Diffused Congruence: The American Muslim Experience

Parvez and Omar check one off the bucket list, with NBA superstar Hakeem Olajuwon joining them for an in-depth conversation covering his entire career and more. About Hakeem Olajuwon Hakeem Olajuwon, nicknamed "the Dream", is a Nigerian-American former professional basketball player. From 1984 to 2002, he played the center position in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Houston Rockets and eventually the Toronto Raptors. He led the Rockets to back-to-back NBA championships in 1994 and 1995. In 2008, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, and in 2016, he was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest centers and one of the greatest basketball players of all time. He became the first non-American to be an All-Star and start in an All-Star Game, the first non-American to win NBA MVP, the first non-American to win NBA Defensive Player of the Year, and in the 1993–94 season, he became the only player in NBA history to win the NBA MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, and Finals MVP awards in the same season. His Rockets won back-to-back championships in 1994 and 1995.  Olajuwon was a member of the Olympic gold medal-winning United States national team, and he was selected as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History. He ended his career as the league's all-time leader in blocks (3,830) and is one of four NBA players to record a quadruple-double.    

Like countless others today we are deeply saddened by the loss of our friend, teacher, and supporter Usama Canon . He will always hold a very special and dear place in our hearts as the guest on our very first show. He agreed without any hesitation and as was his nature was extremely generous with his candor, hospitality, and time. We pray that God envelope him in His mercy and Grace, overlook his human frailties and shortcomings, and provide patience and solace to his wife, children, family, and friends. إِنَّا لِلّهِ وَإِنَّـا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعونَ To God we belong and to Him we are returning

Parvez and Omar are joined by Hamid Khan to discuss the end of the Afghan war and the crisis that followed. About Hamid Khan Mr. Hamid Khan is an accomplished legal professional with 20 years’ experience advancing the rule of law through public policy, global program development, and legal education. Mr. Khan is also an expert in Islamic constitutionalism, issues of Islamic law in armed conflict and post-conflict justice, gender issues under Islamic law, and trends in modern Islamic political thought share his insights on the current crisis in Afghanistan, evacuation and resettlement efforts, and potential ways forward. Mr. Khan has worked in justice sector and legal development issues with a wide variety of international organizations, non-governmental organizations, and U.S. Government agencies including the Director of National Intelligence, the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Federal Judiciary, the United Nations, NATO, ISAF (Afghanistan), and the U.S.-Islamic World Forum at the Brookings Institution. He is a Judicial Education Attorney with the Federal Judicial Center and has served as Postdoctoral Fellow for Stanford Law School’s Afghanistan Legal Education Project.

Co-host Omar A. Ansari's brother-in-law, Aasim Syed, was just diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), which impacts the bone marrow. He has already received an initial round of intense chemotherapy and the doctors have now said a blood (stem cell) transplant is required ASAP. We also learned that there is NOT A SINGLE MATCH in the entire registry for him right now. Unfortunately South Asians (which have the highest chance of matching with him) are overwhelmingly underrepresented in the registry. If you can register to see if you're a match, you could save a life. Register at: USA:  my.bethematch.org/aasim, OR at www.aadp.org INDIA: www.datri.org OUTSIDE of THE USA please go to www.swabtheworld.com If you’re above 44, register here: https://www.dkms.org/. This also works for India, Germany Poland, Chile and the UK. Registration takes

Zeshawn and Aman Ali join us to discuss their new documentary, Two Gods. ABOUT THE DOCUMENTARY An intimate documentary about faith, renewal, and healing, Two Gods follows a Muslim casket maker and ritual body washer in New Jersey, as he takes two young teenagers under his wing to teach them how to live better lives. Shot in a striking black-and-white, Two Gods explores the juxtaposition of grief and the rituals of death with the vibrancy and potential of adolescence. The documentary turns an empathetic lens on Muslim American stories, ultimately crafting a moving portrait of both the intimate moments and the complexities of the everyday Muslim American experience. About the Filmmakers Zeshawn Ali was born and raised in Ohio. He moved to New York to study film at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts where he concentrated on directing and cinematography. He directed the short film Shallows and short documentaries for the 30 Mosques series which were featured in festivals and publications across the country. He's currently based in New York. Aman Ali is an award-winning storyteller in New York City. He’s made appearances on dozens of media outlets including the NY Times, CNN, Buzzfeed, NBC News, and HBO to tell stories about the Muslim American community. He is also one of the brains behind the social media phenomenon 30 Mosques in 30 Days, a 25,000 mile road trip he took to all 50 States in the U.S. with the mission of telling profound stories about Muslims in America.

Dr. Celene Ibrahim discusses women and gender in the Qur'an. Topics include women's contributions to Islam, the impact of empire on Muslim history, the presence of esteemed scholars, flexibility in Islamic tradition, and challenges faced by Muslim women scholars.

Parvez and Omar are joined by Habibe and Ishrat Husain, from the Rahima Foundation.  They tell the story of their immigration to the United States, their (inter-cultural) marriage, their migration out West, and the forming of Rahima Foundation. About Habibe   Habibe came to the United States in 1962, as a high school foreign exchange student from Turkey. After completing high school, she went on to earn a degree in Pharmacy from Temple University in Philadelphia. In Pennsylvania, she met and married Ishrat Husain and, in 1973, they moved to the Bay Area. While being a mother and wife, she started and ran the first Weekend Islamic School in the Bay Area for many years.   On the 21st night of Ramadan in 1993, she was inspired to start Rahima Foundation to provide groceries to the local, underserved community. As the work grew, the organization was registered as a 501 c(3) Charitable and Educational Foundation in 1997. Her vision was to establish an institution of charity to serve the financial, educational, emotional, social, and spiritual needs of the communities. In the last 25 years, the organization has impacted over half a million lives through food and financial assistance. Habibe Husain specializes in serving indigenous people, refugees, and immigrants who are struggling to meet their basic human needs. Inspired by her faith, her relentless service is a testament to her compassion and dedication.   About Ishrat   Ishrat was born in Aligarh, India, grew up in Karachi, Pakistan, and migrated to the US in 1966. He has a Bachelor's Degree from the University of Karachi and a Masters Degree in Physics from University of Pennsylvania. Additionally, Ishrat earned a Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering from Farleigh Dickinson University. After decades of working in the tech industry, Ishrat retired from IBM in 2013 and joined Rahima Foundation in 2014 as its Executive Director and President. Ishrat is married to Habibe Husain, the founder of the organization, and has been involved with Rahima since its inception in 1993.

Parvez and Omar are joined by Lena Khan, to discuss her latest achievements in directing films. About Lena Khan Lena is a Canadian American writer and director. Her first feature film, THE TIGER HUNTER, released in over 60 cities nationwide and garnered effusively positive reviews from The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and more. Fresh off of her first film, Disney tapped Lena to direct FLORA AND ULYSSES, a live action family comedy. With a background from the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television and experience at noted production companies such as Participant Media, Lena spent years directing short films, commercials and music videos before embarking on her first film. Lena and her work have been profiled in Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Teen Vogue, USA Today and The New York Times. She was also listed as one of the 25 Screenwriters to watch in MovieMaker magazine. Lena recently sold a television show, directed multiple episodes of Netflix's "Never Have I Ever," and is overseeing development on a few feature projects.

Parvez and Omar welcome Imam Ibrahim to talk about his youth, his transition to Sunni Islam, and his nearly 50 years of needs based community work in the Chicago area for the past 50 years.   About Imam S. T. Ibrahim Imam Ibrahim served as the founding Imam of the Mosque of 'Umar, Inc. on Chicago's Far South Side in the Roseland community from 1973 to 2009.  He led prayers and all related services, coordinated needs based programs (food panty, youth, voter registration, job training, etc.) and partnered with Muslim merchants to establish a sense of brotherhood in the inner city.  From 2009 through 2018 he operated Masjid Khalil'ullah in Chicago's Morgan Park community. He also served as the Director of the Transitional College Prepatory Program (TCP) at Chicago State University from 1992-2009.  Imam Ibrahim was a participant (along with Imam Siraj Wahhaj) in the 1st Imam Training Program in Saudi Arabia in 1978 sponsored by the Ministry of Higher Education.  

Parvez and Omar are joined by Sana Saeed from AJ+ to discuss, among other things, social media culture, holding Muslims leaders to a standard, the "akh-right" and the transition to the Biden administration.  It was an engaging, no holds barred conversation that we hope you'll join us for. About Sana Saeed Sana Saeed is a Host and Senior Producer who has been with AJ+ since 2014, helping launch the channel. A Canadian who has spent most of her life in the United States, she’s interested in politics, religion, culture and working very hard to stay out of arguments on Twitter. She has a background in media critique and analysis, with her work having appeared in The New York Times, LA Times, Quartz, Guardian, Salon and AJE. Sana is currently working on ‘Pop Americana’ - a show that looks at American pop culture as a vehicle for politics. In reality, she’s really just living out her ‘VH1 Behind The Music’ remake fantasy. She’s also usually the one in the room who sounds like that reading you kinda, sorta skimmed in your elective liberal arts class.