The Living Manuscript
Every word, lit as it’s read.
A real-time transcript illuminates each sentence the moment the narrator speaks it — the way the masters once studied, now on glass. Tap any line to hear it again.
Now on iPhone & Apple Watch The classical canon,
The classical canon,
on your iPhone.
A thousand years of scholarship — al-Ghazali, Ibn Kathir, Ibn Battuta and the masters — translated from the original Arabic, narrated, and free to start on iOS.
- 65+ audiobooks
- 7 named scholars
- Apple Watch + widgets
- New book every week
Listen · 3-minute preview
Press play. Read along.
The first three minutes, free. The rest of the book is in the app.
Preview
Book 1: The Book of Knowledge
Imam al-Ghazali
0:00 3:00
That was the first three minutes. Continue listening in the app.
Listen in the app“Easy to use, visually appealing — a clean, enjoyable interface. Barak Allahu feekum.”
— Yanya, verified App Store review
Inside the app
Not an audiobook player. A house of knowledge.
Every screen is built to carry you deeper — from the first ayah on your Lock Screen to the last reflection in a guided session.
Structured completion
Finish the Iḥyāʾ — one sentence at a time.
al-Ghazali’s forty-volume masterwork, broken into bite-sized passages with the narration right beside you. A thousand-year classic, finally finishable.
StudyKit
One chapter. Two ways in.
Move at your own rhythm — Read, Understand, Apply — or let a scholar walk you through in fifteen guided minutes, with reflection prompts at every turn.
JM Scholar
A scholar who has read every word.
Ask anything — about the chapter, the author, or your own reflection. Every answer is rooted in the source and shows you exactly where it came from.
Your Journey
See how far you’ve come.
Streaks, hours of sacred knowledge, books completed cover to cover, and a scholar rank that grows with you — quiet encouragement, never gamified into noise.
The Vault
A sanctuary that never stops growing.
Premium listeners receive every new release on day one — four scholar-curated audiobooks a month, dropped each Friday into a library that only deepens.
Apple Watch · Ultra 3 & Series 10
Phone, optional.
Hold the action button to pause. Spin the Digital Crown to skip chapters. Set a sleep timer and drift off. The full canon, on your wrist — walk, train, pray, and leave the phone behind.
A taste of the canon
Wisdom that has outlived empires.
Every line below is read aloud, in full, inside the app — sourced, attributed, and a single tap from the whole book.
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The heart is a king, and the limbs are its army. If the king is corrupt, the army is corrupt.
Imam al-Ghazali Wonders of the HeartOpen the book → -
Be in this world as a traveller. A traveller does not build a house on the road.
Imam al-Ghazali Poverty and AsceticismOpen the book → -
Yūnus called from three darknesses: the darkness of the sea, the darkness of the fish, and the darkness of the night. And Allah answered.
Ibn Kathir Stories of the Prophets — YūnusOpen the book → -
The door of repentance does not close until the sun rises from the west. Until then, it is open for every soul.
Imam al-Ghazali The Book of RepentanceOpen the book → -
I set out alone, finding no companion to cheer the way, swayed by an overmastering impulse within me, and a long-cherished desire to visit those illustrious sanctuaries.
Ibn Battuta Riḥlah — Volume OneOpen the book → -
Allah took Ibrāhīm as a friend. Not because Ibrāhīm asked — but because of what Ibrāhīm was willing to put down.
Ibn Kathir Stories of the Prophets — IbrāhīmOpen the book → -
The one who remembers death clearly will not spend his life chasing what will not follow him into the grave.
Imam al-Ghazali Remembrance of DeathOpen the book → -
Whoever treads a path in search of knowledge, Allah makes easy for him the path to Paradise.
Imam al-Ghazali The Book of KnowledgeOpen the book →
- Platform
- iPhone & Apple Watch
- Requires
- iOS 16.0 or later
- Price
- Free · in-app subscriptions
- Languages
- English & Arabic
FAQ
Everything you might ask.
Is Joyful Muslims free?
Yes. Every account gets five hours of listening every month, a preview on every book, and the weekly public library — with no credit card. Paid tiers start at $0.99/month (unlimited standard library) and Premium is $6.99/month for the Vault, StudyKit, the Living Manuscript, and unlimited JM Scholar.
What books are in the library?
65+ audiobooks and growing weekly: Ibn Kathir's Stories of the Prophets, al-Ghazali's forty-volume Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn, Ibn Battuta's Riḥla, hadith collections, fiqh, and sīrah — all translated from the original Arabic and narrated.
Does it work on Apple Watch?
Yes. There is a native Apple Watch app for Ultra 3 and Series 10. Hold the action button to pause, spin the Digital Crown to skip chapters, set a sleep timer, and leave your phone behind — with complications for your watch face.
Can I listen offline?
Yes. Download any audiobook on a Library or Premium plan and listen with no signal — on a plane, on a commute, anywhere.
What is JM Scholar?
JM Scholar is an in-app assistant that answers questions about the chapter, the author, or your own reflection — and roots every answer in the classical source, showing you exactly where it came from. Free accounts get two prompts; Premium is unlimited.
What languages does it support?
The audiobooks are narrated in English, translated from the original Arabic. The Living Manuscript transcript follows along line by line as you listen.
Is there an Android version?
An Android build at full feature parity is in final testing. It is not on the Google Play Store yet — join the waitlist at joyfulmuslims.com/android and we will email you the day it launches.
Begin with the masters.
Five hours of listening, free every month. No card to start. The whole library is one tap away.
On Android? Join the Android waitlist →