The Thinking Muslim

We are back after a short pause. Britain for the past 21 years has been overtaken by what can only be described as a national hysteria. The recent jaw-dropping investigation by the New York Times Serial podcast into the so-called Trojan Horse affair in Birmingham, revealed how this hysteria translated into a deep-seated national display of Islamophobia.Fahad Ansari is a lawyer and public activist, who in his professional career has defended many Muslims who have fallen foul of Britain’s nationality laws, including very high-profile cases of citizenship deprivation.Dr Rob Faure Walker is an academic and author specialising in critiquing Britain’s anti-terror educational policy, also known as Prevent. His book can be found here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-emergence-of-extremism/dr-rob-faure-walker/9781350199507 Thanks to the team: Riaz Hasan, Musab Muhammad, Reem Walid, Adeel Alam, Yusra Zainuddin, Ahmed Serag, Ahaz Atif and Umar Abdul Salam.You can donate to the show here: https://www.thinkingmuslim.com/contributeFollow us on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/jalalayn and https://twitter.com/thinking_muslimWebsite: thinkingmuslim.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This past week marks twenty years since the opening of the infamous detention centre, Guantanamo Bay. It remains a symbol of the hollowness of the very values that underpin the liberal world order. Camp X ray was to house dangerous ‘jihadists’, a nebulous general term that is used to describe those foreign fighters that would for no 'explicable' reason travel to distant parts of the world to fight other peoples wars. Within time, the term came to explain a universal ideology, from Bosnia to Afghanistan, Palestine to Kashmir – those that crossed national boundaries to fight for an oppressed ummah were lumped into a singular narrative, stripped of acceptable political motives and removed of their humanity.Dr Daryl Li is a practicing lawyer and anthropologist who has written a brilliant work on global jihad mobilisation in Bosnia. His book, titled The Universal Enemy: Jihad, Empire, and the Challenge of Solidarity, challenges the prevailing narrative – and attempts to ask more searching and important questions. Joining us is Professor Ovamir Anjum, who reflects on Dr Li’s work and the broader themes that come from it.Thanks to the team: Riaz Hasan, Musab Muhammad, Reem Walid, Adeel Alam, Yusra Zainuddin, Ahmed Serag, Ahaz Atif and Umar Abdul Salam.You can donate to the show here: https://www.thinkingmuslim.com/contributeFollow us on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/jalalayn and https://twitter.com/thinking_muslimWebsite: thinkingmuslim.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today we invite back Dr Shadee Elmasry, Imam and community leader who has worked tirelessly at the local level to develop strong communities premised upon an Islamic framework. We ask Dr Shadee to spell out the importance of communities in Islam and how the modern maladies that come from individualism can be remedied.Thanks to the team: Riaz Hasan, Musab Muhammad, Reem Walid, Adeel Alam, Yusra Zainuddin, Ahmed Serag, Ahaz Atif and Umar Abdul Salam.You can donate to the show here: https://www.thinkingmuslim.com/contributeFollow us on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/jalalayn and https://twitter.com/thinking_muslimWebsite: thinkingmuslim.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Sahel, a region spanning the countries of West Africa, has been rocked by instability for the past few years. There is what the West calls an Islamist insurgency that has provoked international intervention, from France (the former colonial power) but also the United States. The region is one of the richest in the world in terms of natural resources, including oil, gold and uranium. Yet it’s one of the poorest in the world, the proceeds of these extractive industries rarely reaches the people.This week, we talk to Dr Alex Thurston, a specialist in the region, and Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Cincinnati to explain why the Sahel is important. Alex has written extensively about the Sahel and is an authority, regularly contributing to reports and discussions.You can donate to the show here: https://www.thinkingmuslim.com/contributeFollow us on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/jalalayn and https://twitter.com/thinking_muslimWebsite: thinkingmuslim.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this second part of an extended interview with Ottoman historian, Dr Yakoob Ahmed from Istanbul University, we take a look at some of the challenges and controversies that are associated with the ulema during the latter period of the Ottoman Empire. We ask Dr Ahmed to explain why it is said that the ulema were an obstruction to the progress of the Caliphate and scrutinise the claims that the ulema outlawed the printing press and coffee.You can donate to the show here: https://www.thinkingmuslim.com/contributeFollow us on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/jalalayn and https://twitter.com/thinking_muslimWebsite: thinkingmuslim.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this two part show we talk Dr Yakoob Ahmed from Istanbul University about the relationship between the ulema (scholars) and the Ottoman empire. Were they mere political apparatchiks, steeped in the power and patronage of powerful sultans?In this first part we take a look at the Ottoman ulema in the early period, the issue of the 'caliphate', Sultan Fatih's ilmiyah reforms and Sultan Selim's defeat of the Mamluks and the response of the Arab ulema and the independence of the ulema system.You can donate to the show here: https://www.thinkingmuslim.com/contributeFollow us on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/jalalayn and https://twitter.com/thinking_muslimWebsite: thinkingmuslim.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As you all know, this podcast is no stranger to dissecting the narrative forwarded by liberals in general and those within our community that self-identify as Muslim liberals. And if you know me you would know that I don’t particularly find the modernist narrative appealing nor elegant in their appeals to what I and I think most Muslims see as the ideas of an incoherent worldview that has undermined human societies the world over.With these caveats in mind, this episode we dedicate to a discussion with an American Muslim liberal, Dr Shadi Hamid. I have followed his work for some years and although we part company on a number of issues, as you will hear, I do feel Shadi is a reluctant liberal, open to criticise not only those inconsistencies he witnesses but also he attempts to make sense of American foreign policy in light of his values and I am not sure he is always successful in reaching a satisfactory answer.We discuss American liberalism, the trends towards nativism, exemplified in the near re-election of Donald Trump last year but also how he reconciles his liberal worldview with his Islamic faith, which I know he thinks a lot about. Shadi has written a number of books on the Muslim world, this is where he made his name in American political and academic circles, so we spend time talking about the attitudes of Muslims in the Muslim world towards Islam as well as the often-simplistic way US policy treats the Middle East and Islamic parties.For more links to Shadi Hamid's biography and works, please view the Insights page on the show Follow us on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/jalalayn and https://twitter.com/thinking_muslimWebsite: thinkingmuslim.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Since the demise of the Ottoman Caliphate, the Muslim world has moved from one crisis to another. The parlous state of the ummah is now the subject of many discussions and numerous Islamic groups have attempted to find the magic formula to reverse this decline. Invariably and correctly, the subject of a return to Islamic governance has become a rallying call for many that seek to return to a place where the ummah was a leading one.Yet recently, the rise of ISIS and the return to the Taliban government has given us two very different yet for some, very troubling models of how a shariah ruled state should run. Beyond these examples, contemporary Islamic study on the topic either negates well-known Islamic precedents found in our tradition or offers models of authoritarianism where a caliph has the control over all and is one step away from repression.Today we have brought together two Islamic thinkers and scholars that have been working for some time on rethinking Islamic governance. Ustadh Iyad Hilal is no stranger to this show, he is an instructor at the al-Arqam Institute in California and is a regular imam and khateeb at Masajids across his state. Kamal Hussain is a lecturer and legal expert who recently delivered a paper to academics and scholars on ‘al Sultan-al Ummah’ the authority of the Ummah, he argues that this Islamic principle has been lost over time, with many theorists viewing the role of the people as no more than passive citizens in a caliphate structure.An earlier version of this episode had some formatting errors. This has now been fixed. Follow us on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/jalalayn and https://twitter.com/thinking_muslimWebsite: thinkingmuslim.com  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we bring together two commentators and analysts to make sense of the regional and international dimensions to the crisis. Sami Hamdi is the Editor-in-Chief of the International Interest. An experienced geopolitical analysts, he is a frequent guest on Aljazeera, Sky News, TRT World, and other outlets. Ibrahim Moiz is a writer and researcher on South Asia with considerable insight into Afghanistan and Pakistan. He writes for TRT World and other outlets. We consider the events of the past twenty years and what next for America and the Muslim world.Follow us on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/jalalayn and https://twitter.com/thinking_muslimWebsite: thinkingmuslim.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode we bring together two scholars, each on either side of the reform debate. Mustafa Akyol is probably the most notable Muslim modernist and reformer, he has authored several best-selling books on the subject, most recently “Reopening Muslim Minds: A Return to Reason, Freedom, and Tolerance”. His argument, as we will hear, is certainly well-articulated and nuanced. He writes regularly for the New York Times and other publications. And his is joined with Professor Ovamir Anjum who is Imam Khattab Endowed Chair of Islamic Studies at the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, University of Toledo. Ovamir penned a recent piece on the need for a Caliphate and argues against the reform agenda and has written extensively about Ibn Taymiyyah, who was the subject of his research.Follow us on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/jalalayn and https://twitter.com/thinking_muslimWebsite: thinkingmuslim.com  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We live in a world crafted by the tenets of liberalism. Western societies, of all hues, broadly base their politics, laws and thinking around this very idea. Inevitably, Muslims have been impacted by liberalism, not least because after the fall of the Ottoman caliphate, the Muslim world became subject to a liberal intellectual inquisition. Today many of us cannot see the tradition except through a liberal lens, this is most pronounced with Muslims living in western societies.This week we have probably one of the most learned authorities on the subject. Professor Joseph Kaminski from the University of Sarajevo has recently published a really important academic work on the subject, titled Islam, Liberalism and Ontology. His book is available here: https://www.routledge.com/Islam-Liberalism-and-Ontology-A-Critical-Re-evaluation/Kaminski/p/book/9780367534110Follow us on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/jalalayn and https://twitter.com/thinking_muslim   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Ottoman state was the last Islamic Caliphate, that at its height brought diverse Muslims together under one banner. Yet, for a state that dominated world politics and created a unique order in the world, very little of its details are studied and understood by Muslims. According to Dr Yakoob Ahmed, my guest this week, this ‘collective amnesia’ was deliberately devised as a means to consolidate the modern nation state. I initially asked Dr Ahmed to discuss Ottoman decline, why this vast empire fell in 1924, but as you will hear – his rich understanding of Ottoman history takes the conversation to many fascinating places.Dr Ahmed has become an authority on Ottoman history, and we talk about his research on Ottoman decline, his move from London to Istanbul, his quest to reorient a Muslim thinking of history, the phenomenon that is Ertrugul and how he believes any Caliphate project has to be profoundly wedded to an accurate reading of our history.I found my discussion with him enlightening and in many ways he challenged my previously held assumptions about the Ottomans during the latter period. I would suggest you take your time to listen to this interview to the very end.As always, we value your feedback, you can leave a comment on our website. We also request that if you like the show, please alert others to it and please leave a review on Apple podcasts, this helps us in the podcast rankings.Follow us on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/jalalayn and https://twitter.com/thinking_muslim To sign up to Muhammad Jalal's international politics briefing, click here: https://jalalayn.substack.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Masjid al-Aqsa is a sacred mosque on a sacred site, observed by Muslims to be the third most revered religious site in Islam. In this episode, we talk to Ustadh Iyad Hilal from al-Arqam Institute about how Muslims should understand this Masjid and its precincts. He takes a look at the contemporary attempt to reduce its importance in the eyes of the ummah and reflects on his own families experience after the nakba in 1948. We also cover the history of Islam’s entry into Palestine at the time of the second Caliph, Umar (ra), the Crusades and Iyad talks about the parlous situation today as Gaza remains under siege and Al-Aqsa comes under renewed threat from right-wing extremists.You can donate to this podcast here: https://www.thinkingmuslim.com/contribute To access our archive: https://www.thinkingmuslim.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

France, like many European countries, were once the colonising force in the Muslim world. And like many of these countries, colonialism was sold as a benevolent project, looking to civilise the savages. France’s history is at times brutal, but the French also had a strong commitment to spreading so-called enlightenment values to the east. In the process, it sought to bring the good message of French liberalism to the Muslim orient. This French obsession remains to today, with the most recent proposals to ban the hijab for under 18-year olds and Macron’s so-called anti separatism bill – looking to further marginalise an already impoverished community.But it’s France in Algeria that is the subject of todays show. Farhat Amin speaks to Zara Choudhary founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sacred Footsteps. Zara talks about her recent article "Unveiling the Algerienne, French colonial photography", which looks at the central obsession of French colonialism to unveil Muslim women. There are indeed many parallels to today.Zara's article can be found here: https://www.sacredfootsteps.org/2021/03/21/unveiling-the-algerienne-french-colonial-photography/You can donate to this podcast here: https://www.thinkingmuslim.com/contributeTo access our archive: https://www.thinkingmuslim.com/ Farhat Amin also hosts the Smart Muslima podcast found here: https://smartmuslima.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For most Muslims, Ramadan’s routine of prayer, reflection and dua was interrupted by the horrific acts of savagery perpetrated by the Israelis against Palestinians. It started with the Sheikh Jarrah land grab, the latest episode in the ongoing project of settler colonialism and then the sanctities of Al-Aqsa was defiled by police officers hell-bent on provoking the sentiments of worshippers.This week we discuss the politics of Palestine with the veteran commentator Dr Azzam Tamimi.Support this podcast by donating https://www.thinkingmuslim.com/contribute Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mohamedou Slahi’s period of unlawful detention in Guantanamo Bey has recently been portrayed in the film ‘The Mauritanian’. His resilience and sense of human dignity comes through in the movie. In this episode, we reached out to Mohamedou to find out about his fortitude, what gave him the ability to remain strong throughout his ordeal? I asked him about his childhood, the context of his arrest and his ability to contextualise his incarceration and not descend into bitterness. I start with some of our pre-formal discussion where he talks about the restrictions that remain upon him, which prevents him from travelling to the UK.Follow us on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/jalalayn & https://twitter.com/thinking_muslim To sign up to Muhammad Jalal's international politics briefing, click here: https://jalalayn.substack.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the month of Ramadan we commonly hear that this is the month of the Qur’an. Usually, we associate this with its increased recitation in say taraweeh prayers. But how do we gain an intimate relationship with the book of Allah?This week we speak to Nuh Saunders who has given a lifetime of service to inculcating a love for the book of Allah. His passion for the Qur’an can be seen through his social media interactions, in a recent post he talked of his desire to build a Qur’an school in every black inner-city neighbourhood in America.Nuh Saunders can be found on Twitter https://twitter.com/NuhSaundersFollow us on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/jalalayn & https://twitter.com/thinking_muslim Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The subject of the sighting of the moon has become a metaphor for our broader division as an ummah. We have disputes over the correct day to start and end Ramadan and invariably this leads to division. This weeks guest Ustadh Iyad Hilal argues that in origin what constitutes sighting has been subject to differences between the classical scholars. To insist on one way, as some Islamic groups do, in the absence of a caliphal authority, comes from a shallow understanding of the lawfulness of difference of opinion in Islam and contravenes notions of adab of iktilaaf. He talks through all the evidences on the matter and discusses issues of using calculations, local vs global sighting, what is a witness and following countries such as Saudi Arabia.To sign up to Muhammad Jalal's international politics briefing, click here: https://jalalayn.substack.com/ and follow him on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/jalalayn Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you want to see a film that simultaneously depicts the horrors of man’s excessive barbarism but also the indominable spirit of human resilience, you have to watch The Mauritanian. Set in the legally dubious post-9/11 world, it tells the gripping story of Mohamedou Ould Slahi and his rendition to the infamous ex-Soviet airbase, Bagram in Afghanistan and then Guantanamo Bey. Slahi was falsely accused of links to Al-Qaeda and without recourse to due process, international treaties and conventions and the so-called cherished principles of the US constitution, he ended up spending 14-long years in Camp X-ray. Yet the power of the human spirit and his Islamic convictions prevailed and he returned to his home country of Mauritania, exonerated of any wrongdoing.But the film left many unanswered questions. We invited Moazzam Begg from the campaigning group CageUK, also a former Guantanamo prisoner, to talk about the film, his relationship with Slahi and to put into context the geopolitical and legal issues that led to what some describe as a scar on American democracy.To sign up to Muhammad Jalal's international politics briefing, click here: https://jalalayn.substack.com/ and follow him on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/jalalayn Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The social sciences, the humanities, politics, geography and the like are looked upon with the same reverence as natural sciences. And the queen of these sciences is economic science. Economists in the new era have convinced us that they have unearthed the universal truth of human economic activity and the markets are infallible. We often hear newsreaders speak of ‘the markets’ as if they were a natural law, a deity that cannot be questioned.Our guest this episode is Dr Asad Zaman has a unique view of modern economics and he concludes capitalism is a house of cards masquerading as objective truths. He should know, he spent many years studying and then lecturing at America’s most elite institutions, mixing with the likes of Joseph Stiglitz. He calls for a revival of Islamic thinking on the subject. Riaz Hassan spoke to him from his home in Pakistan.For further reading and to listen to and view Dr Zaman's insightful lectures, check out our episode insights page: https://www.thinkingmuslim.com/insights/demystifying-social-science-liberal-economics-asad-zaman To sign up to Muhammad Jalal's weekly international politics briefing, click here: https://jalalayn.substack.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We live in a world where Islam is subject to an almighty project of reform. In this difficult environment, the simple truths of Islam and the age-old process of arriving at such truths have been muddied by modernist constructions that at their heart hope to reconcile Islam with a dominant ideological narrative.To give this campaign a fig leaf of legitimacy, the traditional principle of al-maqasid al-shariah, loosely translated as the general goals of the shariah, has been co-opted by liberals and secularists as a means to open up Islam to the so-called universal values of liberalism. But what is the traditional conception of al-maqasid? To take a deeper look at this idea, Riaz Hassan and I spoke to Dr. Osman Umarji a director at the Yaqeen Institute who studied Islam at al-Azhar University in Cairo. To comment - go to https://www.thinkingmuslim.comFollow us on twitter: https://twitter.com/thinking_muslim/Presenter: https://twitter.com/jalalayn Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A Special Extended InterviewFreedom of speech is an idea we all naturally gravitate towards. Who would want to live in a society where certain types of speech were outlawed or regulated? Or where we had to watch what we say at every turn. To understand this subject further, we have Hamza Tzortzis to break down the idea and to give us an Islamic perspective. Hamza is the author of The Divine Reality: God, Islam & The Mirage of Atheism. He is a public speaker, instructor and essayist and a founding member of the Sapience Institute.For more information and to view our archive, visit https://www.thinkingmuslim.com/podcastFollow us on twitter: https://twitter.com/thinking_muslim/Presenter: https://twitter.com/jalalayn Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Vaccines are in the news. As the coronavirus ravages the world, causing untold damage to lives, communities and livelihoods, a glimmer of hope has come in the production of new vaccines. This breakthrough, however has not been universally embraced. Theories abound, across the internet and on social media, suggesting a number of reasons why vaccines are dangerous.So how should we think about vaccines? Well the first step is to consult a trustworthy expert so we can make an informed decision. And we have such a person this week. Dr Hisham Abdullah has a lifetimes work looking at vaccines and research. He holds a degree in pharmacy and a doctorate in pharmaceutical sciences and clinical research. He started his career as a scientist at the US Food and Drug Administration and he has, since then, worked on various pharmaceutal projects in industry. On top of that, Dr Hisham has acquired qualifications in Islamic studies and has spent the past 30 years teaching Usul al-Fiqh and is active in Islamic circles in the US.For more information and to view our archive, visit https://www.thinkingmuslim.com/podcastFollow us on twitter Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinking_muslim/Presenter: https://twitter.com/jalalayn Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we invite back onto the show Ustadh Iyad Hilal from California’s Al Arqam Institute. Ustadh Iyad has expertise in usul ul-fiqh and has recently presented a stimulating and accessible online usul course. We ask him to untangle the issues of vaccines, medicines in general and we discuss how a Muslim should arrive at judgments and our responsibilities to not fall prey to theories not grounded in reality.For more information and to view our archive, visit https://www.thinkingmuslim.com/podcastFollow us on twitter Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinking_muslim/Presenter: https://twitter.com/jalalayn Email: [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Riaz Hasan speaks to Almir Colan, a thinker on Islamic economics and host of the thought provoking Islamic Finance podcast and Director of the Australian Centre for Islamic Finance. He speaks to us about the problems with the current paradigms of capitalism and socialism and how greater thinking on Islamic economics needs to take place. He also speaks about his 'Shepherds Model', the manner we need to look at economy. You can listen to his Islamic finance podcast here https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/islamic-finance-podcast-with-almir-colan/id569462639?mt=2 For more information and to view our archive, visit https://www.thinkingmuslim.com/podcastFollow us on twitter Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinking_muslim/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode, I speak at length to the Arab Spring activist Iyad El-Baghdadi about his valuable experience, analysis and forecast about the years ahead. He rose to prominence in the aftermath of the Arab revolutions of 2011 before being summarily arrested and forcibly exiled from his home in the UAE in April 2014. Today he is recognized among the most influential and prominent Arab voices online. He lives in Oslo, Norway, where he has been granted political asylum, and writes regularly for both Norwegian and international media, and his Twitter account received over 180 million views in last year. He is also founder and editor-in-chief of the Arab Tyrant Manual, a platform for the study of authoritarian behaviour and tactics.For more information and to view our archive, visit https://www.thinkingmuslim.com/podcastFollow us on twitter Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinking_muslim/Presenter: https://twitter.com/jalalayn Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To help us understand the current crises in France, I am delighted to have on The Thinking Muslim Sheikh Yasir Qadhi. Dr Yasir Qadhi is well known in the Muslim community, he is a scholar and since 2001, he has served as Dean of Academic Affairs at the Al-Maghrib Institute, with a center in Houston, Texas. He is currently the resident scholar of the East Plano Islamic Center in Texas.Dr Qadhi has raised some searching questions over the past few weeks about French policy towards Muslims, violence perpetrated by a minority of those Muslims and, he argues, the potential for the ‘French model’ to be exported to other countries where Muslims are a minority. We ask Dr Qadhi about Islamic justifications for violence, how we should defend the honour of the Messenger of Allah (saw), the position of minority communities, the role of scholarship in politics and raising awareness about these issues and we also speak about the current problem with many Islamic scholars who chose to remain silent instead of speak truth to power, less they lose their position, usually gained through political patronage or they lose their following. Inevitably the thorny subject of scholars and despotic rulers comes up, and Dr Qadhi gives his frank opinion on the matter.Website: http://thinkingmuslim.comTwitter: https://twitter.com/thinking_muslim/ Presenter: https://twitter.com/jalalayn Email: [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To an outsider, the United States looks like it is in meltdown. In what seems like months, the farce of the US elections has dwarfed coverage of huge Coronavirus deaths, with most political pundits predicting a Biden victory. But with talk of potential challenge to the result, all signs indicate the possibility of a protracted period of uncertainty. American democracy today seems to be sinking under the contradictions, inequalities and culture wars that undermine the fabric of its political standing in the world. The ‘city on the hill’ today looks like a banana republic. This week we speak to Mohammed Hannini from the United States, Brother Mohammed has a B.A. in Islamic History & a Masters in Islamic Studies with a focus in Fiqh. Brother Mohammed is currently a lecturer at American Open University for Usul al Fiqh, and Islamic Contracts. He conducts classes in the local masajid in Raleigh, North Carolina and lectures for the Arqam Institute, currently co-presenting an illuminating course on usul al-fiqh. I wanted to get a picture of the politics in the country and how Muslims are approaching the election.Website: http://thinkingmuslim.comTwitter: https://twitter.com/thinking_muslim/ https://twitter.com/jalalayn Email: [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As part of our Arab Spring series, we take a look at the events that shook the region at the beginning of 2011 and ask searching questions about where we are now. The Middle East today remains a cauldron of instability, yet the autocrats and their backers have successfully, for now, subverted a revolution that once filled Arabs and Muslims with hope.My guest this week is Dr Azzam Tamimi. Dr Tamimi is a Palestinian academic and activist and has for decades contributed to Islamic and political work. He has authored numerous books, detailing his analysis on events in the Muslim world including his doctoral thesis on Rachid Ghannouchi from An-Nahda Party and a detailed history of Hamas. Dr Tamimi currently hosts a show on Al-Hiwar TV.Website: http://thinkingmuslim.comTwitter: https://twitter.com/thinking_muslimEmail: [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We are coming to the tenth anniversary of the Arab Spring, the momentous series of events that started in hope with the desperate act of a Tunisian vegetable seller. With the return of another pharaoh in Egypt, the impunity with which he has meted out retribution upon those that were opposed to the regime and the killing field of Syria, whose soil today stands soaked with the blood of martyrs, makes even the most optimistic person surmise that the Arab Spring has turned into what can be called a cold winter. Over the coming weeks and months, The Thinking Muslim takes a look at the tumultuous decade from multiple perspectives. What went wrong? How did an event that reverberated across Muslim capitals, with echoed chants go so horribly wrong? And what lessons can we learn from the mistakes made?Our guest this week is Dr Osman Bakash from Lebanon. Osman was very active on Arab media channels at the height of the Arab Spring and remains a inciteful commentator. This week we take a deep look at Egypt and Syria, unpicking the complex circumstances that led to both countries deepening their respective authoritarian rules.Website: http://thinkingmuslim.comTwitter: https://twitter.com/thinking_muslimEmail: [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Malcolm X, the black American Muslim leader is celebrated around the world. His courage, intelligence and skill to persuade, makes him one of the greatest orators in history. Yet, today what he stood for has become unclear, as his image and message is co-opted into several political programmes that, if Malcolm was alive today, he would probably find questionable. Riaz Hasan of the Thinking Muslim Project speaks to Hakeem Muhammad, a lawyer and campaigner about his thoughts on Malcolm X, distilling the real man from the fiction created after his death.Website: http://thinkingmuslim.comTwitter: https://twitter.com/thinking_muslim Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Twenty years ago, the then UK Labour government led by Prime Minister Tony Blair introduced anti-terror laws that, in time, would expand the British security state. The raft of terrorism legislation that came as a result, have impacted the Muslim community and refashioned our relationship with institutions of government and the way we are perceived by wider society. Our guest today, Moazzam Begg from CAGE UK, is a brother that took a stand and through his public engagements gives hope to believers, presenting an unfiltered Islam, uncompromised by state patronage.Website: http://thinkingmuslim.comTwitter: https://twitter.com/thinking_muslimPresenter: https://twitter.com/jalalayn Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we invite back onto the show Dr Abul Izz Abdul Salam, a university professor and expert in comparative economics from Jerusalem Palestine to continue our series, today exploring property ownership. Capitalism places great emphasis on free enterprise, the orthodoxy states most property should be in the hands of private corporations, whereas radical socialism places a greater emphasis on collective ownership, looking upon property rights with scepticism. Until now, Muslims have oscillated between the two ideologies, many proudly describing themselves as Islamic capitalists or Islamic socialists. Yet Islam as the revelation from Allah (swt) came to help us reach salvation in the afterlife as well as harmony in our societies. So how do we define property in Islam? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We speak to a regular guest Dr Shadee Elmasry about division within the Muslim community. I ask him, how does Islam help us to navigate our differences? What makes a valid shari’ opinion? How do we know whether a scholar or commentator is sincere to sources of Islam? What makes a mujtahid and what are the limits of the muqallid (follower)? We discuss the recent trend amongst duat to call out and defame one another. We also discuss the duty of enjoining maroof and forbid munkar, how does a layman fulfil this duty? What gives the commoner the right to question even scholars on issues and what are the guidelines? How do we forbid wrong while transmitting respect and not exacerbating divisions? We look at the notion ‘only Allah can judge’ and the anger that pervades much of modern social media ‘da’wah’. What does it mean to be smart in conveying Islam? and does being smart sometimes come at the cost of being truthful? Access our podcast archive here: https://www.thinkingmuslim.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Even if we don’t subscribe to the oft quoted phrase of Jordan Peterson that there is "a crisis of masculinity", we may accept that young men live lives in an era where their roles and responsibilities remain subject to intense scrutiny. Our guest today, Ameen from the popular Mind Heist podcast and the YouTube help channel Seera Masters is a young man trying to make sense of this world. Ameen set off on a journey to discover what Islam expects from a man and in his own words found conclusions that challenged his own preconceptions. He is currently working on writing a book on the subject. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The environment we find ourselves in after 9/11 has made it very difficult for our community to simultaneously continue living an Islamic life and meeting the demands of our daily existence. This atmosphere has given rise to what can only be called a liberal inquisition, the constant reminder that we should be defensive about our faith and that what we believe is somehow out of sync with modernity.In this febrile atmosphere, some have called for more radical action to affirm the faith of our families and community. If the next generation is to survive, maybe we need to more proactively build community institutions that nurture true conviction and assert more readily our priorities, free from the tedious scrutiny of wider society. This is where Muslims have engaged with the Benedict Option of Rod Dreher.To discuss the notion of a Muslim Benedict Option we speak with Ismail Royer, an activist and thinker from America, Royer serves as a Director at the Religious Freedom Institute, a Washington, DC-based non-profit organization.Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinking_muslimOn Telegram: https://t.me/thinkingmuslim - and direct questions: https://t.me/jcontact And access our archive: https://www.thinkingmuslim.com/podcast/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our guest this week, Dr Joseph Kaminski is associate professor at the Department of International Relations at the International University of Sarajevo. He has spent the last six years in the country, which he has now adopted as his own. Dr Kaminski has written a number of papers on Islam and governance and he is currently authoring a book on Islam and liberalism, a matter we discuss at the end of the podcast.Follow my thread evidencing how the West accepts Srebrenica as a human sacrifice: https://twitter.com/jalalayn/status/1282065107695144963?s=20Sign up to our free comparative ideas course: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/comparative-thought-liberalism-and-islam-10-week-course-starts-19jul-tickets-113103958986Sign up to this usul al-fiqh course: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/113242924636 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our guest this week, Imam Dawud Walid, although acknowledging the importance of activism within the Islamic tradition, argues that our community must tread carefully when developing lines of collaboration with progressive movements, lest we are utilised for problematic political and cultural aims. He argues that activism does not fall out of the purview of the revelation and if we are to make a change, this has to be rooted in an Islamic notion of justice and using means that accord with the prophetic sunnah. Forging alliances with the progressive left has come at a cost, he argues, the left are utilising the Muslim community to pursue their broader electoral aims.Website: https://www.thinkingmuslim.com/podcastLaunchgood campaign: https://www.launchgood.com/campaign/book_discover_the_islamic_alternative_to_feminism#!/Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinking_muslim Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The dress of Muslim women has been politicised by secular thinkers, left wing activists, conservatives, feminists and talk-show hosts that all believe their take on the subject will emancipate Muslim women. For centuries, an obsession with Muslim women’s dress has enabled an array of political projects.This week we speak to two guests, firstly Farhat Amin, who is working on a book project to address the twin challenges of Muslim confusion about their Islamic rights and feminism and then we discuss the long colonial history behind the politicisation of women's dress and how to view the hijab from the shari’ah rules with Ustadh Iyad Hilal, author and imam from the United States.Website: https://www.thinkingmuslim.com/podcastLaunchgood campaign: https://www.launchgood.com/campaign/book_discover_the_islamic_alternative_to_feminism#!/Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinking_muslim Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Hijab or Khimar has been subject to ferocious scrutiny, with youtube influencers, journalists, politicians and academics all participating in what is now a regular feature in how liberal society would like Muslims to live.To address the subject Farhat Amin from our sister podcast, A Muslim Mom spoke to Emaan Abbasi, a writer and academic that recently penned a brilliant piece titled, “not my body, not my choice” for the online magazine Traversing Tradition. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest today, Hakeem Muhammad, grew up in the communities excluded by mainstream America. He argues that in our anger we should not undervalue the structural conditions that enable and safeguard those that treat their fellow man as sub-human. The structural racism that plagues American life comes from a broader ideology that shows disdain for non-European cultures and creeds. He argues powerfully that white supremacy cannot be separated from liberalism, in fact, liberal protagonists, from Locke to Jefferson, Kant to Rawls have all echoed the same mantra of America acting as a civilising force in the world. The atrocities of Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo were conducted by the same people, nurtured within the same cultural climate.Hakeem Muhammad is a Public Interest Law Scholar from Northeastern University School of Law where he also holds a Juris Doctorate Degree.The Thinking Muslim Twitter @thinking_muslim https://twitter.com/thinking_muslimEmail [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Muslim’s that engage on social media often contribute to the online antagonism that reflects the coarse and crude trend of wider society. It goes like this, someone tweets a view, sometimes coherent and thought through and sometimes not and within a short space of time, it solicits a torrent of abuse.This week on The Thinking Muslim we look at ‘Muslim Twitter’, what causes the bitterness? how do we tone down the rhetoric and how can the revelation and our illustrious scholarly past help us to rectify our manners of engagement? We have invited Justin Parrot to discuss this matter, Justin holds an MRes in Islamic Studies from the University of Wales and is currently Research Librarian for Middle East Studies at NYU in Abu Dhabi where he is also a volunteer Imam for the Muslim Students Association. He also runs an amazing website with a unique accessible hadith repository, available here https://abuaminaelias.com.Access past content on our website - https://www.thinkingmuslim.com Contribute to our new exciting book project on Launchgood https://www.launchgood.com/project/book_discover_the_islamic_alternative_to_feminism#!/And sign up to our free course https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/comparative-thought-liberalism-socialism-and-islam-5-week-course-tickets-102518098392 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ertugrul is a show about the legendary father of Osman I, the founder of the Ottoman Sultanate. The show’s success in the Muslim world leaves many, especially those with liberal leanings, perplexed. Its recent airing in Pakistan has taken the country by storm. Prime Minister Imran Khan has tweeted about the show, suggesting all young Pakistani’s can gain a sense of lost history and Muslim unity. Saudi Arabia has banned the show, citing its malign influence and Egypt’s "High Fatwa Council" (Dâru'l-İftâ), published a statement that accuses Turkey of trying to create an “area of influence” for itself in the Middle East via its soft power.To discuss the show and its cultural and geopolitical impact I have invited two Muslim commentators, Dilly Hussain of 5pillars and Imran Muneer from the Mad Mamluks podcast.Please leave your comments on https://www.thinkingmuslim.com/podcast, follow us on twitter https://twitter.com/thinking_muslim, join our Telegram channel https://t.me/thinkingmuslim and sign up to our new online course https://www.thinkingmuslim.com/courses Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Death has become a part of our everyday lives. Covid-19 and its spread have brought home to us the undeniable reality that we are mortal beings and our accumulation of wealth, prestige and power will come to an end. How we think about death impacts on how we think about life. So how should death be conceptualised? How should we really remember death, beyond the occasional thoughts about it? How do we make death our partners and our guide in conditioning our present?To understand this idea, I have invited Kamal Abu Zahra – a lecturer in Islamic studies, currently completing his PhD in looking at the minority fiqh and its compatibility with classical notions of scholarship. I ask Kamal some searching questions about death and how we should see it, how we should confront its claims upon us, and how we should address it when death falls on someone close to us.Visit our website www.thinkingmuslim.com and leave a comment, follow us on Twitter @thinking_muslim and join our Telegram Channel https://t.me/thinkingmuslim Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How should we understand the ahadith related to plagues and medicines? We are often deluged with cures for a host of ailments and some argue conventional pharmaceuticals have little value in the face of these solutions from sunnah.This week on the Thinking Muslim Podcast I have invited an imam and author Iyad Hilal from California, America to explain what is the prophetic sunnah and how should we evaluate what it has to say about plagues and medicines.Iyad Hilal has authored one of the best books I have read explaining Usul al-fiqh, in a digestible way to the non-specialist reader and runs the Al-Arqam institute. His lectures, Jumma khutbahs and discussions can be found on Youtube and I would say it’s a treasure trove of wisdom and depth.I ask him about the sunnah and its scope, the ahadeeth related to plagues and quarantines, the prophetic medicines and other such narrations and how scholars of the past view these aspects of the sunnah. We also discuss the value of conventional medicine and the current public health advice that runs contrary to our religious instincts and ceremonies, most notably the cessation of Salaatul Jummah and regular prayers in the masjids.Visit our website (www.thinkingmuslim.com), follow us on Twitter @thinking_muslim and join our Telegram Channel Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week I speak to Fadl Hejazi, a Muslim academic from India, about the crisis facing the Muslims of India. To cover its obvious failures, key Indian politicians and its RSS supporters opted to turn the country on its Muslim citizens, blaming the mounting cases on the Tablighi Jamat Ijtima (gathering) in Nizamuddin. What they dubbed ‘Corona Jihad,’ an insidious campaign to spread the virus to Hindus. The virus, in their warped view, was another weapon used by Muslims against the majority population.Follow the programme and comment on https://www.thinkingmuslim.comFollow us on Twitter - https://twitter.com/thinking_muslim Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What is pronounced today in a post-truth world is the increase of non-experts on social media that forward their views and gain an audience upon conspiracy theories and half-baked truths. This week we invite Dr Naveed Syed from Public Health England and Dr Imran Waheed to unravel the truths behind the crisis and why so many people are susceptible to conspiracies. We look at the origins of Covid-19, the means of transmission, the herd immunity theory, flu statistics, verification of news, Facebook 'experts', annual death rates, government failures, the mental health implications, Jummah fatawa (and poor scholarship), Toby Young, 5G conspiracies and prophetic treatments. For more information visit The Thinking Muslim Website to see our latest courses and projects and follow us on Twitter @thinking_muslim Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Since the Coronavirus lockdown became a daily feature of our lives, a number of commentators have speculated about the future of economic liberalism. Many on the left and some Muslims have concluded this period will presage the end to capitalism and the dawn of a new economic order.Such claims may fail to live up to proper scrutiny, instead we may be witnessing the acceleration of America’s position as the global hegemon and with it, the fragmentation of the American led liberal world order.My guest today, Riaz Hasan, is a writer and community organiser, I discuss the political and economic ramifications of this crisis. We look at the economic impact of the crisis, the decline of the liberal democratic world, the move to embrace the Chinese model of capitalism and whether a realistic and well-thought through Islamic model currently exists to meet the challenges of the 21st century.Follow the programme on Twitter @thinking_muslimhttps://twitter.com/thinking_muslimPlease also fill in our survey of Muslim attitudes here: https://thinkingmuslim.wufoo.com/forms/m1yro00q0cfrl91/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As we hunker down and wait in anticipation for a Covid-19 breakthrough, we inevitably begin to think about our mortality and whether we have within us the ability to deal with this crisis. In the coming weeks we are going to explore the Covid-19 crisis and its implication upon us. Today I invite back onto the show, Dr Shadee Elmasry, an imam and Islamic scholar from the United States.We look at 1) the 'cancellation' of jummah and the madahibs, 2) Is this a punishment from Allah, 3) Are we martyrs (shaheed) if we die, 4) if we get it then is it Allah's will, 5) How did early Muslim's deal with communicable diseases?, 6) trusting experts and human nature 7) WhatsApp disinformation, 8) stockpiling, 9) responsibility to others, 10) how a believer should spend their time? The Muslim community has faced a series of questions in the past week and I put them to Dr ElMasry.Follow the programme on Twitter @thinking_muslimhttps://twitter.com/thinking_muslim Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest this week, Dr Ovamir Anjum , although abhorring all that Isis may stand for, suggests that its brief rise to notoriety has opened up space for intelligent minded Muslim’s to reimagine a world with a just Caliphate. Dr Anjum calls for a new wave of thinking on the subject, grounded in revelation and aimed at showing both Muslim’s and non-Muslims how Islam’s thought should be considered as an alternative to the contemporary decaying world order.Dr Anjum argues in a recent long read penned for the Yaqeen Institute that not only is there an urgent requirement for Muslim intelligentsia and civil society to debate the form a modern Caliphate would take but to seriously place it at the centre of Muslim social and political activism. He argues that Islam’s challenge has to be framed in the context of the broader tumults faced by the liberal order, namely the process of deglobalisation and the rise of populist nativism.Dr. Ovamir Anjum is Imam Khattab Endowed Chair of Islamic Studies at the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, University of Toledo. He obtained his Ph.D. in Islamic history in the Department of History, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Author of Politics, Law and Community in Islamic Thought: The Taymiyyan Moment (Cambridge University Press, 2012). His current projects include a multi-volume survey of Islamic history and a monograph on Islamic political thought.To contact the show twitter @thinking_muslim email [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.