Hayaa Community Guidelines

Welcome

Hayaa is a recovery community for Muslims working through compulsive pornography and masturbation habits. The people here are vulnerable. Many are wrestling with shame, isolation, and faith struggles they have never told anyone about.

These Community Guidelines exist so this space remains safe, useful, and dignified for everyone. They apply to all community posts, replies, reactions, accountability-partner messages, and any other interaction between users in the App.

By participating in the community, you agree to these guidelines. Violating them may result in content removal or suspension of your account.

Be respectful

Treat every person here as you would treat a brother or sister at the masjid. Disagree without insulting. Correct without humiliating. Many users will not have shared their struggle with anyone else in their life. A careless reply can do real damage.

Assume good faith. People asking awkward questions are usually trying to learn, not to provoke.

No graphic content

Do not describe pornography, masturbation acts, sexual abuse, or self-harm in graphic detail anywhere in the App, including community posts, replies, partner messages, or AI conversations you screenshot and share. This protects users who are actively recovering and could be triggered by explicit material.

Talking honestly about the struggle is always welcome, including saying that you watched porn or relapsed. Keep it in general terms ("I had a hard week", "the urges were strong on Friday night") rather than in scene-by-scene detail, and do not name adult sites or apps.

Do not glorify, encourage, or solicit relapse in others. Posts that brag about acting out, normalise it, or invite others to do so will be removed.

No proselytising or sectarian conflict

Hayaa welcomes Muslims of every madhab, school, and background. Sunni, Shia, and users who prefer not to identify all share this space.

Do not denigrate other Islamic sects, schools of thought, or scholars. Do not attempt to convert other users to your madhab. Do not start debates about which sect is "correct".

Asking questions about your own practice is fine. Telling other users their practice is wrong is not. Keep it about the struggle, not theology.

Brothers and sisters each have their own community space. Men see only posts from men, and women see only posts from women.

No harassment

No personal attacks, slurs, threats, or intimidation directed at other users, partners, moderators, or any group of people.

No racism, sexism, anti-LGBTQ+ slurs, anti-Muslim slurs, or harassment based on national origin, sect, or any other identity.

Do not contact other users outside the App without their explicit consent. Do not pressure users to share personal information, photos, or contact details. Sexual requests of any kind are not allowed.

If another user makes you uncomfortable, use the in-app report button or email support@hayaa.io. We take reports seriously.

No advertising or self-promotion

Do not advertise products, services, books, courses, donation campaigns, or anything else commercial, even Islamic ones. Do not post referral links or promo codes.

Do not recruit users for off-platform groups, classes, retreats, or therapy services.

Links, phone numbers, email addresses, and social media handles cannot be posted in the community. To point someone to a free Islamic resource, name it instead, for example the Sahih International translation on Quran.com. Using a question as a vehicle to promote yourself or your project is not allowed.

Partner chat is private between the two of you, so links and contact details are not blocked there. Never share them unless both of you want to.

Posting limits

To keep the feed calm, you can share one post a day, starting the day after you join. Posts can be up to 500 characters and replies up to 200.

How we moderate

An automatic filter checks every post, reply, and partner message before it is sent. It blocks slurs, sectarian attacks, sexual requests, adult site names, and illegal sexual content such as anything involving minors. In the community it also blocks graphic sexual detail, links, and contact details. In partner chat, graphic detail is sent but flagged for a moderator. If your words are blocked, you are told why so you can edit them.

Words about the struggle itself, such as porn, relapse, or masturbation, are never blocked.

A post reported by three different people whose accounts are at least a day old is hidden until a moderator reviews it. Every report reaches us whatever the age of the account. A person at Hayaa reviews every report and makes every suspension decision.

What happens when guidelines are violated

Our response scales with severity and history.

• Content removal. We remove posts, replies, or messages that break these guidelines. If we remove your post, you will see a notice in the Community tab.
• Account suspension. For serious or repeated violations we suspend your whole account, which signs you out of the App. Your store subscription is not cancelled automatically, so cancel it in your App Store or Google Play settings.

Some violations lead to suspension straight away. Threats, sexual content involving minors, doxxing, and coordinated harassment are suspended at once and, where required, reported to law enforcement.

Appeals. If you believe a decision was made in error, email support@hayaa.io with the subject line "Appeal" and a description of what was removed and why you believe it should be restored. We review appeals within a reasonable time.

How to report something

To report a post or reply, open its menu and tap Report. To report a partner, open your chat and tap Report. Reporting a partner ends the partnership and stops you being matched again. The person you report is not told who reported them.

You can also block someone from any post menu. You will no longer see each other's posts. Manage blocked people in Settings → Privacy and data → Blocked users.

For issues that cannot be reported in-app (including reports about specific moderators or appeals), email support@hayaa.io.

In an emergency where someone may be in immediate danger to themselves or others, contact local emergency services first. The App is not designed for crisis response.

Changes to these guidelines

We may update these guidelines as the community grows. When we make material changes, we will tell you in the App and ask you to agree, and update the effective date above.