who covers server, AI assistant, and audio content costs, and for how long, isn't visible from outside. The only visible return is indirect: NabeaCreative, the outsourcing studio, has a good reputation, and its website lists "coming soon" an offline Windows education edition for school computer labs.
Can you ride it?
What you can copy is the playbook, not the app.
- What it can't copy: a religious-circle account like @moha_oz, plus over 10,000 people who helped design it. Outsiders can't borrow that. The "share for reward" motive also only holds while the app doesn't make money. Once you add ads or subscriptions, a share starts to look like an ad.
- What transfers: Muslim users in Indonesia, Malaysia, Turkey, Pakistan, and Egypt face the same frustration with ad-stuffed legacy apps. Every country has local religious accounts, and local prayer calculation, local-accent recitation, and local holidays are details big companies and global apps don't cover well.
- What moves to other categories: crowdsource needs under a big account before launch; give users a non-commercial reason to share, like identity, ethics, or charity; in ad-saturated legacy categories, make "completely clean" the selling point; use date-based version numbers and preview each new feature on social media.
If it were you
One-line verdict: a strong cold-start playbook, but not a business. If you want to make money, decide where the money comes from before you follow it.
Who it fits: indie devs and small studios already based in a Muslim-majority country, with religious or charity-circle connections. The payoff is portfolio and reputation (outsourcing, brand work), or a foundation or donor willing to fund it.
Who it doesn't fit: indie devs who need subscriptions or ads to break even. In this category, the moment you charge, the word-of-mouth loop breaks. If you're not local and can't find a local religious account, you won't break through with paid acquisition against legacy apps with hundreds of thousands of ratings.
How to do it: pick a country Manar doesn't cover where legacy apps are most ad-heavy (Indonesia, Malaysia, and Turkey are big populations; which has the biggest gap is still unchecked). First find a local da'wah or charity account and collect needs in its replies, then build. Get the five-daily prayer reminders, local calculation, Quran, and memorization solid first; community, short video, and AI come later as update topics. Stay free, no ads.
How to get users: have the account lead the launch and say openly that people who share get rewarded; in the launch week, recruit local religious and lifestyle TikTok creators for reviews; preview every future update on social media before release.
When to be ready by: Ramadan 2027 starts around mid-February, the biggest download peak for this category all year. Aim to launch before late January so Ramadan traffic lands on you.
What would show you misread it: (1) Manar starts running ads or charging subscriptions, but its rating growth doesn't drop, meaning free wasn't the main driver and the big account's traffic is carrying it; (2) after Ramadan, its weekly new ratings in Saudi fall back to dozens, meaning this was launch buzz that didn't stick; (3) it never takes off in neighboring countries like Egypt or Jordan, meaning the playbook depends on that one account's circle, and moving to a new country means finding people from scratch.
Research notes: competitor table, acquisition evidence, full research report
- Competitors
Name Where Launched Scale How it differs from this one AlMosaly المصلي iOS 2011 Saudi 574,804 ratings, last 7 days 480, Lifestyle free #5 Long-running, has ads and pushes paid features; Manar has zero ads and more features Athkar أذكار (fares.net) iOS 2010 Saudi 403,640 ratings, last 7 days 799 Memorization only Ayah - Quran App iOS 2013 Saudi 546,313 ratings, last 7 days 886 Quran reading only Golden Quran iOS 2014 Saudi 658,183 ratings Quran only, has ads Muslim Pro iOS 2010 Saudi 51,129 ratings, last 7 days 22 Biggest globally, but subscription-based with ads; weak momentum in Saudi FivePrayer - Pray on Time iOS 2026-02 Saudi 41,175 ratings, last 7 days 858 Also newly launched, focused on prayer habit-building; Manar is a free all-in-one Ameen (TAKLEEMA) iOS 2025-02 Saudi 15,589 ratings Also an ad-free all-in-one, but an order of magnitude smaller, with no big-account backing Tarteel iOS 2018 Saudi 13,772 ratings AI recitation correction is subscription-based; Manar gives similar features free - Where users come from
- Verified X big account / creator (@moha_oz, crowdsourced needs before launch): 09-17 posted "built according to your suggestions... those who share get rewarded"; 11-01 said "over 10,000 people left suggestions in replies"; the developer 10-28 publicly thanked him
- Verified "Share for reward" word-of-mouth loop (X / Threads / Instagram / Facebook / YouTube): many organic recommendation posts and review videos; the comments repeatedly say "انصح الكل بتحميله" (I recommend everyone download it)
- Verified TikTok creators: @3zvip (266k followers) 96k views, @wisdom98 40k views, concentrated between 09-17 and 09-22; official account @manar__ksa
- Verified High-frequency updates + developer previews on X: dated releases; version 11-04 had 17 fixes and 20 new features; 11-03 climbed to #6 in Saudi Lifestyle
- Inferred Paid acquisition: no evidence found, and the app doesn't earn money
منار | Manar (iOS id6782209753) research report
Research date 2026-11-06. Sources: our appstore / googleplay libraries (agent-im server), Apple lookup API, X posts (read via Jina), TikHub TikTok search, Jina / Brave web search. Anything not in the libraries, or only inferred, is marked.
One line
Built by Muath Alghamdi (معاذ الغامدي, X @Muath_Dev, co-founder of the outsourcing studio NabeaCreative), an independent developer in Taif, Saudi Arabia. It's a completely free, ad-free, subscription-free Islamic all-in-one app (prayer times, Quran, recitation feedback, memorization, hadith, radio, an AI assistant, the short-video feature "لمحات", the community "الديوان", and more). 2026-09-11 it launched on iOS, 09-17 by the Saudi X account الدافور (@moha_oz). The pitch was "started from an idea, built according to your suggestions" and "those who share get rewarded (أجر)." It took off because a religious account crowdsourced needs, then led the launch, and sharing was framed as doing good, at a moment when Saudi users were fed up with legacy Islamic apps full of ads and subscriptions.
1. Data: how big it is now
- iOS (appstore library): 2026-11-06 total ratings across all storefronts 5,337, 7 new in the last 595 days; of which Saudi has 5,038, 7 in the last 562 days. Saudi Lifestyle free chart 11-06 #26, peaked at #6 in 11-03, and on one day also hit #171 on the Saudi overall free chart. Daily new ratings rose from 27 on 10-29 to 124 on 11-06 (all storefronts). Apple lookup average rating 4.80 (Saudi storefront 5,060 ratings). Category charts also appeared in 10 other storefronts including Yemen, Egypt, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, and Jordan, but each has only dozens of ratings; the volume is almost entirely in Saudi.
- Comparison (appstore library, Saudi, new ratings in the last 7 days): Ayah - Quran App 886, FivePrayer 858, Athkar 799, Manar 562, AlMosaly 480, Golden Quran 388. Most of these have been listed for over a decade; Manar has been out for 8 weeks and already ranks among the top Islamic-category apps in Saudi for new ratings.
- Android (googleplay library): com.muath.manar (developer NabeaCreative NCK), 11-06 lifetime global installs 43,793, 7 new installs in the last 4,872 days, rating 4.90 (1,186 ratings).
- Developer-reported figures (unverified): 09-30 posted "Manar, 100k downloads in a week" (search snippet, x.com/Muath_Dev); 10-28 posted "Manar nears 150k downloads, DAU around 50k; 3,400 short videos on 'لمحات'; community 'الديوان' just launched last week with 6,000 posts", and thanked @moha_oz (https://x.com/Muath_Dev/status/2115531472345964986,10.3K views).
- Revenue: none. No subscriptions, no ads, no in-app purchases (lookup price 0; the website says "completely free, no ads"). The "إحسان" donation entry in the app is for Saudi's national charity donation platform (built by SDAIA), which doesn't pay the developer.
II. Competitors
| Competitors | Platform | Launched | Scale (Saudi, appstore library, 11-06) | How Manar differs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AlMosaly المصلي | iOS/Android | 2011 | 574,804 ratings, last 7 days 480, Lifestyle free #5 | A long-running Saudi prayer app with ads, also pushing paid features; Manar is ad-free with more features |
| Athkar أذكار(fares.net) | iOS | 2010 | 403,640 ratings, last 7 days 799 | Memorization only; Manar does everything |
| Ayah - Quran App | iOS | 2013 | 546,313 ratings, last 7 days 886 | Quran reading only |
| Golden Quran المصحف الذهبي | iOS | 2014 | 658,183 ratings | Quran only; reviewers complain that Quran apps show inappropriate ads |
| Muslim Pro | iOS/Android | 2010 | Saudi 51,129 ratings, last 7 days 22 | Biggest globally, with subscriptions and ads; it had a controversy over selling location data in 2020; weak momentum in Saudi |
| FivePrayer - Pray on Time | iOS | 2026-02 | 41,175 ratings, last 7 days 858 | Also newly launched, focused on prayer habit-building; Manar is an all-in-one that charges nothing |
| Ameen(TAKLEEMA) | iOS | 2025-02 | 15,589 ratings | Also ad-free and all-in-one, but an order of magnitude smaller |
| Tarteel | iOS/Android | 2018 | 13,772 ratings | AI listens to you recite the Quran and corrects you (memorization), subscription-based; Manar gives a "read in your own voice" correction feature for free |
| برنامج الاذان, Azkar (Hamza Oqbah), Khatmah, and others | iOS | 2012–2019 | 7–110k ratings | Single-feature tools |
| big tech | — | — | Neither Apple nor Google has a native prayer feature | — |
Verdict: this category is a red ocean, with veteran players at hundreds of thousands of ratings. Manar didn't emerge in an empty market. It pulled users away from incumbents in a red ocean by being completely free, ad-free, the most complete, and built by locals.
3. Where users come from (growth levers)
- Religious / charity X account الدافور (@moha_oz) led the launch after crowdsourcing needs (confirmed). He is a lawyer in Jeddah. His X account has 57.5k posts, mostly religious advice and charity fundraising; his TikTok @mohaoz1 has 57k followers, and he's also active on Snapchat. 11-01 He wrote himself: "A few months ago I posted that I wanted to build a comprehensive Islamic app, and over 10,000 people left suggestions under it. We built it according to them, and they all received reward; then we launched, and thousands helped share, all receiving reward; then we added 'الديوان', and thousands signed up…" (https://x.com/moha_oz/status/2116864825846337890). 09-17's launch post read: "Started from an idea, built according to your suggestions… منار, the largest Islamic app in history… Note: anyone who helps share will be given reward" (https://x.com/moha_oz/status/2100584676410753061). The developer named him in thanks in a post on 10-28. In other words, before launch over 10,000 people had "helped design it," and on launch day there was a ready-made seed user base and sharing crowd.
- "Sharing is charity" word-of-mouth loop (confirmed). In the Islamic context, spreading a beneficial religious tool counts as "ongoing charity (صدقة جارية) / reward for sharing," so ordinary users share enthusiastically. On X, some people repost the feature list one by one (@Zaeimah8,09-18); on Threads, Instagram, and Facebook there are recommendation posts like "the largest Islamic app, free"; on YouTube there are review videos titled "one app that replaces all Islamic apps." App Store reviews repeatedly say "انصح الكل بتحميله" (I recommend everyone download it) and "جزاكم الله خير" (may God reward you).
- TikTok creators and organic content (confirmed content exists; whether it was bought is unverified). TikHub search for "تطبيق منار": @3zvip (266K followers) 09-18 posted "best Islamic app⁉️", 96K views; @wisdom98 (137K followers) 09-1.84M views; @od5_.0 (32K followers) 10-2.22M views; @jv_u (106K followers) 10-2.21M views; official account @manar__ksa 09-17 posted videos, 13.5K views. Posts cluster in the 09-17 to 09-22 publishing window, which looks like organized promotion, but no paid-promotion label was found.
- Fast iteration and "every update is a marketing moment" (confirmed). Version numbers follow dates (2026.10.24 → 10.28 → 10.30 → 11.4), one release reads "130 multiple fixes and new additions"; the 11-04 release lists 17 fixes and 20 new features. The developer previews each new feature on X before shipping (the AI assistant "مساعد منار", family prediction games, iPhone Dynamic Island / Live Activities), giving existing users a steady stream of things to talk about and retweet. 11-03 the Saudi category chart climbed to #6, and 11-06 with 124 new ratings in a single day, both lining up with update and feature launch dates.
- Store search / ASO: the name is just the generic word "منار", so this isn't an ASO play. Some exposure from ranking in the Lifestyle chart, but it's a minor channel.
- Paid acquisition: no evidence found (the ad libraries only track products on the watch list, so no hits doesn't mean no spend). The app doesn't earn money, so large-scale paid UA doesn't add up.
IV. Why users stay
Frequent reasons in App Store reviews (appstore database, Saudi store, 160 reviews, 10-12 to 11-04; 156 reviews at 5 stars):
- No ads, no subscription: "Finally a clean prayer-time app that doesn't chase money and has no ads", "Other Quran apps show inappropriate ad banners right under the verses, and they pop out of the app when you try to close them", "Thanks for having no ads and no subscription."
- One app that replaces them all: "I deleted all my other apps", "Every feature is free: fiqh rulings, Islamic books, dhikr reminders, the Quran, qibla, and even recitation checks and tracking for children."
- Nails local, specific needs: a reminder for when the prayer time ends (خروج الوقت) ("I couldn't find this in any other app"), Umm al-Qura calculation and local Saudi call-to-prayer and iqama times, Hijri and Gregorian date conversion, and Saudi seasons and the lunar mansions calendar.
- Identity: "Enough, it was made by Saudis, and it doesn't make money from ads."
- Retention figures: the developer claims about 50k DAU / 150k cumulative (unverified), with DAU at roughly a third of users. Prayer reminders are a must-have used five times a day, so that ratio makes sense.
5. What the differentiation is, and whether it explains the breakout
- Differentiation: ① fully featured, fully free, zero ads (competitors either have ads, require a subscription, or only do one thing); ② demand was crowdsourced from big accounts before launch, so users feel it's "an app I suggested"; ③ the religious motive of "sharing earns rewards" replaces paid UA; ④ Saudi-specific detail plus frequent updates (AI assistant, community, short-video layers that rivals don't have).
- Is this why it took off? Yes. "No ads + fully free" is the reason most often cited in reviews, and it's the precondition for big accounts to call it "the biggest Islamic app ever" and for ordinary people to repost it as a good deed: with no commercial feel, sharing doesn't look like advertising. The product alone wouldn't have spread this fast without @moha_oz's crowdsourcing and launch; big accounts alone wouldn't have produced this kind of viral sharing if it were an ad-filled app. Both are needed.
VI. Visibility and copycats
- Visibility: spreading within a small circle. It's circulating widely in religious and lifestyle circles on Saudi Arabic X, TikTok, and Threads, but there's no tech press or English-language coverage; the x-radar local corpus returns nothing; and there's no revenue to brag about.
- Copycats: no clear ones yet. Similar or same-name apps include manar.cloud "منار | القرآن والأذكار" (its site says it's "made for God's sake, with no profit motive, no ads", close to Manar's own pitch) and manaraapp.com "منارة" ("free, no…"). Their relationship to Manar, and who came first, haven't been verified. In the appstore database, apps launched in the past 2026 years named "منار / Manara" each have 0 to 5 ratings, so none count as followers-turned-rivals.
VII. What others can borrow
- Crowdsource demand on big accounts first, then launch: over ten thousand comments before launch effectively locked in seed users and amplifiers ahead of time.
- Give spreading a "non-commercial" reason: for religious or public-good products, framing sharing as "earning rewards" turns it into an identity or moral motive for users to repost. In other categories, the equivalent is finding the identity or moral motive that makes users want to share.
- In an ad-saturated legacy category, make "completely clean" the selling point: incumbents have hundreds of thousands of ratings but deep user resentment (inappropriate ads, subscriptions). A newcomer with free plus no ads can quickly win users over.
- Release by date and tease every new feature on X, turning updates themselves into ongoing content.
- This playbook is hard to monetize (it doesn't make money to begin with). The business side that can be leveraged is the outsourced studio's brand and acquisition (NabeaCreative), plus a planned "Manar Education" edition: an offline Windows version for school computer labs, listed on the website as "coming soon."
8. What's still uncertain
- The 150k downloads / 50k DAU are the developer's own claims and can't be verified. Extrapolating from 5.3K iOS ratings plus 44k Android installs, the order of magnitude is plausible.
- Whether @moha_oz and NabeaCreative are equity partners, paid promoters, or volunteers is unclear (he uses "we").
- Whether the TikTok creators were paid is unclear.
- Who covers server, AI assistant, and content-licensing costs, and how long it can last with no revenue, is unclear. Whether donations or ads will be added later is also unknown.
- Spread to other Arab countries has been slow (Egypt has only 107 ratings), and whether it can break out of the Saudi X circle is unproven. Ramadan around February 2027 will likely bring another wave of traffic.