With Umar Faruq Abd-Allah

Throughout human history, great philosophers, leaders, and thinkers devoted their lives toward the pursuit of wisdom. Countless pages and lines of poetry extol the qualities of the wise person. In this podcast, Hamza Yusuf explains the Quranic definition of wisdom and the prerequisite knowledge to achieve it.

God revealed the Qur'an as the light of guidance and the criterion to judge between truth and falsehood. In this week's episode, Hamza Yusuf discusses the key to our well-being and success—a regular commitment to the recitation and reflection of God's Book.

The Quran addresses one of humanity's perennial questions: Why are we here, and where are we going? In this episode, Hamza Yusuf elucidates the Quranic conception of this life and the prophetic practice that navigates us back to the Divine.

The recent tragic events in France once again bring to the forefront the age-old debate over government and the limits of allegiance. This episode examines the current crisis through the lens of our sacred texts, which harmonize the concepts of obedience, freedom, and the pursuit of justice.

God tells us in the Quran that man was created in a state of angst, uneasy in both fortune and misfortune. What is the spiritual remedy for this? Tune in and discover the sacred prescription for our most innate illness.

In the perpetual battle between good and evil, how do we avoid the seductions of false gods and the pitfalls of groupthink? This episode expounds on the prophetic tradition that reveals the spiritual vaccine to the current plague of nihilism and moral relativity: rejection of the profane and clinging to the sacred.

Since the dawn of our species, the pursuit of knowledge can be found at the core of the human endeavor, and the greatest of all knowledge leads inevitably to the divine. In this episode, Hamza Yusuf discusses the centrality of knowledge in the prophetic tradition, why we pursue it, and the role of the scholars as inheritors and guardians of this path to God.

The Information Age has brought us unprecedented convenience but at a heavy price. Rumors, slander, and lies have the ability to spread across vast spaces, leaving individuals and communities reeling in the aftermath. This episode expounds on the current crisis of misinformation and how to protect ourselves from its destructive nature through sacred guidelines that place knowledge over information.

What is the purpose of this world? How do we respond to trials and tribulation? In this episode, Hamza Yusuf discusses the school of eternity, where human suffering can teach obedience if we respond with patience and gratitude.