In June we spent time learning, networking and of course building!
It started with an evening at MPN's own event, Build Software Without Writing Code. Our guest was Drilon Jaha, CTO of Bayyinah, who came all the way from Kosovo to walk us through vibe coding: how to get an idea out of your head and onto a screen without a computer science degree. Alhamdulillah, the room filled up. People asked a lot of questions, and a few of them came up and built something live in front of the audience.
That turned out to be good practice, because the next morning Diwan Hackathon opened its doors at Aalto Design Factory.
Diwan Hackathon
We had been waiting for this one for a long time, and the hype was real. People came from across Europe to build in Helsinki, with guests from Germany, Ireland and of course Kosovo. MPN had the honour of being official partners for this largest Islamic hackathon in the EU.
How it actually works
If you have never done a hackathon: you get a challenge, a team, and a limited time to build. By the end you need a working demo and a pitch. Our pitching window was under two minutes, which forces you to be ruthless about what you say and what you put on the screen.
The details
Mashallah, from an attendee's perspective the event went very smoothly! The timetable held from start to finish, and there was enough food and drink to keep every team hydrated and energised to the end. What I appreciated most was the attention to details: a photo wall, the venue lit in Diwan's brand colours, and a halal after-party, which is always a good opportunity to keep the conversation going!
The people
The best part was not the code. It was seeing Muslim brothers and sisters from completely different backgrounds in one room, and realising how much expertise sits inside our community. Engineers, PhD researchers, coders, designers, business and sales people, all putting their best foot forward.
An unannounced guest
During one of the breaks we had a surprise. Ustadh Nouman Ali Khan joined us quietly, without making a big number of himself. He spent time in the back room, sharing his thoughts and asking about the Finnish Muslim community and about how Diwan approaches building solutions. He then sat on the judging panel for the pitching competition, asking questions and giving his take on the ideas presented on stage.
Hearing him speak encouragingly about MPN's work and mission was a genuine boost for our team.
The ideas
There were two tracks, and our team competed in Civic Participation & Leadership. The competition was tight and there were many good ideas.
One team built a Halal Map Finder for locating your nearest masjid and halal restaurants. Actually this kind of app already exists, as I mentioned in our previous article — you can see Karamah Collective's map here.
Another team built a small-group tool for letting people know when you are heading to the local masjid for congregational prayer.
Our own project was the Muslim Media Tracker, focused on Finnish media and how Muslim topics are covered. The idea is to collect all Muslim-related articles into one view and to give readers context and commentary from experts. The aim is to tackle misinformation and problematic framing of Muslims in the Finnish mainstream media.
The app is called "fraME" and you can already try the tool here (it's still a demo version, so don't be harsh).
All in all, it was an amazing experience to be part of this wonderful event. Many new contacts, many smiles, and real problems being worked on. I hope this becomes an annual get-together, with more participants, more sponsors, and more highly skilled and ambitious people getting involved.
What's next for MPN?
July was our summer break, with everyone travelling and spending time with family. Now we are back in action!
Our first event of the season is a collaboration with NMF and Sakina Journeys: the first-ever Nordic Muslim professional retreat, running from 4–6 September. There are still spots left, and you can register here.
This is an excellent chance to step out of city life for a few days, rejuvenate spiritually and to connect with like-minded people.
Also we are planning to bring more after-work events as well as a couple of cool workshops!
Follow us on social media and stay tuned. We do our best to keep on bringing beneficial events your way, insha'Allah.