It’s back-to-school, season, once again! It's natural for parents to have fears about their children “belonging” and fitting in. But can our children feel comfortable about being in school if we as parents don’t feel the same? We are joined by Kalyan Ali Balaven, Head of the Dunn School in Los Olivos, California, who shares his story as a convert and the reasons he chose to embrace the role of an educator. Through his experience raising Muslim kids and students, you will learn how you can overcome your fears in sending your kids to school and better help your kids fit in, feel like they belong, and find the courage to express themselves and their cultural beliefs.

Many people assume that pornography is not a serious concern among the Muslim community. In reality, youth and adults alike are faced with the struggle to overcome porn addiction. The Muslim community's inattention and refusal to talk about pornography addiction, alongside the lack of relevant Islamic resources to understand and tackle the problem, inspired Br Zeyad Ramadan to create Purify your Gaze. Purify Your Gaze is a global e-therapy platform that helped hundreds of thousands of Muslims around the world overcome pornography addiction.  In today's episode, he shares his insights into the negative impacts of porn consumption and addiction on a marriage, and how Purify Your Gaze can help.

Islam recognizes the individual rights of every Muslim and gives high regard to the preservation of one’s dignity. That’s a fact that cannot be disregarded. But for a long time now, the Muslim community has tiptoed around the topic of homosexuality. The materials available are either outdated or too generic which results in further confusion and misinterpretation. Is homosexuality a sin? Is it an act against one’s faith? How do Muslim parents teach their kids about these various identities if they, themselves, are conflicted in their understanding of homosexuality in the Islamic context? We are joined by Br. Mobeen Vaid, a Muslim public intellectual and writer whose current focus revolves around the modern concept of gender identity and Islamic sexual norms. He shares valuable insights from his research explaining sexual identity and homosexuality from an Islamic perspective. He defines the boundaries of what is morally sinful based from the words of Allah and provides an insight into how we should face the issue as Muslims.

Do Muslims also watch pornography? The answer sadly is yes. The reality that Muslim youth do consume pornography has become one of the most concerning things Muslim parents have to deal with and most parents struggle with knowing what steps they can take to address this problem. Dr. Madiha Tehseen joins us in this episode to help Muslim parents understand why watching porn is a serious concern that needs immediate attention. Dr. Madiha is a Research Fellow and a Community Educator at The Family and Youth Institute, with a Ph.D. in Applied Developmental Psychology. 

With Ramadan less than one week away, I’m overjoyed to announce the launch of our “Digital Ramadan Camp,” an immersive and interactive daily program that brings the spirit of Ramadan into hearts and homes. The Noor Kids Digital Ramadan Camp begins on Monday, April 4th and is an online platform filled with spiritually enriching lessons, interactive activities, and nonstop fun to make this Ramadan the best yet! We partnered with Islamic Relief, USHUB, Noor Vitamins + LaunchGood to provide: Daily Story Nights: Every night, we’ll be hosting a live Zoom program featuring heartfelt stories to inspire 5-12 year olds.   Special Guest Speakers: We have world renowned guest speakers including nasheed artists like Zain Bhikha, scholars like Omar Suleiman, and politicians like Keith Ellison, who will be joining us throughout the month.    Game Show Nights: Each week, families will participate in an interactive game show night. Not only will kids learn by play - but they also have a chance to win over $5,000 worth of amazing gifts!   On-demand, Interactive Activities: We’ve developed a collection of high-quality Ramadan-themed DIY projects (e.g. lanterns, kaba charity boxes, etc). Additionally, we have an animated 30th Juz that allows children to memorize and share with our community.   Global-friendly Timing: We've created a calendar to allow families from around the world to participate! During weekdays (M-F) our programs are at 5:30pm CST, and during the weekends (Sat-Sun) our programs are at 12pm CST.  The Digital Ramadan Camp is $179. However, we’ve decided to make it free for members and for families who sign up today. Sign up -- http://www.noorkids.com/ramadan

As parents, we all want our children to grow up to be good Muslims. We see inspiring people who turned out wonderfully as adults, and dream of raising our kids the same way they were raised. But, we also want our children to succeed in worldly things - good careers, nice homes, and material possessions. Where do we draw the line and balance both, so that our children can have the best of both worlds? We are joined by Hina Khan-Mukhtar, a mother of 3 boys and the founder of ILM Tree Homeschooling Cooperative. ILM Tree is a community of families with shared values and beliefs, and are bounded by the same goal: raising children into “good” Muslims. She shares her groundbreaking research on the steps parents took to raise good Muslims- who succeeded in both worldly and otherworldly affairs

In the middle of a busy day, do we as parents, take a pause to reflect how much of our parenting is influenced by how we were brought up by our parents? When we listen to the way our kids talk, watch their expressions and gestures, or simply do activities together, do we notice how they’re emulating us and how much we have become role models for our kids? That shouldn’t be a problem- if only they could filter the positive and the negative themselves. Joining us in this episode is a common household name, Dr. Suzy Ismail. She’s the founding director of Cornerstone Counseling, an author, and speaker at ISNA/ICNA conventions, and provides international counseling online. She explains what generational cycles are and how our behaviors are impacted by our parents’ when they were raising us.

There’s a lot of decisions parents have to make for their children until such time that they are old enough to make decisions for themselves. One of the most important ones is choosing which school to send their children to. This is a HUGE decision that poses so much stress on most Muslim parents. Dr, Amaarah DeCuir joins Amin in today’s episode to talk about the challenges in choosing a school model for Muslim students. Dr. Amaarah has spent a lifelong career in education and is currently a Professional Lecturer at the American University. She has a wide range of insights on the differences between public schools and private schools gathered from years of experience. If your current struggle revolves around deciding to send your kids to public school or not, which school works best for your children that cater to their unique talents, and how they can thrive in the public school setting, this episode is for you!

Parenthood is a challenge in itself, but single parenting presents a whole new set of challenges that require extraordinary strength, courage, and wisdom to overcome. What every parent has to face- from child-rearing, to rent and errands, to self care and even community pressure- a single parent faces tenfold. We are joined by Asmaa Hussein, the Founder and CEO of Ruqaya's Bookshelf, and a single mom to her daughter, Ruqaya, to share the pains and challenges she has to conquer as a single parent. She touches on many important aspects of single parenting in today’s modern world with valuable advice that both single parents, and parents with partners, can benefit from.

Islam is a guidebook for our life - it gives us clear guidelines and wisdom on how to navigate life’s many, many components. Parenthood being one. At times parents can feel lost on how to navigate this journey - after all we all want the same thing: to be the best parents to our children. Throughout history, Islam has examples of parenting models and virtues that parents can look to to truly be the best mothers and fathers in Allah’s eyes. We are joined by Gulnaz Ahsan, who will discuss the Islamic guidance on parenthood and how we can draw from examples of our beloved prophets to model positive parenting.. to help parents, like myself, learn how we can be better parents to our children. She is the founder and editor-in-chief of the Halal Parenting Magazine and a certified Positive Discipline Parent Educator. With her guidance, she shares how to navigate the journey towards positive parenting using examples from Islamic teachings.