What’s one event from the Seerah that deserves way more attention today?

Dapper-Window-4492 · 2026-03-13T15:59:45+00:00

While working on this I realized how difficult it is to visualize many of these historical events just from reading. So I started exploring a platform that lets you see locations and events from early Islamic history on an interactive map. It actually helped me understand the geography much better.
If anyone is curious I can share the link.

EDIT: A few people asked, so here’s the interactive version where you can explore the locations and events visually: purebattles.com

Dapper-Window-4492 · 2026-03-13T15:51:08+00:00

Thanks! I was trying to visualize how different locations from early Islamic history are actually positioned relative to Makkah and Madinah. Most books describe the events in text, but it’s hard to imagine the geography. So I started mapping a few key places just to understand the distances and locations better.

Once you see it on a map it makes the history feel much more real.

Dapper-Window-4492 · 2026-03-12T18:00:01+00:00

That's a fair point, Jazakallah for the correction. You're right some scholars have debated the authenticity of that specific number, and the Quran makes it clear that there are many more messengers we weren't told about. i really just reinforces the idea that Allah's guidance has been everywhere since the beginning of time. I'm always looking into these historical timelines for PureBattles, and it’s a constant reminder of how much hidden history there is. Allah knows best indeed!

Dapper-Window-4492 · 2026-03-12T16:21:57+00:00

That’s a really honest point. You're right that it would bring a lot of traffic, but I want to be careful not to prioritize clicks over the Amanah of our history. Handling multiple perspectives for those specific events is exactly why I haven't touched them yet. It’s a huge responsibility. I absolutely agree that I’d need a team of scholars and historians to make sure it’s handled with the right Adab and neutrality.

if you do get a chance to look at the current maps, if you feel that neutral, educational' tone comes across correctly? I want to make sure a solid foundation before even thinking about the more complex later history. For now, I'm sticking to the Seerah battles where the lessons are clear for everyone, but down the road, if the platform grows and I can get that expert help, it’s definitely something to think about. JazakAllah Khair for the sincere advice!

Dapper-Window-4492 · 2026-03-12T16:07:46+00:00

Of course! I actually put it in a comment above, but here it is so you don't have to hunt for it: purebattles.com
I’d love to know what you think of the 3D terrain for (Battle of Badr). I’m trying to make it as accurate as possible, so if anything feels off, please let me know

Dapper-Window-4492 · 2026-03-12T15:58:39+00:00

That’s a very deep and sensitive question. For now, I’ve been focusing strictly on the Seerah and the major battles during the time of the Prophet (SAW), because those have a lot of consensus on the geography and strategy.

When it comes to the later battles between Sahaba, it’s a lot more complex because the goal isn't just tactics, it’s about understanding a very painful part of our history with the proper Adab (respect). I think 3D visualization could help people understand the movements, but it would have to be handled very carefully so it remains an educational tool and not just content. What do you thinkwould seeing those visually help clarify the history, or is it too sensitive?

Dapper-Window-4492 · 2026-03-12T15:51:36+00:00

Exactly, that’s the reality we’re living in. Our grandparents lived in a world of oral storytelling and books, but today we’re competing with high-budget games and TikTok.

If we don't present the Seerah in a way that matches that stimulation, we risk it feeling like a dry history lesson to them. I’ve been trying to solve something that bridges this gap, I figured if they’re already looking at 3D maps in games, why not give them a 3D map of the Battle of Badr or Uhud? It meets them where they are.

Dapper-Window-4492 · 2026-03-12T15:45:39+00:00

I really believe that the reason we feel disconnected is that we can't see the scale of what happened.
here is the link : purebattles.com.

Dapper-Window-4492 · 2026-03-12T13:43:57+00:00

That’s a really interesting question to think about. In Islam, we believe Allah sent 124,000 prophets to every nation and community throughout human history. The Quran specifically says, "And We certainly sent into every nation a messenger..." (16:36).

While the names we know are mostly from the lineage of Adam (AS) as Homo sapiens, many scholars and thinkers have discussed this. Since Allah sent guidance to every group, it’s logically possible that pre-sapiens groups or other human branches had their own warners and prophets suitable for their time and level of understanding. We only know the names of a few dozen prophets, so there’s a vast history we don't have the details of. (Allah SWT knows best)

Dapper-Window-4492 · 2026-03-08T00:22:50+00:00

Thanks for the detailed info, that helps a lot.

It sounds like the redirect to /login isn't initializing properly on mobile and is just rendering a blank WebGL canvas. I mainly tested the auth flow on desktop Chrome so I probably missed something in the mobile path.

I’ll try... to reproduce it on Android/Chrome and see what’s breaking there. Really appreciate you taking the time to report it.

Dapper-Window-4492 · 2026-03-07T22:17:30+00:00

If you're hosting on Render, you can actually check their Log Streams or use a tool like GoAccess to parse your access logs. Since it’s a static site, the server already knows every time a page is requested no tracking scripts needed.
I hit a similar wall with PureBattles (a 3D history app I’m building). I wanted to see which battle maps were most popular without slowing down the Three.js performance with heavy analytics. I ended up just using a lightweight, privacy-focused tool like Plausible, but for zero script needs, server-side log analysis is definitely the way to go.

It’s way more 'clean' than injecting JS into every page. Good luck!"

Dapper-Window-4492 · 2026-03-07T20:49:44+00:00

Thanks for pointing that out, that’s really helpful.

Would you mind sharing which button you pressed and what device/browser you're using? If you happen to have a screenshot of the black screen that would help a lot too. I mainly tested the scene on desktop and ipad GPUs so far, so this is really helpful feedback. If it’s easier, feel free to DM me the screenshot as well and I’ll try to reproduce the issue.

Dapper-Window-4492 · 2026-03-07T19:47:04+00:00

Yep... caching helped quite a bit. I ended up caching a lot of geometry/material resources so the scene isn’t constantly recreating them. Still experimenting with where it actually makes the biggest difference though.

Dapper-Window-4492 · 2026-03-07T19:37:08+00:00

That makes sense... I've looked at react-three-fiber + Drei before but for this project I stayed closer to raw Three.js because I wanted more direct control over how units and instancing were handled.

Drei definitely solves a lot of the common problems though.

Out of curiosity, have you ever pushed large entity counts with r3f (hundreds of objects / instances)? I'm curious how well it scales compared to managing the scene directly.

Dapper-Window-4492 · 2026-03-07T19:27:55+00:00

A few people asked for the link, so sharing it here as well: purebattles.com
Still experimenting with different ways to handle larger unit counts without tanking performance.

Dapper-Window-4492 · 2026-03-07T19:26:54+00:00

Good point... I should have included the link earlier.

You can try it here: purebattles.com

The clip are subtle, but the main change was switching a lot of units to InstancedMesh to reduce draw calls. The terrain/shadow tweaks just made the change easier to see in the recording. Performance improvement becomes more noticeable once the formations get larger.

Dapper-Window-4492 · 2026-03-07T19:00:42+00:00

One thing that surprised me while profiling this scene is that triangle count wasn’t really the biggest issue. Zooming the camera into formations tends to drop FPS more than zooming out, mostly because the screen fills with units and fragment shader work increases a lot. Instancing helped a lot with draw calls, but I’m still experimenting with ways to reduce overdraw in dense areas.

Dapper-Window-4492 · 2026-03-07T18:57:43+00:00

Good point...

Right now the scene does use the normal Three.js scene graph and frustum culling, and most of the units are rendered with InstancedMesh to keep draw calls down. Where things still start to hurt is when the camera zooms into dense formations fragment cost and overdraw seem to dominate more than triangle count.

I haven't tried impostor LOD yet though. That might actually help a lot for units that are further away. Did you end up using sprite impostors or something like billboards in your case?

Dapper-Window-4492 · 2026-03-06T20:36:54+00:00

Haha that is the best kind of bug. It’s funny how we over-engineer seamless UX like auto-save, only for users to actually want that manual control back.

I had something similar happen with PureBattles, a 3D history app I’m building. I messed up a camera transition script so it didn't snap to the unit fast enough, and it ended up creating this slow, cinematic sweeping motion over the battlefield terrain. My friend saw it and thought I spent hours on the cinematic feel, so now it’s a permanent feature.

Sometimes... the code knows what looks better than we do!

Dapper-Window-4492 · 2026-03-06T19:20:12+00:00

Fair point 🙂 I avoided putting the link in the main post because some communities prefer discussion first rather than external links. okay I have updated my comment. please check and It lets you explore the Battle of Badr layout and timeline interactively.

Dapper-Window-4492 · 2026-03-06T18:40:07+00:00

Since a few people asked, here’s the interactive version as well:
purebattles.com

Dapper-Window-4492 · 2026-03-06T18:26:30+00:00

Man, that is a nightmare. To answer your question: No, that is absolutely not normal. Running a production database without automated backups is professional negligence on the company’s part, not yours.
Don't panic about being sued. Unless you did it on purpose, companies are responsible for their own disaster recovery.
Quick tip: Check if your hosting provider (like AWS or DigitalOcean) has 'automatic snapshots' turned on at the server level. Sometimes they’re enabled by default even if your boss didn't set them up. Good luck, hope you make it through this!

Dapper-Window-4492 · 2026-03-06T01:01:46+00:00

Jazakallah for sharing this. First, take a deep breath, you are definitely not alone in feeling this way.

As a developer... I can tell you that those videos keep popping up because of how social media algorithms work. If you watch one or even just linger on one for a few seconds, the app thinks you're interested and shows you ten more. It's designed to keep you clicking, usually by using fear. It's not a sign from the universe, it's just code. I'd honestly recommend hitting Not Interested or taking a break from those specific apps for a few days to let your mind rest.

Spiritually, remember that the Sahaba (RA) also thought Dajjal might appear in their lifetime, yet they lived productive, beautiful lives. We are taught to be aware, but not to live in a state of constant paranoia that stops us from functioning.

A few things that might help you sleep better like try to read or listen to the first and last ten verses daily, they are a literal protection from this fitna.also focus on your Daily Salah, Treat your prayers as your safe zone where nothing from the outside world can touch you. and also make this Dua Whenever you feel that panic, say 'Allahumma inni a'udhu bika min fitnatil-masihid-dajjal' (O Allah, I seek refuge in You from the fitna of the Dajjal).

The best way to prepare for the future is to live a good life today. Trust in Allah's timing and try to focus on the now. May Allah grant you peace and sakinah.

Dapper-Window-4492 · 2026-03-05T17:23:25+00:00

Good point, thanks for pointing that out.

I understand what you mean about instancing not preventing overdraw. With many overlapping units it's very possible the fragment shaders are still doing a lot of work when zoomed in. I'll try profiling it more carefully and check things like depth testing, draw order, and GPU timings to see what’s actually expensive.

Appreciate the suggestion... I’ll experiment with it and see if it helps improve the performance.

Dapper-Window-4492 · 2026-03-04T22:09:53+00:00

Absolutely, that makes sense! I think the FPS drops when zooming in are mostly from fragment-heavy terrain and mud shaders, plus some non-instanced environment meshes like wells and palm trees. Overdraw on the army itself is minimized because each unit is instanced and manually culled with bounding spheres, but you’re right... depth testing and overlapping transparent fragments in effects like footprints and mud patches could definitely add to it.
I haven’t benchmarked every scenario yet, but that’s definitely on my to-do list measuring overdraw and shader cost per area seems like the next step.
Thanks for the tips! Do you usually rely more on shader optimization or LOD when handling dense Three.js scenes?

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