The story behind
Amanah Budget

Amanah Budget started the same way many meaningful things do — with a problem at home.

One weekend, I sat down for my monthly budgeting session, something I had done for years. My routine was always the same: log into bank accounts, download transactions, import everything into a carefully built Excel spreadsheet, and spend the next couple of hours categorizing, reconciling, and planning ahead.

It worked… technically. But if I'm being real, it was exhausting.

That particular month, I was planning for Eid Al-Adha and thinking through the things that mattered most to my family: how much we wanted to set aside for sadaqah, what our zakat planning should look like, and whether we could comfortably make room in the budget for my oldest son's Islamic school tuition while still staying on track financially.

I remember sitting there with spreadsheets open, transactions everywhere, trying to make intentional decisions about our finances while wondering: Why does this feel harder than it should be?

The budgeting apps on the market were good — some even great. I tried them. But none of them seemed to understand the realities of a Muslim household. There was no thoughtful way to plan for zakat. No visibility into sadaqah goals. No meaningful categories for Islamic school tuition or faith-centered financial priorities. The tools were built for everyone. But they weren't built for families like mine.

So I started writing ideas down. At first, it was just a small feature list scribbled out of frustration. Then it grew into something much bigger: a vision for a budgeting platform intentionally designed for Muslims — one that helps families manage money in a way that aligns not just with their financial goals, but with their values.

For more than 20 years, I've worked in technology as an enterprise architect and engineering leader, helping organizations solve complex problems with practical solutions. Building Amanah Budget felt different though, because this wasn't a business problem. It was personal.

I'm a husband and father of three young children, and like many parents, I often found myself asking: Are we planning well enough? Are we being intentional with what Allah has entrusted to us? Are we preparing for our family while fulfilling our responsibilities to others?

Today, my own family still uses Amanah Budget to plan giving, manage spending, and make financial decisions more intentionally. What started at my kitchen table as a frustrating budgeting session turned into something much bigger: a mission to help Muslim families feel more confident, organized, and at peace with their finances.

I built Amanah Budget for my family. And I sincerely hope it helps yours too.