Research
The thinking behind the Code.
Nine centuries of Islamic scholarship on the Names of Allah, a study of 3,491 Muslims across 101 countries, and an instrument built in the open. Here is how it works, what is ours, and what we do not yet know.
White paper, version 1.0 · October 2026 · Published by Khalyfa and the Muslim Purpose Institute
Why we published it
Most assessments ask you to trust them. We would rather show you the working.
The white paper sets out the theology the Code rests on, the method behind every letter, and the line between what comes from the tradition and what we built. It also says plainly what has not yet been proven.
What’s inside
The foundation.
Al-Ghazali’s teaching that the servant can take on the character of the Divine Names, to the degree human nature allows.
The lineage.
Five scholars across nine centuries who said the same thing in different words, and never built a tool.
What is tradition and what is ours.
About 80% classical, 20% construction, with the line drawn openly.
The method.
How 99 Names became fifteen clusters and four domains, and how 63 questions become three letters.
The limits.
The Names deliberately left out, and four things the Code will never tell you.
The research agenda.
What we will test, how, and when we will publish it.
The research base
3,491 Muslims · 101 countries · The State of Muslim Purpose, 2025
- know or understand their purpose
- 66%know or understand their purpose
- are taking action towards it
- 34%are taking action towards it
- are living by their purpose and potential
- 17%are living by their purpose and potential
A 49-point gap between knowing and living. The Khalyfa Code was built for the people inside it.
Our commitments
We draw the line.
The theology is nine hundred years old and is not ours. The clusters, the questions and the code are, and should be judged as a modern instrument.
We say what is unproven.
The Code is balanced by design but not yet statistically validated. Validation is earned with evidence, and that evidence is being gathered now.
We publish either way.
Findings will be published whether or not they flatter the instrument. Where the data shows a weakness, the Code changes, as it already has once.
Coaches, imams, teachers and therapists who want to use the Code with the people they serve can join the practitioner waitlist. How we look after everyone’s answers, and what research use means, is set out in our privacy policy.
What we will test, and when
| At | We will publish |
|---|---|
| 500 sessions | Whether codes are spread fairly across the fifteen clusters, and whether people recognise themselves in their result |
| 1,000 sessions | Whether a code holds on retake, whether each cluster’s questions hang together, and whether fit between code and work matters |
| 5,000 sessions and beyond | What the Ummah’s spread of codes looks like, by country, age and generation |
Version 2.0 of the white paper will carry the first results.
How to cite this paper
Amjad, F. (2026). The Khalyfa Code: Theological Foundation, Method and Research Agenda. White paper, version 1.0. Khalyfa and the Muslim Purpose Institute. khalyfacode.com/research
Version history
| Version 1.0, October 2026. | Theological foundation, method, limits and research agenda. |
|---|---|
| Version 2.0, planned. | First results, at 1,000 sessions. |
The idea behind the Code
The moon
If you look up on a clear night, the moon seems to glow. It doesn’t. The moon makes no light at all. Everything it gives off belongs to the sun.
Allah draws the distinction Himself: "It is He who made the sun a shining light and the moon a derived light" (Qur’an 10:5).
Half of the moon is lit at every moment. The phases were only ever the angle we see it from. A full moon is the same moon as ever. It is simply the night its lit face turns fully towards us.
That’s what the Khalyfa Code describes. Not light you own. The Names whose light falls most fully on you, and the angle you were made to receive it from.
For years the work feels dim. Then the face turns. Things make sense. Other people start to notice.
That’s the moment of danger. The moon has never once mistaken itself for the sun. People do it all the time. Usually right after things start going well. That’s why every gift in your report comes with its shadow, and every shadow with a Name.
The brighter it gets, the less of it is yours.
“Look at yourself as a light that reflects the light of our Prophet ﷺ, just as he reflected the light of Allah. It’s a continuum of light. Our Prophet ﷺ, as he was described, is the full moon, shining to the greatest extent humanly possible the light of Allah. And when the full moon is out, you can see everything clearly. And we are the stars that are reflecting the light of that full moon.”