The Thinking Muslim

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: info@thinkingmuslim.com 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: info@thinkingmuslim.com 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: info@thinkingmuslim.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lawyer and campaigner Hakeem Muhammad discusses the myths and reality surrounding Malcolm X's legacy. They delve into the misappropriation of his image and messages, his autobiography's impact, and his influence on African American unity. They also explore his international perspective and strategy, highlighting his significance globally.

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.