FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Everything you wanted to know about haiati
Answers about haiati, costs, the pillars, safety, account and privacy, languages and geo, and mobile.
About Haiati
- What is Haiati?
- Haiati (حياتي, "my life") is a marketplace and community platform built for the Arabic-speaking diaspora across Europe. We bring five things together in one place: a directory of Arabic-speaking professionals (doctors, lawyers, driving schools, accountants, etc.), open jobs, classified listings, community events, and a Q&A board.
- Who is Haiati for?
- For everyone who lives in Europe and feels more comfortable getting things done in Arabic — first-generation arrivals, second-generation diaspora, students, professionals, families. Also for the Arabic-speaking businesses, doctors, hosts and sellers who serve this community.
- Who runs Haiati?
- Haiati is operated by Mahmoud El-Gamal, a private individual in Wien (Donau-City-Straße 3, Büro 11, 1220 Wien).
- Where is Haiati available?
- Across Europe. The country switcher lists every country Haiati covers.
- What languages does Haiati support?
- Three languages with full UI parity: Arabic (RTL), English, and German. Search works cross-script: typing "halal" in English finds Arabic-language listings of حلال, and vice versa. Providers tag the languages they speak so you can filter for Arabic-fluent doctors or German-fluent lawyers.
Cost and ads
- Is Haiati free?
- Yes, for users. Browsing, searching, posting, RSVPing to events and asking questions are free. Listing your business is free too.
- How does Haiati make money?
- Haiati currently charges nothing. We show no ads and do not charge professionals to be listed.
- Are there ads on Haiati?
- No. We run no ad network and no retargeting pixel.
Pillars + Features
- How does the Services pillar work?
- Browse a directory of Arabic-speaking professionals — doctors, lawyers, dentists, driving schools, accountants, real estate agents, beauticians, and more. Filter by city, country, language, specialty. Each profile shows languages spoken, opening hours, and contact methods (phone, WhatsApp, website).
- How does the Jobs pillar work?
- Open positions posted by employers and businesses across Europe. Filter by job type (full-time/part-time/contract/freelance), category, salary range, remote/onsite, country, city. Saved searches email you when matching jobs land.
- How does the Marketplace work?
- Classified listings — apartments, cars, household items, second-hand goods. Posted by community members, browsed by community members. Free to post, free to browse. Price-drop alerts on saved searches.
- How does the Community Q&A work?
- Ask anything about life as an Arabic speaker in Europe — legal, medical, cultural, practical, school, taxes, housing. Anyone can answer. Karma points reward useful answers. AI-assisted responses fill in when no one's replied yet, but human answers are always tagged differently and can be marked "accepted" by the asker.
- How do Events work?
- Iftars, weddings, sports leagues, cultural nights, religious gatherings, family meet-ups, business meetups. Hosts post for free; attendees RSVP for free. Capacity limits + waitlist supported. Calendar invite (.ics) attached to confirmation email. Hosts check guests in from the attendee list.
Safety
- Does Haiati check businesses?
- No. Profiles, listings and jobs are created by providers and members themselves. Haiati does not check licences, qualifications or identities. Before you book, pay or hand over documents, find out for yourself, for example through the official register, the website or reviews.
- How do you handle scammers?
- Profiles, listings, jobs, events, questions, answers, comments and messages have a "Report" link. Reports go to our moderation queue. Posts that violate our policies are removed, and repeat offenders are banned.
- Can professionals fake reviews?
- Reviews can only be written from a signed-in account, one per account and profile.
Account + Privacy
- Do I need an account?
- For browsing, no. You can read every Q&A, every event, every provider profile, every listing without signing up. You need an account to: post a listing, RSVP to an event, ask a question, leave a review, save searches, message a provider, or list your own business.
- What data does Haiati collect?
- Email and name (signup), profile data you choose to add, content you post (questions, listings, events) and technical logs for operation and abuse prevention. No location tracking unless you use Near Me. No third-party trackers. The full list is in our privacy policy.
- Is my data shared with anyone?
- No selling. No sharing for advertising. We share data only with the processors listed in our privacy policy, and only what they need to provide their service.
- Can I delete my account?
- Yes — anytime. Open your account and choose "Delete account"; without access, request a deletion link by e-mail on the deletion page. Deletion is final. It removes your name, e-mail address, sign-ins and settings, and your business profile, listings, jobs, applications, reviews, comments, votes and saved searches. Your upcoming events are cancelled and the people who signed up get a message. The text of your messages and your files are deleted; the conversation stays for the other person without your name. Questions with answers from others and your answers stay without your name. Some log entries and withdrawn consents are kept for a limited time as proof, and backups for a short period; the privacy policy gives the periods. Questions: [email protected].
- Where is my data stored?
- The server and the database run in Germany (Hetzner). Files and backups are kept in the EU. Some processors, for example Cloudflare and Google, may process data in the United States; our privacy policy lists every recipient and transfer.
Languages + Geo
- Does search work in Arabic?
- Yes. Native Arabic typing, RTL UI, hamza/alef variant tolerance (طبيب أسنان matches اسنان variants), and a synonym graph so "حلال" finds "halal"-tagged content too. Full search across Arabic / English / German in one query.
- Can I see results across all of Europe?
- Yes — switch the geo-scope chip from your country to "Europe-wide". Useful when looking for specialist services that don't exist in your immediate area (e.g. Arabic-speaking child psychologist, halal mortgage advisor, Arabic notary). Empty results in your country also auto-suggest "X matches in Europe →".
- How do you handle city names?
- Every European city we serve has three names stored: Arabic, English (international), German. Search and filters work in all three: Wien / Vienna / فيينا are the same row. Districts (the Vienna Bezirke, Berlin Ortsteile, Paris arrondissements) are not separate cities — your search snaps to the parent city.
Mobile + Apps
- Is there a mobile app?
- Native iOS and Android apps are coming. The web app is responsive and can be installed as a Progressive Web App (Add to Home Screen on iOS Safari or "Install Haiati" on Android Chrome); push notifications can be turned on.
- How does Near-Me work?
- Tap "Near Me" on a list. Your device asks for permission to share its location. Your coordinates are sent once to find the nearest city and are not stored; results are then filtered by distance from that city, and you can change the radius.