Trust Charter · Rafiq

Rafiq sits at an intersection most products never see — the place where a person's financial life meets the faith they're trying to live. We don't take that lightly. This Trust Charter is how we hold ourselves accountable to you, in plain language, without the legal armor. Read it as a contract. If we break it, tell us, and hold us to fixing it.

The five pillars

01 — Faith

Your madhab is respected, always

Every calculation follows the school you choose. Switching madhab is never a conversion — it's a setting. We apply the right rules, show our work, and never favor one school over another.

02 — Transparency

Every number shows its work

No black boxes. Every zakat figure, khums split, and halal screen comes with the rulings applied, the thresholds used, and citations you can follow to the source.

03 — Honesty

When we're unsure, we say so

If a scenario involves scholarly disagreement or lives in genuine gray, Rafiq flags it and points you to a scholar. We would rather leave a question open than fake certainty.

04 — Privacy

Your financial life is yours

We don't sell your data. We don't share it with advertisers. We don't build behavioral profiles. What Rafiq knows about you is used to serve you — and only that.

05 — Distance

We never touch your money

Rafiq is a calculator and a companion, not a custodian. Donations move through verified charity partners. Your accounts stay at your banks. We're the layer on top — not the layer in between.

06 — Mercy

The tone is quiet, the standards are high

Money and faith are both easy places to feel judged. Rafiq tries to feel like a friend who has already done the reading — helpful, patient, never condescending, never loud.

How rulings are made

Every rule in Rafiq's engine traces back to a named scholarly source. We don't invent fiqh. We don't average across schools. We don't publish "Rafiq's interpretation" of anything.

The board

Our standing scholar board includes representatives from all five madhabs we support — Hanafi, Shafi'i, Maliki, Hanbali, and Ja'fari. Board composition, credentials, and institutional affiliations are published openly and updated when membership changes.

The process

Source selection. New rules begin with classical texts and recognized contemporary scholarship within each school. Modern asset classes (RSUs, ESPP, crypto) require cross-referencing contemporary fatwa.
Draft and review. Draft rulings are reviewed by board members within the relevant madhab before they enter the engine.
Versioning. Every rule carries a version and a date. When an interpretation updates, your app shows you exactly what changed and why.
Disagreement. Where scholars within a school disagree, Rafiq surfaces the options rather than hiding the tension.

How we handle your data

You can read the full Privacy Policy for exact terms. The short version:

We encrypt your financial data in transit (TLS 1.3) and at rest (AES-256).
Account access follows least-privilege. Engineers do not routinely see user records.
We don't sell, rent, license, or share your data with advertisers — under any circumstances.
You can export or delete everything we hold about you, at any time, from the app.
If there is ever a material security event, we will tell you within 72 hours — not when our lawyers finish drafting.

How we handle your money

Rafiq is not a custodian. We don't hold your assets, your zakat, your khums, or your donations. When you pay zakat through Rafiq, funds route directly to a verified charity partner. Rafiq sees the transaction happened; it does not touch the money.

Charity partners are independently vetted for operational legitimacy, financial transparency, and faith-aligned program delivery. The list is public, the vetting criteria are public, and partners can be removed if they fail ongoing review.

When we get it wrong

We will get things wrong. A ruling will need correction. A calculation will miss an edge case. A number will be off. When that happens, this is what we promise:

We will tell affected users directly — in-app, in clear language, without trying to hide it.
We will document the error, the fix, and the date in a public changelog.
If your zakat figure was materially off, we will recalculate and show you the correct amount alongside what you paid, so you can make it right with your scholar or charity as needed.
We will not use legal language to avoid ownership. We will say "we were wrong" when we were.

If any of this ever feels broken, email zaeem@rafiq.money. The founder reads these personally.

The Trust Charter