The Thinking Muslim

Our guest this week is an insider turned sceptic. Harris Irfan takes on the essential purpose and complexities of Islamic finance and questions whether it has fulfilled its lofty Islamic objectives. Harris is the author of “Heaven’s Bankers: Inside the hidden world of Islamic Finance”.In this discussion with Riaz Hasan, he talks candidly about how much Islamic finance depends on a capitalist riba-based architecture. He recalls his part in acquiring funding for the Makkah clock tower, a project he now regrets. This is a fascinating look at the players and motives of an industry. Harris also offers his views on Bitcoin as a more Islamic alternative above the gold standard, traditionally accepted as a stable shariah-based currency.Thanks to the team: Musab Muhammad, Reem Walid, Adeel Alam, Yusra Zainuddin, 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.

Yahya Birt, a research director at the Ayaan Institute and community historian, dives into the contentious role of Muslim public intellectuals engaging with the political right. He critiques the impact of white convert scholars who may unintentionally reinforce anti-Islam sentiments. Birt explores the complexities of white nativism, identity politics, and the responsibilities of Muslim leaders to younger generations facing prejudice. The discussion also emphasizes the need for inclusivity and active political engagement to combat rising authoritarianism.

Our guests this week, distinguished in their fields take a deeper look at the issues arising from the revocation of abortion as a constitutional right. What exactly is the position of shari’ah regarding abortion? What did the classical scholars say about the issue and is there a difference with more modern takes? How do we appreciate the political context of the Supreme Court decision and what are the social repercussions? My guests have a rich background and expertise and as you know, this podcast wants to move our thinking away from the ill-informed vox pop style contributions everyone seems to want to make without the depth of study required.Dr Tahseen Shareef is a US based physician specialising in internal medicine. She started two Islamic schools in her home state California, delivers Islamic circles to women, and is currently pursuing Islamic studies on top of her busy clinical responsibilities. Iyad Hilal is an author of an acclaimed book on Usul al Fiqh and regular Friday khateeb at Mosques in California.Thanks to the team: Riaz Hasan, Musab Muhammad, Reem Walid, Adeel Alam, Yusra Zainuddin, 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 trojan horse affair upended education policy in the UK and gave rise to one of the most problematic policies, the prevent duty. If you haven’t already, The New York Times Serial podcast on the subject is worth a listen – Tahir and his colleagues were vindicated as concerned parents caught up in a systematic programme of islamophobia.  Riaz Hasan and Muhammad Jalal caught up with Tahir Alam - the man at the centre of the scandal - to try to understand the broader motivations of government and others hell bent on tuning back the tide of young Muslim achievement and in the process stoking Islamophobia.Thanks to the team: Riaz Hasan, Musab Muhammad, Reem Walid, Adeel Alam, Yusra Zainuddin, 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 (Host) and https://twitter.com/thinking_muslim Website: thinkingmuslim.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You can donate to the show here: https://www.thinkingmuslim.com/contributeIs modernity destroying the human mind? This is the question we ask our guest this week, Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad (Dr Tim Winters of the Cambridge Muslim College). Many of us are fortunate to live in a world where every desire we have are met yet curiously our ability to process these blessings leads many to a dark place, a state of mental anguish. It seems the more we have the less happy we are. The more we live in concrete jungles the more anxious we become. This begs a larger question, is there a fundamental problem with the way we live, is there a problem with modernity?Dr Tim Winters is Founder and Dean of the Cambridge Muslim College, Aziz Foundation Professor of Islamic Studies at both Cambridge Muslim College and Ebrahim College, Director of Studies  at Wolfson College and Lecturer of Islamic Studies in the Faculty of Divinity at University of Cambridge. He has translated classical works including a translation of two volumes of the Islamic scholar al-Ghazali's Ihya Ulum al-Din. Thanks to the team: Riaz Hasan, Musab Muhammad, Reem Walid, Adeel Alam, Yusra Zainuddin, Ahaz Atif and Umar Abdul Salam.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.

At the time of this episode’s release, the outcome of the French presidential election has yet to be announced. It is likely the incumbent, Emmanuel Macron, will come back to office, once again defeating his hard-right rival Marine Le Pen. Many Muslims may breathe a sigh of relief, Le Pen stands out as a viscerally anti-Muslim candidate in a country where it’s hard to find any moderate voices. But in many ways, Macron’s return to power is meaningless for the Muslim community in France. For all the calls for greater political participation, the choice for many is between one form of Islamophobia over another.Muslims in France find themselves wedged between a rock and a hard place. Today, our guest, Rayan Freschi, a legal expert and researcher for CageUK has recently authored a disturbing report on the French government’s policy of “systematic obstruction” of the Muslim community. He uncovers how the French state under Macron has targeted peaceful Muslims, shut down Mosques, closed charities, hounded Islamic schools and made it impossible for civil society to operate independently from the state. His report, found in the show notes, makes a chilling read. Rayan tells me that the French state is shutting down Islam in France. We talk about how this systematic obstruction has manifested and the consequence for Europe’s largest Muslim community.Download the report here https://www.cage.ngo/we-are-beginning-to-spread-terror-report Thanks to the team: Riaz Hasan, Musab Muhammad, Reem Walid, Adeel Alam, Yusra Zainuddin, 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.

Zakat is often mischaracterised as merely the act of paying individual alms. In reality it is a sophisticated system of wealth redistribution and spiritual sacrifice that helps to nurture a true Muslim fraternity. It is customary to pay Zakat in Ramadan, as this is when the reward is greatest for all deeds but also the heightened sense of brotherhood and the absence of Shaytaan’s whispers asking us to hold back, means that charitable donations flood various causes.But what is Zakat? To whom can it be paid? How do we calculate Zakat? Which organisations can we offer our money to? What if we have debt? These questions and more will be answered by my learned guest today. Dr Osman Umarji is a director at Yaqeen Institute, he is also a Professor in the School of Education at UC Irvine and has studied at Al Azhar university.Thanks to the team: Riaz Hasan, Musab Muhammad, Reem Walid, Adeel Alam, Yusra Zainuddin, 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.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine dominates the news. This audacious attack on a neighbouring country has shocked Europe with its sheer brutality. Of course, Muslims have experience of Russia’s tactics in war, from Grozny in Chechnya to East Aleppo and beyond – the Russian military machine is neither guided by morality nor humanity. In Aleppo alone, some 30,000 civilians were slaughtered, leaving the few that remained to painfully evacuate their city.But when all is said about the double standards, Muslims are confronted with two big questions, how should we understand the crisis and how should we respond. Sadly on both counts many have opted to either embrace the left’s anti-imperialism narrative and in turn sound like they sympathise or support Putin’s actions.This week invite back onto The Thinking Muslim, Professor of International Relations Joseph Kaminski from the International University of Sarajevo. Joseph speaks to me about the crisis, how to view the actions of America and the impact upon Muslims in Bosnia, who are once again facing a belligerent Serbian movement, supported by Russia. He also passionately discusses some of the takes that have been circulating the Muslim twitter-sphere.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.

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.