A mental wellness app grounded in Islamic tradition

On nights he could not wind down, Zubair Banoor reached for apps like Headspace. "It helped a little, but the content never connected to my faith," he says, and many of the features that helped most were locked behind a paywall. When he mentioned this to people in his community, he kept hearing the same story.

So he started building.

“Islam grounds us to become better people each day, and discovering who we are and what our purpose is remains a lifelong journey, one that takes dedication, commitment, and the support of community and loved ones.”

Zubair Banoor

The app rests on four pillars. The first is quality sleep. The second is mindful meditation, for the hard days and for the evenings when you simply need to wind down. The third is focus, reclaiming time from distracting social media so it can go back to family, friends, work and the pursuits that leave you feeling fulfilled. The fourth is prayer.

Zubair studied at McMaster University and is a public health professional with years of frontline experience. His work centres on the promotion of holistic health and wellbeing. Mental wellness is part of a healthy life, he says, and it has been neglected in the Muslim community, with little attention paid to developing accessible resources rooted in Islamic traditions and teachings.

The app is shaped by what his community told him they needed. "I believe in working with communities rather than prescribing for them," he says. Eight volunteers are now reviewing every part of it, to make sure it is rooted in Islamic tradition, culturally and religiously appropriate, and accessible to people with diverse needs. It will launch free on the iOS App Store, with Android following shortly after.

Free is the point. Many of the features at its core sit behind paywalls in other apps, he says, which puts them out of reach for millions of people.

The hardest part is holding both of those things at once: keeping the app accessible to people with diverse needs, and making sure every piece of content is intentionally rooted in Islamic history, tradition and teachings. The eight pilot volunteers have been invaluable in keeping it grounded. "Their feedback is a constant reminder that this work is best done with the community," he says.

After launch he plans a version without the faith-based content, so people from other communities can benefit too.