Permission to bundle the Download Adhans set in an ad-supported free app

cengodev

Assalamu Alaikum,

JazakAllahu Khairan for the API and the resources you make available — we already use the AlAdhan API for prayer time calculation in our app.

I'm the developer of Cami Bul, a free mosque-finder and prayer-times app for Android (com.masjid.finder). It started in Turkey and is now expanding across Europe, with the interface available in Turkish, English, German, French and Arabic.

We would like to use the recordings from your Download Adhans page as the adhan notification sounds, and offer them as selectable options rather than shipping only one. Our users do not come from a single recitation tradition, so variety genuinely serves them:

File Reciter
a1.mp3 Ahmad al-Nafees
a2.mp3 Hafiz Mustafa Özcan (Turkey)
a4.mp3 Mishary Rashid Alafasy — Dubai One TV
a7.mp3 Mishary Rashid Alafasy
a9.mp3 Mishary Rashid Alafasy
a11-mansour-al-zahrani.mp3 Mansour Al-Zahrani
I have deliberately left out a3.mp3 ("Adhan from Karl Jenkins' Mass for Peace"), since that is a commercial composition by a living composer and I do not think the public domain note on the page can be correct for that particular file.

I have read discussions #255 and #256 and I understand the general answer given there. I am asking separately because my situation differs in one way that I do not want to gloss over:

The app is free, but it is not ad-free. It shows advertisements (Google AdMob) and offers an optional supporter purchase. The revenue covers development and server costs. The audio itself would never be sold, resold or offered as a separate product — it would only play as the notification sound at prayer times, and users can turn it off or pick a different sound.

With that stated plainly, could you clarify:

Does the permission given in #255 also cover an app that carries advertising? Both askers there specified "no ads, no in-app purchases", so I would rather ask than assume.
Do you know the rights position for the individual recordings? In #256 you noted that the copyright belongs to the mu'adhins. If you have contact details for any of the reciters or the original publishers, I am happy to write to them directly and obtain permission properly. If some files are fine and others are not, please tell me which — I will only ship the ones that are clear.
Attribution — even though #255 says it is not required, we would like to credit Islamic Network / AlAdhan.com in the app's sources screen. Is there a credit line you prefer?
Technical note: iOS limits notification sounds to 30 seconds, so the files would be trimmed and converted to CAF for that platform. Is a shortened excerpt acceptable to you?
If the answer to (1) is no, that is completely fine — I would rather know now and commission our own recording than ship something on an assumption.

JazakAllahu Khairan for your time and for the work you do for the community.

Cengiz Aydemir cengoaydemir14@gmail.com

gokboru

cengodev Salaam.

From the Islamic Network side there is no restriction on the usage. The copyright does still belong to the mu'adhins - that does not change in any case.

cengodev Does the permission given in #255 also cover an app that carries advertising? Both askers there specified "no ads, no in-app purchases", so I would rather ask than assume.

I don't think advertising is an issue. Several of these recitations are also available on YouTube that is plastered with advertising. Nonetheless, it would always be good to make clear in your terms that the adhan audio is not behind an in-app purchase (and hopefully no advertising pops up when a user will try to play the audio) - that should suffice for anyone who is concerned with the extrapolation of money for something that may otherwise be free.

cengodev Do you know the rights position for the individual recordings? In #256 you noted that the copyright belongs to the mu'adhins. If you have contact details for any of the reciters or the original publishers, I am happy to write to them

No, and we do not have contact details. Sorry.

cengodev Attribution — even though #255 says it is not required, we would like to credit Islamic Network / AlAdhan.com in the app's sources screen. Is there a credit line you prefer?

No preference.

cengodev Technical note: iOS limits notification sounds to 30 seconds, so the files would be trimmed and converted to CAF for that platform. Is a shortened excerpt acceptable to you?

Yes, it's one reason to not use an iPhone 🙂.

I hope this helps, inshaAllah.

cengodev

Wa alaykum as-salaam,

JazakAllahu khairan — this is exactly the clarity I needed, and I appreciate you being straightforward about the part you cannot speak for.

Understood on all four points. To confirm what we will do on our side:

The adhan audio will never sit behind an in-app purchase, and no advertising will be shown while a user previews or plays it. I will state this plainly in our terms.
We will credit Islamic Network / AlAdhan.com in the app's sources screen.
We will note in our own records that copyright remains with the mu'adhins, so that anyone who picks this up after me knows the position rather than assuming a blanket licence.
If a reciter or publisher ever gets in touch with you about any of these recordings, we would be glad to hear about it — we would rather obtain permission properly than rely on the absence of objection.

And noted on the iOS remark 🙂

JazakAllahu khairan again for the API and for taking the time.

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