ukarimu

‘Ukarimu’ is Swahili for generosity and it is also the title for Al-Noor School’s mobile application submission for MIST 2014- a unique take on an important topic. Generosity is plainly defined as “a kind act done without expecting much in return.” While this is true, a negative connotation has come to be associated with the term as well. When people think of generosity, they often think of sacrifice without much personal benefit. Ukarimu is designed to combat that misconception; it is designed to imply the ideal that generosity is more than just giving and that it is easier to be generous than the user currently presumes.
Our objective for this app is to insist that generosity is not what it is generally thought to be - sacrificial. Each feature of our app encourages and motivates the user to be more altruistic through reminders and facilities. In order to ease generosity and show that it is much more than just the spending of money, our development team thought long and hard for ways in which one can give without personal loss. Hence our five available features, each pertaining to a different way to be giving. To make this happen, we used Photoshop and Lunapic for our graphics and icons. We also used MIT App development software to provide us with a medium for code and other app development needs.
Ukarimu features five mini-applications in the application itself that work together to equip the user with fast generous ideas with the touch of a screen. The first of the five is the quote generator. This quote generator provides a quote/hadith to the user that is motivational and encourages hospitality at random. These quotes can be shared to the user’s social networks. The second feature involves using GPS to locate the user’s current destination in order to use Google Maps and locate the nearest sadaqah(volunteer/charity) facilities such as mosques and soup kitchens. The third feature is a list of charitable organizations that the participant can use to get a straight access to the donations page of the organization he/she wishes to work with. A helpful addition to this mini app is the zakah calculator feature on the app. For any amount the user wishes to donate, the use may use this facility to calculate before making the transactions. The fourth feature allows for the participant to be generous with his/her time and words. It reminds the user of the importance to keep in touch and be on good terms with the people they are associated with. This mini-app pulls a random contact from the user’s contact list on his/her device and asks the user to give them a call. The fifth and final feature is the “little is a lot” deed of the day. This feature reminds the participant that a small deed can go a long way, and is static, so that it remains throughout one day. It is not as difficult to be generous as one presumes. This feature located at the bottom of the main page assigns the user to a generous deed a day. Every ten days or so, this feature will notify the user to be generous to himself/herself. It allows the user to be a little selfish, yet still be generous. It again permits the user to comprehend that generosity is mutual and not only commensalism or solely sacrificial.
Ukarimu is adept at bring the utmost generosity out of each participant while ensuring that the user does not lose much while doing so. Generosity doesn’t always involve financial loss, it is more than that. It involves giving that which is most precious to one – time and thought. Abu Abdillah once stated “Allah gives help to a person equal in quantity to the charity a person gives.”