📜 Muslim app fights the doomscroll

In a week when a young Minnesotan stopped a runaway school bus (while more lies spread elsewhere), and an older Michigander played offense in his Senate bid, Musletter dived headfirst into the news pool and surfaced with these gems just for you. (Oh, and if you have a story you think we should cover, let us know!)

Here’s what we have for you in this edition:

Plus: Our recommendations on what to read, watch, and buy!

Let’s jump right in!

💀📜 End the doomscroll, boost dhikr: Is your phone stealing your deen? Of course it is. Ebad Qazi is doing something about it. Born in Pakistan before moving to Canada as a child, he first worked in recruitment and digital marketing before launching the Ebadah app, which aims to turn Muslim screen time into worship. Yes, it blocks distracting apps, but it also replaces the saved time with Qur’an, dhikr, and so on, and keeps a personalized tally. Qazi has tailored the app to users’ individual levels of religious practice. Available on iOS and Android, it’s built around the hadith emphasizing the value of small, consistent deeds. Don’t believe it’s a problem? Here’s Dr. Sahar Yousef, a renowned cognitive neuroscientist at UC Berkeley, explaining how big tech hijacks your brain.

🗽 US Northeast is an Islamic finance hub: The Northeast isn’t just giant storms. From NYC to leafy Harvard, something is happening. New York is already home to Zoya and Wahed as well as the HabibiTech Summit, but now Baruch College’s Muslim Business Association and Baruch Islamic Investment Research Group are using student-led initiatives to develop investment research and financial analysis skills through a simulated Sharia-compliant portfolio. Meanwhile, for thirty years the Islamic Finance Conference at Harvard has brought together experts to respond to challenges in governance and moral leadership in AI, fintech, and digital assets. The regional hub grows and grows.

🇲🇾 Malaysian startups target global stage: Malaysia has something to say: It wants to become one of the world’s top 20 startup hubs by 2030. And it’s off to a pretty good start. Right now, its ecosystem houses 5,000+ companies, mostly in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, and its top 100 tech startups generated $2 billion in revenue in 2024, with average annual growth of 87%. Meanwhile, thirty-six companies recorded more than $235k in net profit. No surprise that AI and data businesses are the fastest-growing sectors. But what’s behind this push? Government initiatives, along with Cradle, have funded 1,300+ Malaysian startups.

🇸🇦 Major project updates in Makkah and Madinah: Necessary infrastructure and hospitality upgrades or the resort-ification of the Holy Cities? You decide. Either way, there’s a whole lotta existing and newly announced projects in Madinah and Makkah. Let’s start with Madinah’s Knowledge Economic City (100% ownership for eligible non-Saudi investors), the Fairmont Residences Rua Al Madinah opposite the Prophet’s Mosque, and the wellness resort Qalb Jabal Uhud. Makkah also has the 12 million sqm King Salman Gate mixed-use development, Masar Makkah, focused on hospitality, culture, and (deep breath) entertainment, and Thakher Makkah, with apartments, hotels, and more.

🇹🇷 Türkiye targets lunar mission next year: Yeah, Türkiye only went and made a rocket! Or, to put it less like an eight-year-old, the country has completed production and assembly of its first lunar spacecraft. The lunar mission is scheduled for H1 2027 and would make it only the ninth country ever to carry out such an expedition. Developed by TÜBİTAK, the spacecraft uses 80% domestic components and is now entering system-level testing (checking that all the buttons work). The eventual mission could last over a year and will include studying solar winds and the Moon’s local magnetic fields. The mission would place the country firmly in the space race.

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