
ImanWire Podcast
ImanWire is an online publication and multimedia platform focusing on articulating spirituality in a modern context, highlighting a diverse group of American Muslim voices. Visit https://www.almadina.org/studio/podcasts for the latest articles and podcast episodes.
Latest episodes

Dec 18, 2024 • 39min
Purification Of The Soul Ep. 7: Embracing Spiritual Detachment - Shaykh Mokhtar Maghraoui
Shaykh Mokhtar Maghraoui discusses the process of spiritual growth and freedom from attachments. He emphasizes the importance of detaching oneself from worldly desires and possessions using the analogy of the embryo within the egg shell.
CHAPTERS:
0:00 - Introduction
03:17 - Spiritual Q&A Session Importance
05:28 - Overcoming Ego Constraints
14:56 - Expanding Awareness Beyond Limits
20:24 - Severing Unhealthy Attachments
24:10 - Journey to Spiritual Liberation
26:25 - Embodying Freedom: Bird Metaphor
31:15 - Human Experience and Detachment
34:55 - Understanding Dunya's Cage
38:45 - Escaping Dunya's Confinement

Dec 9, 2024 • 1h 14min
Ep. 85: Mecca to Medina: Hiking the Hijrah - Husain Abdullah
Husain Abdullah joins the podcast to discuss his previous career in professional football and his recent unique experience of walking in the footsteps of the Prophet on the Hijrah route. He is the author of "Mecca to Medina: 100 Personal Reflections on Prophet Muhammad's ﷺ Hijrah Journey".
CHAPTERS:
0:00 - Introduction
3:07 - Fasting and Football: Worship 24-7
8:18 - The Sajda Heard Around the World
14:06 - Showing Off or Praising Allah?
17:18 - Elite Athletes, Spirituality and Gratitude
23:42 - Retracing the Hijrah of the Prophet
27:30 - Recognizing When Allah Chooses You
29:41 - GPS Mapping of the Hijrah
34:52 - Changing Terrain and the Footsteps of the Prophet
50:53 - Nafs-Breaker: Submitting to the Mountain
52:29 - In the Presence of Sacred History
1:00:16 - A Trip of Love

Nov 25, 2024 • 47min
Ep. 84: The Family of Musa: Women and Gender in the Qur'an - Celene Ibrahim
Dr. Celene Ibrahim, author of "Women and Gender in the Qur'an", joins the podcast to discuss her analysis of the rich and wide-ranging portrayals of female figures in the Qur'anic sacred history. Using the women around Prophet Musa to anchor the discussion, she offers insights on how their stories exemplify the spiritual truths of the Qur'anic message.
CHAPTERS:
0:00 - Introduction
1:50 - Analyzing the Female Figures in the Qur'an
8:26 - The Mother of Prophet Musa: Faith and Resilience
17:32 - The Sister of Prophet Musa: Watchfulness & Wit
21:03 - The Sisters of Madyan: Multiculturalism, Marriage and Modesty
29:54 - The Wife of Pharoah and Tyranny at Home
40:06 - Women's Speech and Agency in the Qur'an

Nov 18, 2024 • 50min
Purification Of The Soul Ep. 6: Breaking Free from Confinement - Shaykh Mokhtar Maghraoui
Shaykh Mokhtar Maghraoui emphasizes the need to focus on internal transformation and seeking closeness to Allah. He highlights the stagnancy of hearts despite outward actions, urging individuals to rectify their intentions and break free from the confinement of their own existence.
CHAPTERS:
0:00 - Introduction to Tazkiyah
1:17 - Tazkiyah Essentials: Himmah & Qurb
2:34 - Al-Hakim Al-Tirmidhi Biography
6:21 - Himmah's Goal: Achieving Qurb
14:56 - Spiritual Steps: Understanding Qurb
23:20 - Exploring the Heart's Spiritual Path
25:25 - Analyzing the Heart in Worship
35:50 - Improving Heart's Worship: First Step
43:10 - Metaphor for the Seeker's Journey
44:30 - Heart's Liberation: Escaping the Egg
46:20 - Heart's Liberation: Breaking Barriers

Nov 11, 2024 • 1h 11min
Ep. 83: American Muslim Storytellers - Alex Kronemer & Michael Wolfe
Alex Kronemer and Michael Wolfe, co-founders of Unity Productions Foundation, join the podcast to reflect on lessons learned from over 20 years at UPF, sharing the stories of Muslims in the media, and tackling Rumi and the refugee crisis onscreen in Lamya's Poem.
CHAPTERS:
0:00 - Introduction
4:48 - Hajj: Bringing the Recipe of Islam Together
9:35 - Working to Create Understanding of Islam and Muslims
14:18 - Framing in the Context of Stories
19:43 - Islam Requires People
21:43 - The Prophetic Legacy of Communication
24:57 - Emergence of UPF
32:30 - Telling the American Muslim Story
41:11 - Adapting to Changing Times
49:07 - Rumi, Refugees and Lamya's Poem
59:24 - Muslims in the Media: The Artist and the Audience

Oct 28, 2024 • 1h 56min
Ep 82: Thomas Jefferson's Qur'an and the 2024 Election
In part 1 of this double episode, Dr. Denise Spellberg, author of "Thomas Jefferson's Qur'an: Islam and the Founders" discusses how conceptions of Muslims played a crucial role in the religious pluralism in the early republic, anxieties over a Muslim president, and the clash between principles and prejudice that continues today.
In part 2, the ImanWire hosts get together for a round table discussion on Muslims and the 2024 election.
CHAPTERS:
0:00 - Introduction
2:50 - Conceptions of Islam at the Time of the Founders
11:16 - Jefferson's Qur'an
15:55 - John Locke, Jefferson and Religious Freedom
23:51 - A Muslim President?
30:48 - Imaginary Vs Real Muslims
32:22 - Slavery and Racial Hypocrisy
37:06 - Omar bin Said and the Legacy of Islam in the United States
41:19 - Participating in a Flawed Political System
48:40 - A Critique of the Judeo-Christian Construct
52:20 - Retelling Islam in American History
58:30 - Round Table Discussion on Muslims and the 2024 Election
1:05:18 - The Moral Obligation of American Muslims
1:09:50 - Weakening Religiosity and Liberalism
1:13:38 - Returning to the Source of Peace and Community
1:16:26 - Conceptualizing a Spiritual Framework
1:29:27 - Political Differences
1:41:05 - Anchoring in the Divine Reality
1:45:26 - American Muslims Mattering

Sep 9, 2024 • 1h 45min
Ep. 81: Slavery and Islam Part 4: Slave-Concubinage - Zaynab Ansari
"Those whom your right hands possess", a Qur'anic descriptor for female slaves, can evoke a number of charged emotions and thoughts that can be difficult to reconcile with our modern sensibilities today. What does slave-concubinage mean? How was it understood in the formative years of Islam?
In the final part of our series on slavery, Ustadha Zaynab Ansari, a resident scholar and instructor at Tayseer Seminary, reflects on this challenging topic.
CHAPTERS:
0:00 - Introduction
1:44 - A Review Culture: Framing the Discussion
3:44 - An Overview of Slavery and Islam
6:50 - Those Whom Your Right Hands Possess: An Ethical Framework
23:52 - Insights Into the Qur'anic Pairing of Wives and Slave-Concubines
25:42 - On the Context of Surah Nisaa
33:34 - Was Slave-Concubinage Discouraged?
49:18 - The Issue of Consent
54:56 - The Battle of Hunain and Conduct of Armies
1:04:38 - A Moral Imperative For Consent?
1:12:28 - Legal Applications of Harm Vs Modern Notions of Consent
1:19:14 - On Coercive Relations
1:22:07 - The Prophet and Maria
1:32:35 - Moving Forward as a Community

Aug 26, 2024 • 1h 27min
Ep. 80: Slavery and Islam Part 3: Racial Consequences & Theological Considerations - Dawud Walid
In part 3 of our series on slavery, Imam Dawud Walid considers the aftereffects of slavery on our current condition, its historical role in contributing to anti-blackness in the community today, and how it affects our understanding of Qur'anic language and theological concepts such as 'ubudiyyah (being a slave to God).
Imam Dawud Walid is the Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MI) and member of the Imams Council of Michigan. He is the author of several books, including Blackness and Islam, Towards Sacred Activism, and Centering Black Narrative: Black Muslim Nobles Among the Early Pious Muslims.
CHAPTERS:
0:00 - Introduction
5:39 - The Conflation of Slavery and Anti-Blackness
11:50 - Racialization in Language During the Abbasids & The Zanj Rebellion
16:20 - The Fabrication of Anti-Black Narrations
17:50 - Deployment of Racially-Specific Language
21:00 - Blackness and Arabness
21:56 - A Story of Imam Ali ibn Musa al-Rida
24:54 - Effects of Slavery on Fomenting Anti-Blackness
26:44 - Anti-Blackness and Representation
36:26 - Scholars Fighting Anti-Blackness and Race-Based Slavery
46:17 - Revisiting the "Arab Slave Trade"
1:00:13 - Slavery to God and Freedom
1:10:52 - Qur'anic Parables of the Slave and Free
1:16:06 - Egalitarianism Vs. Social Hierarchy in the Qur'an
1:20:31 - Modern-Day Slaves

Aug 12, 2024 • 1h 45min
Ep. 79: Slavery and Islam Part 2: Islam & the Abolition of Slavery - Bilal Ware
Our series on slavery continues as Dr. Bilal Ware joins the podcast to explore the Islamic tradition and the abolition of slavery, debunk the myths of the "Arab-Islamic" slave trade and reflect on how these histories impact our lives today.
Dr. Bilal Ware is a historian of Africa and Islam and is an Associate Professor in the Department of History at UC-Santa Barbara. He is the author of several books including, "The Walking Qur'an: Islamic Education, Embodied Knowledge & History in West Africa", which details the intellectual and spiritual tradition in West Africa and tells the story of African Muslims in the 18th century abolishing slavery and monarchy.
Link to previous episode with Dr. Ware: https://www.almadina.org/studio/podcasts/ep-9-walking-qurans-of-africa-scholarship-liberty-the-abolition-of-slavery-dr-rudolph-ware
CHAPTERS:
0:00 - Introduction
5:54 - Was Slavery Uncontested in Islamic Law?
6:50 - The Single Most Misunderstood Aspect of the Sunnah
12:30 - Freedom: The Fundamental Principle of Humanity
16:00 - West African Scholars and Abolitionism
19:22 - Challenging Every Element of Slavery
27:00 - Orientalist Aims of Normalizing an Islamic Legacy of Slavery
32:22 - An Intellectual Geneology of Abolition in West Africa
37:44 - The Lead-Up to Revolutionary Emanicipation
45:44 - 1776: The End of Monarchy and Slavery in Senegambia
48:22 - Expanding Identity to Free, Not Enslave
50:18 - Scholarship Independent From Political Authority
53:37 - Was Senegambian Abolition A Blip in History?
56:06 - Sokoto and Uthman Dan Fodio
59:33 - Exporting the Revolution: The Spirit of Muslim Slave Revolt
1:01:12 - Savannah, Georgia: "A Believer Cannot Own Another Believer"
1:04:59 - The Link Between West African Abolitionists and Frederick Douglass
1:06:52 - Written Out of History: The Legacy of Abdulqadir Kan
1:07:59 - Prophetic Examples Against Slavery
1:10:48 - The Intellectual Dishonesty of the "Arab-Islamic Slave Trade"
1:30:33 - The Imprint of History on Our Engagement With Islam

Jul 29, 2024 • 2h 4min
Ep. 78: Slavery and Islam Part 1: The Question of Slavery - Jonathan Brown
Slavery might be considered a thing of the past, but the position of slavery in Islam continues to be an issue that many Muslims grapple with today. In this special four-part series of the ImanWire podcast, we approach this complex topic from several perspectives, beginning with a discussion with Dr. Jonathan Brown on the moral question of slavery, its place in Islamic law, and the diverse practices of it in Muslim history.
Dr. Jonathan Brown is the Alwaleed bin Talal Chair of Islamic Civilization in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and author of several books, including "Slavery and Islam".
CHAPTERS:
0:00 - Introduction
4:51 - Why Discuss Slavery Now?
14:35 - Challenges in Defining Slavery
18:06 - The Problem of Talking About Slavery in World History
21:59 - Projecting Assumptions On Others
27:53 - The Ubiquity of Slavery in the Pre-Modern World
31:32 - Slavery in 7th Century Arabia
34:40 - Closing the Doors to Enslavement
37:31 - The Emphasis on Emancipation
40:50 - Female Slaves and Legitimacy of Children
44:11 - Ethical Treatment of Slaves
46:53 - The Zeal to Emancipate
47:42 - Slaves of God, Slaves of Men?
49:58 - The Legal Handicap of Slavery
52:35 - Slavery is Harm
56:16 - An Obsession to Free Slaves
1:00:10 - Slavery in Muslim Civilization
1:05:28 - Racialization and Slavery in Muslim History
1:07:59 - Important Distinctions in Slave Populations Between the United States and the Muslim World
1:14:26 - The Slavery Conundrum and the Moral Wrongness of Slavery
1:27:14 - Horrors of Trans-Atlantic American Slavery
1:33:07 - History of Abolitionism
1:41:57 - Abolition in the Muslim World
1:44:08 - Muslim Arguments Against Slavery
1:53:40 - The Abolition of Slavery
1:55:59 - Reconciling Tradition and Abolition