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Guides

Step-by-step guides for running things better.

Samee's Identify page on a computer with the star button, the Listen for 10 seconds menu and the Identify a file button
Guides Samee

Which surah is this? How to find the ayah being recited

Let a recognition app listen for 10 seconds, or catch a few distinctive Arabic words and search for them in a Quran search. Refrains, names, openings and the context of the prayer narrow it down.

5 min read
Samee's Progress page on a computer with totals, a Tracks panel, kinds of mistakes, weakest ayahs, all sessions, voices and this device's data
Guides Samee

How Quran teachers can track a student's hifz progress

Keep one record per student: what's memorised, what was recited each lesson, where the mistakes are, and when each part was last revised. A register works; a listener app adds clips and a khatm map.

5 min read
Samee's Practise page on a computer with Surah Al-Mulk 67:1 in Arabic and English, a reciter menu set to Mishary Rashid Alafasy, and the Hide the text while I recite switch
Guides Samee

How to test your Quran memorisation and revise hifz with a listener

Recite from memory to someone, or something, that follows the mushaf and notes every slip. Test little and often in a fixed cycle, keep a list of weak ayahs, and drill them until they're clean.

6 min read
Samee's Progress screen on a phone in dark mode, with zero sessions and the Tracks panel explaining that a track collects the sessions of one khatm or one student
Guides Samee

How to complete a khatm of the Quran in Ramadan: a realistic plan

The 604-page mushaf has 30 juz, so one khatm in Ramadan is about one juz, or 20 pages, a day. Four pages after each of the five prayers does it. Plan for 29 days and keep a catch-up slot.

5 min read
The Shadecard website with the headline Photograph the cloth, read the color, mix the dye, next to a demo reading of a terracotta swatch
Guides Shadecard

How to match a fabric colour with your phone camera

A phone can get you close to a fabric's colour if you control the light, put a known reference (white paper or a grey card) in the frame, average several shots and lab dip.

5 min read
Shadecard recipe calculator with the Weigh, Stock and Pad method chips, fabric weight, dye depth, water ratio and the Y:R:B ratio fields
Guides Shadecard

How to make and use a dye stock solution for lab dips

A 1% w/v stock is 1 g of dye made up to 100 mL. To dose a recipe, pipette mL = grams of dye × 100 ÷ stock %. Use a 0.1% stock for pale components so the volumes stay measurable.

5 min read
Shadecard's reference card help: a diagram with the fabric box and the paper or card box, and the No card, White paper and 18% grey card options
Guides Shadecard

Grey card vs white paper for colour correction

Both give the camera a known neutral to correct white balance and brightness. White paper is free and good enough for everyday work; an 18% grey card is more consistent and clips less.

5 min read
A printable day-by-day timetable on the Salah Locator website with Hijri dates, Sehri ends, Iftar and the prayer times
Guides Salah Locator

Suhoor and iftar times: a practical guide to timing your Ramadan fast

The fast runs from true dawn (Fajr) to sunset (Maghrib). Finish suhoor before your mosque's Sehri or Imsak time, break your fast at Maghrib, and follow your mosque.

5 min read
The Pray Now page on the Salah Locator website listing nearby mosques with the earliest congregation and the one with most time to get there
Guides Salah Locator

Praying on the go: how to find a congregation when you're travelling

Save the mosques at your destination while you're online. On the road, use Pray Now to see which nearby congregation you can reach, and the Qibla finder if not.

5 min read
The Profile tab in the Salah Locator Android app with the Prayer alarms option at the top of the menu
Guides Salah Locator

Prayer alarm not going off on Android? Why, and how to fix it

Android delays or blocks alarms to save battery. Allow the app's exact alarms and notifications, set its battery usage to Unrestricted, exempt it from Do Not Disturb and never force-stop it.

5 min read
The Salah Locator Qibla finder showing a compass dial with a Kaaba marker and a bearing of 260 degrees west from Lahore
Guides Salah Locator

How to find the Qibla with your phone, and why compasses drift

A Qibla app works out the bearing to the Kaaba from your GPS position, then uses the phone's compass to show which way to turn. Calibrate the compass and keep away from metal for a reliable reading.

5 min read