Islamic officials
A tick that is earned, and never sold
Ya Habibi grants an Islamic Official verification to a person whose role in local community or education we have confirmed ourselves. It is for imams, scholars, muftis, qaris and teachers, it costs nothing, and there is no action anybody can take in the app that produces it.
It asserts religious authority, not identity
That is a much heavier claim than the one this mark used to make, and it is the reason the check behind it changed.
What it used to mean
Photo identification matched to a live face. Anybody could earn it by holding up a passport, which made it a statement about a document rather than about a person’s standing.
What it means now
A person at Ya Habibi read this scholar’s ijazah, sanad, degree or letter of appointment, checked their identity against it, and telephoned the institution that issued it.
The role travels with the tick
A tick with no role attached is the exact ambiguity this redefinition exists to remove. A qari and a mufti have been checked against different documents and different institutions, and a single unqualified mark would flatten the two into one vague claim of authority. So the role the tick was granted for is shown next to it, in the feed, in a reply, in search and on the profile.
- Imam
- Khatib
- Mufti
- Qari
- Hafiz
- Alim
- Mudarris
- Mujtahid
The list is long because the roles are real, and because they are not the same thing as each other.
What we ask to see
One credential, and the documents that prove you are the person holding it. We read what you send rather than scoring it.
An ijazah, with its chain
The licence to transmit, and the sanad behind it. We read the chain rather than the certificate alone, because the chain is the part that can be telephoned.
A degree, or a certificate of study
From the madrasah, seminary or university that awarded it. We contact the institution directly, not the referee named on the paper.
A letter of appointment
From the mosque, madrasah or organisation that appointed you, on its own letterhead, naming the role you hold and the date it began.
Identity documents
So we know the person holding the credential is the person applying. This is the smallest part of the check, and on its own it would prove nothing about the role.
A person makes the decision
Not a form, and not a model. Somebody at Ya Habibi opens the application, reads the documents in full, matches the identity against them, then picks up the telephone and speaks to the mosque, the madrasah or the institution named on the paper. If that call does not happen, the tick is not granted.
It follows that the mark can never be produced by anything a user does. There is no threshold of followers, no length of membership and no setting that turns it on. It is granted by us, one application at a time, and it is removed the same way when a role ends.
The tick is a telephone call somebody made.
Why there are two marks
One mark could not serve two claims
A business that pays to be listed has not proven anything about Islamic scholarship. If a single mark served both, a subscription would quietly buy the appearance of religious authority, which is the one thing this system exists to prevent. So a listed halal food business wears a knife and fork on the same rosette, and the tick stays with the people whose credentials a person has actually read.
Islamic official
A role in Islam, checked with the institution that granted it, and printed beside the mark. Free, and never for sale.
Food spot
A listed halal food business, admitted by Ya Habibi staff. It says nothing at all about scholarship, and it is not the tick.
How food spots are listedEvery badge, one page
The staff mark, the founder, the tick and the food spot
What each of the four marks asserts, who grants it, and the process behind the one on this page, set out in full.
How to apply
There is one route in and it ends with a person, so it moves at the speed of a phone call rather than a queue.
- 01
Apply
From the app, or by writing to us. Either way it reaches the same desk and a person opens it.
- 02
Name the role
Imam, mufti, qari, alim and the rest. The role is the claim being checked, so it is the first thing we ask for.
- 03
Send what you hold
The ijazah and its chain, the degree, or the letter of appointment, with identity documents alongside it.
- 04
A person reads it, then telephones
Somebody at Ya Habibi reads the documents, matches the identity against them, and calls the institution that issued them.
- 05
The tick appears, with the role beside it
And it comes off if the role ends, because a claim that has stopped being true should stop being displayed.
Questions scholars ask
Can the tick be bought?
No. It is free, it is not a subscription, and there is no price at which it can be purchased. The only route to it is the check: a person reads the documents, matches the identity against them and telephones the institution that issued them.
Which documents do you accept?
An ijazah with its chain of transmission, a sanad, a degree or certificate from the institution that awarded it, or a letter of appointment from the mosque, madrasah or organisation that appointed you. Identity documents are asked for alongside whichever of these you hold, so we know the credential and the applicant are the same person.
Is this the same as a blue tick?
No. It says nothing about how well known somebody is. It states a role in Islam that has been checked with the institution that granted it, and that role is printed beside the mark wherever the mark appears.
Why do halal food businesses carry a different mark?
Because a business that pays to be listed has not proven anything about Islamic scholarship. One mark serving both claims would let a subscription buy the appearance of religious authority, so a listed food business wears a knife and fork on the same rosette rather than the tick.
What happens if my role ends?
The tick comes off. A role that ends is a tick that ends, and the profile says so rather than carrying a claim that has stopped being true.
How long does it take?
As long as it takes to reach the institution by telephone. We do not publish a turnaround time, because a person is doing the work and an institution has to answer the call.