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The Makkah to Madinah journey is a monthly challenge inside Rizanah. Every outdoor cardio session that a member tracks with GPS, whether they walk, cycle, or run, adds distance to one shared total for the whole community. The route is 450 kilometers and the window is 30 days, and the question we are all answering together is simple: how long does it take all of us to walk from Makkah to Madinah? This is how it works, what counts, and why we built it this way.
What you see when you open the journey
Open Rizanah in September 2026 and the Makkah to Madinah journey is already moving. Three numbers sit at the top of the journey screen.
| Number | What it means |
|---|---|
| You | Your own kilometers this month |
| Your team | Your team's total against the 450 km route, if you have joined one |
| The Ummah | Everyone's kilometers pooled together, plus the number of teams that have already finished |
The Ummah number never stops, because the route is the story and the pooled total is how far the whole community has moved this month.
What counts as distance
Only outdoor cardio tracked with GPS counts toward the journey. Walk, jog, run, cycle, or roll outside with Rizanah tracking the session, and the distance it measures pools into the shared total. Indoor and machine sessions, and distances you type in yourself, still earn Seeds and still show up in your own history, but they do not add kilometers to the journey. We made that rule so that every kilometer on the board was measured, not estimated. Strength workouts earn you plenty elsewhere in Rizanah, but they do not add distance either.
This means the journey belongs to walkers as much as runners. A sister in our family walks 30 minutes a day, with Rizanah telling her when she is halfway so she knows when to turn around, and her walk moves the caravan just as honestly as a long run does.
Teams of up to five
You can take part on your own and your distance still counts toward the Ummah total. Most members join a team. You can create one and share its six-character code with friends or family, or you can ask Rizanah to match you with a team, and matched teams are always same-gender. A team holds up to five people. You join one team per journey, and once you join you stay with that team for the month.
Your team gets its own space for posts that only teammates see. The morning reminder to get out for a walk, the honest "I missed today," the quiet encouragement, all of it stays inside the team.
Landmarks and the history behind them
The route passes four points: Makkah at the start, the halfway mark, the Quba landmark near the end, and Madinah at 450 kilometers. As the shared total crosses each one, the map marks it, and you can tap the landmark to read a short story about that part of the historic Hijrah route.
We treat this as history, not worship. The journey follows the documented memory of the route from Makkah to Madinah and the community that was built at the end of it. It does not claim any religious merit, it is not a race between teams, and it is not a substitute for Hajj or Umrah. It is a way to give a month of ordinary cardio a story we share.
What you earn
- 15 Seeds when you join a team.
- 50 Seeds if you have distance on the board when the journey ends.
- 200 Seeds when your team completes the full route.
- A journey badge and a passport stamp on your profile when your team completes the route and you contributed distance during the month.
- A completion card you can share with people outside the app.
Seeds are Rizanah's reward currency. They convert into Gems, and Gems can plant a tree, provide a meal, fund clean water, or unlock Premium. The whole system is explained in can getting healthier also become an act of giving.
A new journey every month
Makkah to Madinah runs until September 30, 2026. On October 1 the route changes to Samarkand to Bukhara, 270 kilometers through the heart of Central Asian scholarship, with its own landmarks and stories. A new route opens every month after that, and team formation opens two weeks before each one starts.
Why we built it this way
Cardio on your own is easy to skip, because nobody notices when you do not go. A shared total changes that without any pressure. Your kilometers are visible to your team, your team's kilometers are visible to everyone, and the route only moves when people move. A leaderboard crowns one winner. A pooled journey gives the same credit to the person who added two kilometers on a tired Tuesday as to the person who ran ten on Saturday.
It also gives the whole community one thing to talk about every month. Where has the caravan reached? Which landmark is next? That shared question is what turns a list of individual cardio logs into a community.
How to join
Open Rizanah and go to the journey from Home. Create a team, enter a friend's code, or ask to be matched. Then go and do the outdoor cardio you were going to do anyway, with tracking on. A walk after dinner counts. So does cycling to the shops. If you want a system for the weeks when motivation runs low, our guide on workout motivation for Muslims will help.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to join a team to take part?
No. Every outdoor cardio session you track with GPS adds to the Ummah total whether or not you are in a team. A team gives you a private space and the team badge.
Does walking count toward the journey?
Yes, when you walk outdoors with Rizanah tracking the session. Walking, jogging, running, cycling, wheelchair, and handcycle sessions tracked with GPS all add distance.
Do I need GPS?
For the journey, yes. Only distance measured by GPS during an outdoor session pools into the shared total. Indoor and machine sessions still earn Seeds and appear in your history, but they do not add journey kilometers.
Can I switch teams during the month?
No. You join one team per journey and stay with it, and the distance you have already contributed stays with that team.
Is this a religious act or a race?
Neither. The journey follows the historic Hijrah route as a shared story. It claims no religious merit, it is not a substitute for Hajj or Umrah, and it does not rank teams as winners and losers.
What happens when the month ends?
The journey closes, participants and completed teams receive their Seeds and badges, and the next route opens. Team formation for the next journey opens two weeks before it starts.
The main idea
Rizanah turns individual cardio into a shared Ummah journey by pooling every member's GPS-tracked outdoor distance against one 450-kilometer route each month, with teams of up to five, landmarks with real history, and rewards for finishing together. Your walk moves the caravan, and so does everyone else's.