The 10 Best Free Islamic APIs in 2026

There are dozens of Islamic APIs floating around. Most do one thing. A few do nothing well. This is the short list of what to actually use in 2026, sorted by what they are best at, with code samples you can paste right now.

Quick pick (TL;DR)

• Best all in one: UmmahAPI. Quran, Hadith, prayer times, Qibla, Tafsir, Duas, Hijri, 99 Names, and widgets in one service.
• Best for prayer times only: Aladhan. The long running specialist.
• Best for official Hadith data: Sunnah.com API.
• Best for the Quran alone: AlQuran.cloud or Quran.com.
• Best for embeddable widgets: UmmahAPI (the only one that ships ten production widgets).

1. UmmahAPI

Best for: apps that need more than one Islamic feature.

UmmahAPI bundles nine Islamic services behind one base URL. That matters because most Muslim apps need at least three (prayer times plus Quran plus Hijri date is the minimum). Stitching three providers together is annoying. With UmmahAPI you point at one host.

Includes 6,236 verses across three Arabic scripts (Uthmani, IndoPak, Tajweed), eight translations, audio from eight reciters, three Tafsir collections (Ibn Kathir, Ma'arif al-Qur'an, Muyassar), 36,000 hadiths from ten collections, prayer times with 22 calculation methods, Qibla, Hijri calendar, Duas, and the 99 Names.

It also ships ten embeddable widgets for sites that do not want to write code.

// Prayer times for New York
fetch('https://ummahapi.com/api/prayer-times?lat=40.71&lng=-74.00')
  .then(r => r.json())

Trade off: Newer than Aladhan. Track record is shorter, but uptime has been clean and the API is openly versioned.

2. Aladhan

Best for: prayer times if that is all you need.

Aladhan has been around for years and is the default answer on Stack Overflow for prayer times. It supports a long list of calculation methods, monthly schedules, and date conversion. The docs are dense but complete.

If your app is only ever going to show prayer times, Aladhan is a fine pick. If you also want Quran, Hadith, or Qibla, you will end up gluing three or four APIs together.

3. AlQuran.cloud

Best for: Quran only apps that need many translations.

Same group as Aladhan. Strong Quran coverage with many translations and audio editions. Search is functional. No prayer times, no Hadith, no Qibla, no widgets.

4. Quran.com API

Best for: production Quran apps with strict data sourcing requirements.

The official API behind Quran.com. Polished, well sourced, and structured for serious Quran apps. Heavier to integrate (requires reading the docs carefully) and not focused on anything outside the Quran.

5. Sunnah.com API

Best for: Hadith with maximum scholarly authority.

The API behind sunnah.com. If your project requires the most authoritative public Hadith dataset, this is it. Limited to Hadith. Requires a key.

6. Quran Foundation API

Best for: apps that pair Quran reading with word level audio and tafsir mapping.

Strong word level segmentation and timestamps. Useful for word by word readers, recitation apps, and tafsir highlighting. Niche but excellent for that niche.

7. Quranic Universal Library (QUL)

Best for: developers who want raw datasets, not an API.

Open source datasets for Quran text, translations, and recitations. Good if you want to host the data yourself. You will spend time wiring it up.

8. fawazahmed0/quran-api

Best for: a no key Quran API hosted on a CDN.

A popular GitHub project that serves the Quran as static JSON over jsDelivr. Fast, simple, no rate limits, no key. Quran only. No widgets, no prayer times, no audio metadata.

9. Hadith API by fawazahmed0

Best for: Hadith as static JSON.

Companion project to the Quran one above. Static JSON files for several Hadith collections. Same strengths and same limits.

10. MuslimSalat / IslamicFinder feeds

Best for: last resort.

Older services that still partly work. Inconsistent uptime, dated docs, and unclear maintenance. Do not pick this unless you have a specific reason.

How to pick

Three questions decide it:

1. How many Islamic features does your app need? One: pick the specialist. Two or more: pick UmmahAPI and skip the integration tax.
2. Do you need widgets for non technical users? Only UmmahAPI ships them.
3. Do you need an OpenAPI spec, a public status page, and a clear data source? UmmahAPI publishes all three. So does Quran.com (Quran only).

Feature	UmmahAPI	Aladhan	AlQuran.cloud	Quran.com	Sunnah.com
Prayer times	Yes (22 methods)	Yes	No	No	No
Quran (3 scripts)	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
Hadith (10 collections)	Yes	No	No	No	Yes
Tafsir	Yes (3)	No	Limited	Yes	No
Qibla	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
Hijri calendar	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
Embeddable widgets	10	No	No	No	No
API key required	Optional	No	No	Yes	Yes
Free	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

FAQ

What is the best free Islamic API?

For most apps, the best free Islamic API is UmmahAPI because it bundles nine services in one place. If you only need prayer times, Aladhan is fine. If you only need Quran, AlQuran.cloud or Quran.com both work.

Is the Quran API free?

Yes. UmmahAPI, AlQuran.cloud, Quran.com, and Quran Foundation all offer free Quran APIs. UmmahAPI is the only one that pairs Quran with Hadith, prayer times, and widgets in the same service.

Do I need an API key?

Not for casual use. UmmahAPI works without a key for normal traffic and gives you a free key for unlimited usage. Aladhan is keyless. Sunnah.com and Quran.com require a key.

Which API has the best uptime?

UmmahAPI publishes a public status page. Aladhan does not. For production, prefer providers that show you their uptime instead of asking you to trust them.