The Thinking Muslim

The recent atrocity at al-Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan underscores the brutality of Israel’s settler colonial project. Our guest this week, Palestinian and Islamic activist Dr Azzam Tamimi gave us a background to the apartheid policies of the state and explained why he believes, ultimately, the severity of Israel’s brutality only serves to express its sheer failure as a project. Azzam Tamimi is a British Palestinian academic and political activist. He is currently the Chairman of Alhiwar TV Channel and is its Editor in Chief. He is a prolific writer and public speaker.This Ramadan please consider making a donation, however small, to The Thinking Muslim, to receive a share in the reward and to help us make a greater impact. ⁠⁠https://www.thinkingmuslim.com/DonateJoin our Telegram group here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://t.me/thinkingmuslim ⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow us on Twitter here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/jalalayn⁠⁠⁠⁠ and⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://twitter.com/thinking_muslim⁠⁠⁠⁠Website Archive: thinkingmuslim.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ovamir Anjum, a professor and translator of Ibn Qayyim's works, dives into the spiritual depths of this renowned scholar. He discusses the critical importance of self-awareness and repentance in connecting with Allah. Listeners will explore how spiritual practices, particularly during Ramadan, cultivate a deeper relationship with the divine. Anjum also notes the distractions of modern life and the role of gratitude in personal growth. Additionally, he sheds light on the interplay of spirituality and politics in Islamic thought while mapping the nuanced relationship between Ibn Qayyim and Ibn Taymiyyah.

Please help us this Ramadan by making a donation to the show - more information here: ⁠https://www.thinkingmuslim.com/DonateThis fascinating interview with Dr Sohail Hanif looks to uncover the secrets of Ramadan. What should the month indeed mean to believers? And what should we be striving to achieve this month? How should we treat its minutes and hours? And how do we know whether, as the hadith suggests, we have lost its blessings or gained success out of it? Dr Sohail is the Chief Executive of the National Zakat Foundation. He previously held the position of BA Manager and Lecturer at Cambridge Muslim College and has also held the position of Head of Sciences at Qasid Arabic Institute in Amman. He studied extensively with traditional scholars and holds a PhD from Oxford University. His PhD thesis, which explores Islamic legal epistemology, won the 2019 prize of the British Association for Islamic Studies. He has lectured widely on Islamic law and Qur’anic studies in academic, public and traditional settings.Join our Telegram group here: ⁠⁠https://t.me/thinkingmuslim ⁠⁠Follow us on Twitter here: ⁠⁠https://twitter.com/jalalayn⁠⁠ and⁠⁠ https://twitter.com/thinking_muslim⁠⁠Website Archive: thinkingmuslim.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dr Imran Waheed is a consultant psychiatrist who specialises in acute mental health cases. We ask him about the mental health crisis, whether the lack of iman has a role in its prevalence and whether Islam has role in its cure. We look at consumer capitalism and sadness, the absence of community and faith and how one can build mental resilience.Join our Telegram group here: ⁠https://t.me/thinkingmuslim ⁠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 Archive: thinkingmuslim.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dr Jonathan Brown, an expert in the Hadith corpus, discusses the misconceptions and arguments surrounding Hadiths. Topics include the importance of Hadiths in Islamic tradition, the concept of Sunnah, grades of rulings in Islam, interpreting a Hadith on criticism of legal rules, Western assumptions and orientalist approach, rejecting unreliable Hadiths, evaluating reliability of information, and the process of authenticating Hadiths and the role of scholars.

99 years ago, the Ottoman Caliphate, the world's last widely recognised caliphate, was abolished on 3 March 1924 (27 Rajab 1342 AH) by decree of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. The process was one of Atatürk's reforms following the replacement of the Ottoman Empire with the Republic of Turkey. Abdulmejid II was deposed as the last Ottoman caliph, as was Mustafa Sabri as the last Ottoman shaykh al-Islām.We explore the circumstances that led to this momentous event. Why the Ottoman caliphate fell. What this date should mean to us? And the impact this decision had on Muslims at the time and has on us today.Dr Yakoob Ahmed holds a PhD graduate from SOAS, University of London. An Ottoman historian, he is currently teaching Islamic history at Istanbul University and was a visiting fellow at the Modern Turkish Studies Centre at Istanbul Şehir University. His research focuses are Muslim intellectual thought in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Islamic constitutionalism, identity, nationalism and collective memory construction.Join our Telegram group here: https://t.me/thinkingmuslim 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 Archive: thinkingmuslim.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The British Conservative government has for some time embarked upon a project to make life difficult for ordinary Muslims. We have spoken previously about its policy of Prevent, an extraordinary state plan to compel all public servants to monitor Muslims in their midst and report on them if they showed signs of extremism. This project has enveloped the community within a cloud of suspicion, spread fear and self censorship and led to a series of malicious or ignorant allegations that has scarred thousands.   The project has failed to root out violent extremism and has alienated a large number of Muslims, yet the response of the government is to tighten the screws. It’s failure is because it is not punitive enough according to the Home Secretary. This is where the new Shawcross review comes in. William Shawcross, known for his anti-Islamic opinions was cynically commissioned to lead an independent review into Prevent and suggest a way forward. The report suggests that normative Muslim positions should be viewed with suspicion, including believing that Islam should be the basis of one’s identity.   Dr Layla Aitlhadj, my guest today, has been a tenacious campaigner to expose the extent of to which the government has violated the most basic rights of ordinary Muslim citizens. Her organisation Prevent Watch has helped countless Muslim families that have been caught up in this net of accusation. We ask her about the Shawcross review and its implications with some truly chilling revelations.Join our Telegram group here: https://t.me/thinkingmuslim 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 Archive: thinkingmuslim.com  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The sadness we feel after the earthquakes in Turkiye and Syria is heightened by our Ummatic feelings of closeness to the worldwide muslim community. Many of those affected have been subject to years of civil war at the hands of a brutal dictator. Sadly, this is yet another disaster that has befallen this Umma and we pray that Allah has mercy on those that died and enter them into a place where there is eternal peace. This week we interview Dr Omar Suleiman to discuss the issue of earthquakes and whether they are a punishment from Allah, as many ascribe to these natural events or whether they are a test. Human beings can never understand the wisdom of Allah (swt) and we are without knowledge of the ultimate good and bad impacts of natural disasters. We ask Dr Suleiman to give us an understanding of the texts from the Quran and sunna that explain these events to us. Sadly, many especially in the West who may have not consolidated their Iman on a strong footing, question the wisdom of Allah and fail to develop the intellectual and spiritual resilience that is required to be a believer. We tackle how to build up this store of resilience. We also take the opportunity to discuss some of his political views on the broader Syrian civil war and the inconsistencies in some political activists. As always, you can comment your thoughts below. You can donate to the show here: Join our Telegram group here: https://t.me/thinkingmuslim 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 Archive: thinkingmuslim.com - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The war on terror, a US-led strategy that saw deadly interventions in the Muslim world, has transformed a generation of Muslims. Some, like my guest today, unwittingly got caught up in this mindless campaign and 21 years after the events of 9/11, we still feel the aftereffects of programmes that placed every Muslim in categories, moderate or extreme, good and bad, loyal or disloyal.Moazzam Begg, a former Guantanamo detainee upon his release, has been a tireless campaigner for the truth, exposing its lies and deceits. In the process, he and his organisation CAGE international have tactically contacted non-Muslim sympathisers and wider Human Rights organisations. But I asked him about the risks involved in this strategy. Many a time, Muslims that receive such support are forced to compromise. The left wants Islam to change and come with various social positions we find problematic. The right often possesses a chauvinism that calls upon Muslims to accept a secondary role in society. I ask Moazzam to conceptualise how he navigates these binaries.Join our Telegram group here: https://t.me/thinkingmuslim 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 Archive: thinkingmuslim.com - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After a brief pause, we are back and now on YouTube video. In this episode, we explore with Hamza Tzortzis the crisis of the modern Muslim man. We live in a fast-paced world dominated by technology. Social media has enhanced our lives and given space for Muslims to build networks, raise the profile of beleaguered members of our ummah and forward the call of Islam.With the goodness that comes from this compression of time and space, there are also challenges. In their eagerness to contribute to da’wah, many young men often lack the necessary characters to meet its requirements. Borrowing from the worst marketing strategies, they employ click-bait, shock and awe tactics and cheap stunts as a shortcut to achieve electronic likes and fame. Response videos and futile debates are used to curry favour with their growing base. Hamza Tzortsis shares the same concerns about this approach to dawah. We ask him about his journey and how he believes the community must address the absence of good mentoring and a programme of personal development. We also discuss the general perceptions, right or wrong, about young Muslim men.Join our Telegram group here: https://t.me/thinkingmuslim 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 Archive: thinkingmuslim.com - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.