Aqdam أقدام
أقدام Aqdam means footsteps

Walk in the footsteps of the Sahaba, one small step at a time.

The Companions of the Prophet ﷺ didn't change their lives in a day. They prayed, gave, remembered and kept going, a little at a time. Learn how they lived their days, and take the next small step after them.

Begin with the idea Meet the Sahaba
The idea

Small, and steady.

The Prophet ﷺ was asked which deeds Allah loves most. He didn't name the hardest, or the longest. He named the one that lasts.

أَحَبَّ الأَعْمَالِ أَدْوَمُهَا إِلَى اللَّهِ، وَإِنْ قَلَّ

“The most beloved deeds to Allah are the most consistent, even if small.”

Sahih al-Bukhari 6464 · narrated by Aisha bint Abi Bakr

Aisha lived it herself. Those who knew her said: When Aisha did a deed, she kept to it (Sahih Muslim 783).

A single drop doesn't look like much. A drop every day, for years, wears a hollow in stone.

How they lived

Their days were made of small things.

The Companions were traders, farmers, mothers, shepherds and students. Their worship lived inside ordinary days, between the five prayers. Follow the sun across one of them.

One day, from Fajr to Isha The sun traces an arc across the day. The five prayers sit along it, and five numbered moments from the lives of the Companions sit between them: Duha in the forenoon, good deeds through the day, two rak'ahs after wudu, patience in anger, and giving in the evening. Each is described in the list below. Fajr Dhuhr Asr Maghrib Isha 1 2 3 4 5
  1. In the forenoon

    Three things, never left

    Abu Hurayrah said his close friend ﷺ advised him to keep three things: fasting three days each month, two rak'ahs of Duha, and Witr before sleeping.

    Abu Hurayrah · Sahih al-Bukhari 1981

  2. Through the day

    Four good deeds, one ordinary day

    The Prophet ﷺ asked who was fasting that day, who had followed a funeral, who had fed a poor person and who had visited someone sick. To each question, Abu Bakr answered: “I have.”

    Abu Bakr as-Siddiq · Sahih Muslim 1028

  3. At any hour

    Two rak'ahs after wudu

    The Prophet ﷺ heard Bilal's footsteps ahead of him in Paradise. Bilal said that whenever he made wudu, at any hour of the day or night, he prayed what was written for him after it.

    Bilal ibn Rabah · Sahih al-Bukhari 1149

  4. In a moment of anger

    Stopping at the Book of Allah

    When a man insulted Umar to his face, Umar's anger rose, until someone recited: “Hold to forgiveness, enjoin what is good, and turn away from the ignorant.” Umar went no further. He was one who stopped at the Book of Allah.

    Umar ibn al-Khattab · Sahih al-Bukhari 4642

  5. When someone knocked

    One date, given

    A mother came to Aisha with her two daughters, asking for food. Aisha had nothing in the house but a single date, and she gave it to her.

    Aisha bint Abi Bakr · Sahih al-Bukhari 1418

  6. And in your day

    Your next small step

    None of these took a whole day. Each was a few minutes, or a single act, kept. Choose one, and begin.

    Browse the Sahaba catalogue · or learn by theme

Sincerity

The deeds no one sees.

Every step starts in the heart. The very first hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari, narrated by Umar ibn al-Khattab, is about intention.

إِنَّمَا الْأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّاتِ، وَإِنَّمَا لِكُلِّ امْرِئٍ مَا نَوَى

“Actions are only by intentions, and every person will have only what they intended.”

Sahih al-Bukhari 1 · narrated by Umar ibn al-Khattab

Among the seven whom Allah will shade on a day when there is no shade but His: someone who gave in charity so secretly that their left hand did not know what their right hand gave, and someone who remembered Allah alone, and their eyes overflowed (Sahih al-Bukhari 1423, narrated by Abu Hurayrah).

Small steps don't need an audience. The quiet two rak'ahs, the dhikr under your breath, the gift no one saw: these are the deeds worth keeping between you and Allah.

Consistency over perfection

Aim true. Come close. Keep walking.

Perfection was never the instruction. Steadiness was.

إِنَّ الدِّينَ يُسْرٌ، وَلَنْ يُشَادَّ الدِّينَ أَحَدٌ إِلاَّ غَلَبَهُ، فَسَدِّدُوا وَقَارِبُوا وَأَبْشِرُوا، وَاسْتَعِينُوا بِالْغَدْوَةِ وَالرَّوْحَةِ وَشَىْءٍ مِنَ الدُّلْجَةِ

“The religion is ease. No one overburdens himself in the religion except that it overwhelms him. So keep to the right course, come close, and rejoice. And seek help in the early morning, the late afternoon and a little of the night.”

Sahih al-Bukhari 39 · narrated by Abu Hurayrah
A trail with gaps that keeps going Footsteps climb a winding trail beneath three signs: a rising sun for the early morning, a setting sun for the late afternoon, and a crescent for the night. Two steps are only outlines, missed days, yet the trail carries on past them to the top. morningeveningnight

These are a traveller's words. In the desert you don't walk all day and all night. You cover ground in the cool of the morning, again in the evening, and a little after dark, and you arrive. A missed day is a gap in the trail. It isn't the end of the road.

And from Aisha: Take on only the deeds you are able to do, for Allah does not tire until you tire (Sahih al-Bukhari 43).

  • الغَدْوَةThe early morningBefore the heat: Fajr, the morning remembrance, a few ayat.
  • الرَّوْحَةThe late afternoonAs the day's work ends: Asr, a kind word, a short walk to visit someone.
  • الدُّلْجَةA little of the nightBefore sleep: Witr, a quiet du'a, a moment to look back on the day.
Footsteps that wander off and come back In a desert at dusk, faint footsteps lead away from an oasis with a palm tree and a pool of water, loop out across the sand, then turn and come back, brighter, to the water.
Returning

The way back is always open.

Everyone drifts. A week without the morning adhkar, a month without the Quran, years away. There is no counter to restore and no streak to rebuild. There is only the next step back.

اللَّهُ أَفْرَحُ بِتَوْبَةِ عَبْدِهِ مِنْ أَحَدِكُمْ سَقَطَ عَلَى بَعِيرِهِ، وَقَدْ أَضَلَّهُ فِي أَرْضِ فَلاَةٍ

“Allah is more pleased with the repentance of His servant than any one of you who comes upon his camel after losing it in a barren desert.”

Sahih al-Bukhari 6309 · narrated by Anas ibn Malik

Picture that traveller: alone in the desert, everything lost, then suddenly found. Your return is met with more joy than that. Come back today, with one small step.

The Sahaba catalogue

Meet the ones who walked first.

A growing catalogue of the Companions of the Prophet ﷺ: who they were, and the small practices from their daily lives, each with its source in the hadith collections.

Companions are named, never pictured. Their stories are told from the hadith collections, with every report linked to its source.

Learn from their days, theme by theme: night prayer, charity, patience and more

A companion for the walk

Aqdam, a quiet companion app for iPhone.

When you're ready to take the first step, Aqdam keeps you company: the five prayers first, a few small practices from the lives of the Sahaba, and the source behind every one.

  • One small step at a time, with no streak to lose.
  • Every practice shows its hadith or ayah, and its grade.
  • No account and no ads. Your worship stays on your phone.
Coming soon to the App Store
Aqdam's Today screen: the next prayer with a countdown, then the day's prayers and small habits such as the morning adhkar, each ready to log with a tap.
The Path of the Caller in Aqdam, for Bilal ibn Rabah. His name is written large in Arabic above a companion report citing Sahih al-Bukhari 1149, and a short list of habits starting with two rak'ahs after every wudu.

Take one small step today.

Choose one practice from one Companion. Keep it. Then take the next.

Meet the Sahaba Write to us