For 17 years, Ummah Media Group has operated the halal-compliant Muslim ad network. The infrastructure that came with that, mail server, identity layer, content network, is the same infrastructure that now powers @ummah.email. This is the case for why every Muslim who can afford $5 a month should consider moving their primary inbox.
1.8 billion Muslims, zero infrastructure they own.
Email is the most basic digital identity layer there is. Every login, every receipt, every recovery, every reset. The handle @yourname@something outlasts every social platform and every phone number you have ever had.
For Western Muslims, that handle has almost always belonged to Google or Microsoft. Two companies subject to US surveillance law, US cooperation with foreign intelligence, and the broader post-9/11 surveillance state. Every email you send, scanned. Every contact, indexed. Every search, profiled.
None of this is conspiracy. Google's policies are public. Microsoft's are too. The Snowden documents settled the question. The CLOUD Act of 2018 made it law.
Why now.
Two things changed in the last year. First, the technical bar dropped. Muslim-owned mail infrastructure hit a maturity level where running production-grade Muslim-targeted email is a one-team project rather than a forty-person Fortune 500 IT department. We have been operating it for our internal team for a year. It works well.
Second, the political climate. The intersection of US surveillance authority, Big Tech compliance with that authority, and the specific targeting of Muslim communities in the current environment made the cost-benefit math change. Staying on Gmail is not neutral anymore. It is a choice with downstream effects.
What it costs.
$5 a month. 10% of every $5 routes to a vetted Muslim charity via UmmahCauses. Cancel anytime.
No riba. No surveillance. No haram ads. Servers in Helsinki, outside US jurisdiction. Built by Muslims, for the Ummah, since 2009.
What you would be doing.
The hijrah from Big Tech is not a single moment. It is a series of small migrations. Email is one of them. Profile (ummah.me/yourname) is another. Daily messaging (chat.ummah.city) is coming.
Each one chips away at the dependence. None of them are perfect. All of them are progress.
How to move from Gmail or Outlook.
The migration is staged, on your pace. We never force a cutover.
- Reserve your handle. Pick
yourname@ummah.emailand start the seat. Your old Gmail or Outlook keeps working. - Forward old mail in. Set Gmail or Outlook to forward to your new ummah.email handle. You see everything from one inbox while you transition.
- Update accounts gradually. Change the email on one service per week, starting with the ones you log into often. Banking, work, family.
- Update your signature. Outbound replies start naming the new handle so people learn to reach you there.
- When ready, retire the old inbox. Most people keep Gmail open in archive mode for a year. Some delete sooner. Both are valid.
The ask.
If you have been waiting for a Muslim-built, Muslim-owned email service that takes itself seriously, this is it. UMG is 17 years in. We are not going anywhere.
Try it for a month. Forward your existing mail in. See how it feels. Cancel anytime. Your handle stays reserved either way.