In the context of Islam, “daie” refers to a person who engages in Da’wah – the act of inviting people to Islam.
BeDaie offers more than just Islamic reading materials or virtual classes. It carries a greater mission: to spread knowledge and the light of Islam across the world – despite having started from a small office in Kota Bharu, Kelantan.
Behind this effort is Muhammad Amar Mirza Ab Kadir Jailani, who believes religious knowledge should not be confined by geographical borders.
“We started selling Islamic books in the United States in March last year. Although the Muslim community there is only around four to five million, their thirst for knowledge is remarkable. They are truly hungry for spiritual enrichment,” the 31-year-old told Bernama recently.
To meet this need, Amar and his team translated 20 Malay-language books into English and made a bold move into New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
“Alhamdulillah, the response has been very encouraging. BeDaie books have now been distributed to 50 bookstores as a starting point, and we aim to reach more locations soon,” he said.
But BeDaie is more than a book distributor – it offers online learning classes taught by experienced Malaysian scholars. Over a two- to three-month period, participants are guided through the books they have purchased, learning directly with live instruction.
A graduate of Madrasah Ribat Fatah in Hadramaut, Yemen, Amar acknowledges the journey has not been easy. With a current workforce of 148 people, the biggest challenges in a vast country like the US are operational and logistical costs.
To ease the burden, BeDaie has partnered with Malaysian-owned companies to handle book distribution, and has also received support from SME Corp.
Today, the BeDaie platform is no longer a stranger to the global stage: after successfully reaching 10 countries, it now aims to expand to 25 by this year. Future plans also include translating books into Urdu, Bengali and Turkish.
“Online Islamic education is key. We focus on classical texts and essential knowledge (fardu ain), so that every Muslim, wherever they are, can access it,” Amar said.
Last year alone, BeDaie’s lessons recorded over 1.5 million views from 10 countries, with 80,000 active students. This year, the team behind the platform is targeting 350,000 new students.
Learn more about BeDaie here.