The Thinking Muslim

In our short lives it is inevitable that we shall experience the death of our loved ones. Psychologists claim that there are five stages of grief, and for some to come to terms with the death of a partner, son, daughter or close friend may never be reconciled. We hear of many whose hearts are never settled and who live a shadow of their former lives. Many fall into depression as a consequence and others turn to drink and drugs to temporarily release their minds from the reminders associated in everyday life.This week I have invited Dr Yousif Haj Yousif, a consultant anaesthetist who has seen death and its impacts close up. I ask Yousif to help us to contextualise grief, how do we grieve as Muslims? and what are the ideas from Allah (swt) that help to console our hearts.Follow the programme on Twitter @thinking_muslimhttps://twitter.com/thinking_muslimJoin the Thinking Muslim Course - visit thinkingmuslim.eventbrite.co.ukEmail the programme using the email thinkingmuslim@pm.me Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest this week has been working in the field for over twenty years, Dr Imran Waheed is a consultant psychiatrist and looks at what is mental illness and why is it on the increase? How does Islam help us to deal with our mental health and build resilience to deal with the travails of life? And why has the liberal west failed to enhance the human mind? Follow the programme on Twitter @thinking_muslimhttps://twitter.com/thinking_muslimDonate to help us promote the podcast using PayPal here https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=B6WZTV3E6LUYN&source=urlLast few places left on our Thinking Muslim Course - visit thinkingmuslim.eventbrite.co.ukYou can also email the programme using the email thinkingmuslim@pm.me Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week I ask Dr Abul Izz Abdul Salam, a professor and expert in comparative economics from Jerusalem Palestine, to take a look at how Islam deals with the creation of wealth and at the same time address the problem of stagnant money that remains the prize of the rich 1%. It is common in the west to find multi-billionaires hoard vast amounts of wealth or invest their capital in financial markets that have little impact upon the real productive economy. It was the meltdown of these markets in 2008 that contributed to the biggest economic crash since the 1930’s leading to a global slowdown.What is the guiding philosophy that underpins an Islamic economy when it comes to economic growth, the wealthy and the circulation of money in that economy and what role, if any, does the government play in regulating this activity?Follow the programme on Twitter @thinking_muslimhttps://twitter.com/thinking_muslimDonate to help us promote the podcast using PayPal herehttps://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=B6WZTV3E6LUYN&source=urlYou can also email the programme thinkingmuslim@pm.me Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week I talk to Dr Abul Izz Abdul Salam, an academic and thinker of Islamic and comparative economics and a university professor from Jerusalem Palestine. We take a look at how Islamic Economics differs from the dominant liberal economic order that creates enormous wealth inequalities and perpetuates poverty. Follow the programme on Twitter @thinking_muslimhttps://twitter.com/thinking_muslimDonate to help us promote the podcast using PayPal here https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=B6WZTV3E6LUYN&source=urlYou can also email the programme thinkingmuslim@pm.me Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week I talk to Uthman Badr, academic, speaker and activist from Sydney Australia, on secularism, its origins, meaning and its impact upon the Muslim World.Follow the programme on Twitter@thinking_muslimhttps://twitter.com/thinking_muslimDonate to help us promote the podcast using PayPal here https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=B6WZTV3E6LUYN&source=urlAnd read my write-up for this programme, including my thoughts on the interview on my Medium page Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week I talk to Asim Qureshi, Research Director at the advocacy group CAGE, on the securitisation of the Muslim community and the making of an ‘enemy within’.Follow the programme on Twitter @thinking_muslim [https://twitter.com/thinking_muslim]Donate to help us promote the podcast using PayPal here [https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=B6WZTV3E6LUYN&source=url]And read my write-up for this programme, including my thoughts on the interview on my Medium page https://medium.com/@thinkingmuslim/a-suspect-community-britain-s-muslims-and-the-spectre-of-fear-cb5160588c6?sk=16534a59c08a054c089d6f52292c0fba Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest this week is Hakeem Muhammad, he argues that narratives about the slave trade barely mention the Muslim origin of many African’s that were enslaved, their courageous attempts to remain Muslim despite severe repression and indeed the role Islam played as a basis of defiance and the driver behind many of the slave rebellions on plantations. Hakeem charts the role of Christianity in legitimising slavery but also how forcible conversions were used to pacify slaves. For Hakeem, the advent of liberalism did little to reverse this racialised world view, he suggests early liberal philosophers like Locke and Kant were proponents of slavery and talked openly about subjugating African’s in pursuit of economic gain. Hakeem Muhammad is from the Southside of Chicago and is the founder and president of the Black Dawah Network.Please remember to follow the programme on Twitter @thinking_muslimAlso you may want to read my writeup of this week's show as well as leave a comment on Medium https://medium.com/@thinkingmuslim/enslaved-african-muslims-to-america-the-untold-story-d9725ca18218?sk=bab6f7a1d3566fb850abdb678a7336e0 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This podcast explores Islamophobia and the challenges of liberalism, discussing the origins and misconceptions of Islamophobia, self-censorship within the Muslim community, the role of Muslim politicians, the impact of secular liberalism on Islamic identity, and strategies for resistance. They also discuss the courses offered by Alessna Institute and their critique of secular liberalism.

@thinking_muslimFor over three years, Britain’s political establishment and much of the country has been in, what can only described as political meltdown. The 2016 referendum called by David Cameron resulted in the extraordinary outcome to leave the EU, despite all political predictions to the contrary. Since then Britain has been battling with the issue, triggering Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, negotiating a deal that was rejected on three separate occasions by Parliament, the resignation of Theresa May and now what seems like a flailing Boris Johnson administration. Is Britain on a course to make the worst political decision since the Suez Crisis in 1956, that may potentially tip it into a recession and in the words of former PM John Major, reduce its influence in the world.Dr Imran Waheed joins me in conversation to explore Britain’s uneasy relationship with Europe, its current predicament and to speculate about what comes next. As always, please subscribe to The Thinking Muslim on your favourite Podcast app and follow me on @thinking_muslim for regular updates. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we look at Islam’s perspective on wealth. In many ways how we view wealth and its accumulation has an impact on how we think, our likes and dislikes and how we engage with the world. It is accepted that religious people shun wealth, "the meek will inherit the earth" is the famous biblical passage. Many Muslims also have an uneasy relationship with wealth, it is often associated with fahisha (transgressions) and taqabbur (arrogance), and too much wealth leads to extravagance, hassad (jealousy) and worse. So how does Islam view wealth and how does it view extravagance. Does Islam promise damnation for the rich and salvation for the poor? How should we view the sense of comfort that accompanies wealth with what some may see as religious principles of struggle and hardship? Is our spiritual connection with Allah compromised when we focus on our material needs and desires?To answer these questions this week I have invited Hasan al-Hasan to join us. Hasan is a university lecturer based in London, originally from Lebanon.If you like the show, please remember to: Subscribe on your favourite app Forward this message to others Follow the show on Twitter @thinking_muslim  -  https://twitter.com/thinking_muslim Follow my programme Medium page https://medium.com/@thinkingmuslim Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.