About Ayah Explorer
Three families, five children and one simple wish
Ayah Explorer started around a table at home, with three families who wanted their children to grow up understanding the Quran, not just reading it.
How it started
In 2026, our children's Sunday school couldn't open at the start of term. Five of our children went there, and we didn't want them to have a long break from the Quran and their Islamic learning.
One of the dads had an idea. He had come across a course that teaches the meanings of the most common words in the Quran, and suggested that all three families sit down together and learn something, children and grown-ups side by side.
So that's what we did. We gathered, opened the course and started learning our first words together.
The children were drifting off
Within a few sessions we noticed something. After 10 or 15 minutes, the children lost interest. By the end, it was only the six or seven of us grown-ups still learning.
The children weren't the problem. They wanted to learn. They just needed it to feel like play, not a lesson.
So we built a game
Another of the dads started building a game for them. Sessions are short. New words arrive a few at a time, with pictures and sounds. Words the children already know come back on another day, so they stay. Each lesson ends with a real ayah built from words they have learned.
His daughter played every version first and told us honestly what was too hard and what was fun. That game became Ayah Explorer.
Why it matters to us
Like many families who don't speak Arabic, we grew up reading the Quran without understanding it. It was a book we opened in Ramadan and recited with love, but we never felt a real connection, because we didn't know what the words were saying.
We want something different for our children.
Our vision
Understand Allah's words in the language He chose
Allah chose Arabic for the Quran. Every translation, however good, loses some of the meaning. When you understand the words themselves, you hear the message directly, without relying on someone else's choice of English words.
Start young, a little at a time
A few words a week, starting around the age of 7, is enough. Step by step, children begin to understand what they recite in their prayers, and the Quran becomes a book they know, not only a book they read.
Learn together as a family
Grown-ups learn alongside their children. Many of us are learning these words for the first time too, and children love it when they know a word before their parents do.
A first step to going deeper
Knowing the words is the start, not the end. When you want to learn more, open a tafsir, the scholars' explanation of the Quran, and you'll already recognise the words being explained.
Where we're going
- More lessons, step by step, towards the 365 most common words of the Quran.
- The surahs and duas children recite every day, starting with Al-Fatiha, word by word.
- Ways for teachers, Sunday schools and madrasahs to use Ayah Explorer with a class.
- Always safe for children: no adverts, no tracking, and only the information a family chooses to share.
رَّبِّ زِدْنِي عِلْمًا
"My Lord, increase me in knowledge." Ta-Ha 20:114
The families behind Ayah Explorer
Short sessions, a few words at a time, for children and grown-ups.
Have a story or an idea to share? Get in touch.