ImanWire Podcast

Worlds collide on this special 50th episode of the podcast, as the US and Istanbul teams come together to discuss studying abroad, cultural identity, and the role of community in developing spiritually. Please subscribe to the podcast and visit www.imanwire.com for the latest articles and podcast episodes. Send any questions or comments to @imanwired on Twitter or imanwire@almadinainstitute.org.

Professor Suleyman Derin joins the podcast to discuss the great spiritual master, Aziz Mahmud Hudayi, and the importance of spirituality in Ottoman culture. Suleyman Derin graduated from Marmara University, Faculty of Theology in 1991, and completed his Ph.D. in 1999 at Leeds University in the UK. The title of his thesis was “Towards Some Paradigms on the Sufi Conception of Love: From Râbia to Ibn al-Fârid”. Since then, he has been teaching at Marmara University in the Faculty of Theology in Istanbul. He was appointed as full time professor in 2012. He has written several books in the field of Sufism as well as many articles, with an interest in Sufi tafasir, Sufi psychology and orientalist studies on Sufism. Please subscribe to the podcast and visit www.imanwire.com for the latest articles and podcast episodes. Send any questions or comments to @imanwired on Twitter or imanwire@almadinainstitute.org.

Who is the hero and who is the villain? Giovanni Herran joins the podcast to talk about the film "Joker" in a conversation on alienation, socio-economic dehumanization, mental illness, as well as other perspectives on the film when viewed through a Muslim lens. Giovanni Herran has been an educator for nearly two decades and currently teaches Ethics at Temple University. He has taught subjects including comparative religion and Islamic intellectual history, and his Master's thesis in History researched the intersection between colonization, imperial culture, the production of race, and evolutionary theory. He is currently finishing his doctoral research on epistemology and non-dualism within the late Islamic heritage. Please subscribe to the podcast and visit www.imanwire.com for the latest articles and podcast episodes. Send any questions or comments to @imanwired on Twitter or imanwire@almadinainstitute.org.

How can we understand what's on the minds of our teenagers? Moutasem Atiya is joined by a group of teens to listen to their thoughts on talking (or not talking) to parents, finding faith and the challenges living as a Muslim. Please subscribe to the podcast and visit www.imanwire.com for the latest articles and podcast episodes. Send any questions or comments to @imanwired on Twitter or imanwire@almadinainstitute.org.

In recent years, both the general public and many students of knowledge have been disappointed by the personal mistakes or political positions of some scholars. What do we do when the ones who bring so much clarity to understanding the religion confound us in other ways? Shaykh Hassan Lachheb and Dr. Mohamed Ghilan join the podcast to discuss the principles we should keep in mind when approaching this problem. Please subscribe to the podcast and visit www.imanwire.com for the latest articles and podcast episodes. Send any questions or comments to @imanwired on Twitter or imanwire@almadinainstitute.org.

In this blessed month of Dhul Hijjah, we share this replay of this podcast with Dr. Younus Mirza as we share Hajj stories, how to seek the blessings of Dhul Hijjah and Eid-ul-Adha, and discuss the differences between Biblical and Qur'anic narratives about the Prophets. Was the son of sacrifice Ishaq or Ismail? Does it matter? We reflect on the story of sacrifice in Surah As-Saffat and its lessons for us today. Dr. Younus Y. Mirza is a Visiting Researcher at Georgetown University. He is a co-author of the book "The Bible and the Qur’an: Biblical Figures in the Islamic Tradition". Please subscribe to the podcast and visit www.imanwire.com for the latest articles and podcast episodes. Send any questions or comments to @imanwired on Twitter or imanwire@almadinainstitute.org.

Coming across a statement from the pre-modern scholarly tradition that would be considered misogynistic or racist today can be a jarring, troubling experience. How should we engage such texts and how are we to consider such statements in our overall understanding of Islam today? Ustadha Zaynab Ansari returns to the podcast to discuss the approach we should take when confronted with such challenging or problematic statements from classical scholars of the past. Please subscribe to the podcast and visit www.imanwire.com for the latest articles and podcast episodes. Send any questions or comments to @imanwired on Twitter or imanwire@almadinainstitute.org.

Shaykh Yasir Fahmy returns to the podcast to discuss "keeping it real", the call-out culture, the debates between the right and left, and finding balance in addressing the divisive issues of the day. Please subscribe to the podcast and visit www.imanwire.com for the latest articles and podcast episodes. Send any questions or comments to @imanwired on Twitter or imanwire@almadinainstitute.org.

Where did the Quran come from? The name Al-Mushaf, literally the “gathering of pages”, now synonymous with the Qur'anic text, and named such by the first community following the death of the Prophet(peace and blessings upon him and his family) gives us an indication of its origins. Dr. Jonathan Brown returns to the podcast for a discussion on the roots of the Qur'anic text, its compilation, and what impact its historicity has today on how we view the last sacred scripture. Please subscribe to the podcast and visit www.imanwire.com for the latest articles and podcast episodes. Send any questions or comments to @imanwired on Twitter or imanwire@almadinainstitute.org.

Shaykh Muhammad Mendes returns to the podcast to discuss the concept of truth in the Islamic worldview, the role the heart plays in determining how we recognize truth, and the changing standards (or lack of standards) for truth in the age of relativism, "alternative facts" and "fake news". How can we be seekers of truth and guide others to it? Please subscribe to the podcast and visit www.imanwire.com for the latest articles and podcast episodes. Send any questions or comments to @imanwired on Twitter or imanwire@almadinainstitute.org.