ImanWire Podcast

Gear up for Ramadan as Shaykh Mokhtar Maghraoui discusses inner dimensions of fasting to re-ignite your Ramadan and your spiritual life.

There isn't a lot of love for the suburbs these days, even though close to a majority of Americans live in suburban areas. The ethos of suburbia is closely connected to the concept of the "American Dream", with its manicured lawns, and white picket fences, but at what cost? Shaykh Hassan Lachheb from Tayseer Seminary joins the podcast to discuss the negative impact suburbia has had in shaping Muslim communities, class and racial divides, gentrification, and how suburban Muslims must flip the suburban script by affirming Prophetic values and uplifting urban environments for their own salvation. 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.

Chaplain Asma Hanif, founder and director of Muslimat al-Nisaa, shares her inspiring story, the different attitudes to domestic violence and homelessness in the Muslim community, and dealing with the organizational and personal challenges that come with community work. Muslimat al-Nisaa (http://mnisaashelter.org/) is a non-profit organization providing shelter and health and educational services to victims of domestic violence. 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.

Ustadha Zaynab Mansour Ansari from Tayseer Seminary returns to the podcast and shares her thoughts on gender relations in the wake of both the fallout from #MeToo and recent events of spiritual abuse. 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.

Ustadha Iesha Prime, executive director of Barakah, Inc., joins the podcast to discuss a wide array of topics. We talk about her perspectives on the polarizing debate over feminism engulfing the community, speaking at the Women's March a year ago, and the role of female teachers in her own path to scholarship. In the second half of the podcast we examine spiritual issues facing Muslim teenagers, from introducing concepts of spiritual purification into their upbringing to addressing the increasing waves of atheism or indifference to religion. 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.

Racism still is neglected among Muslims, and even when it is addressed, it often fails to discuss the roots of anti-blackness or provide solutions grounded in a spiritual approach. Imam Dawud Walid joins the podcast as we talk about racism from a spiritual perspective, from the story of Adam and Iblis, to the incident between Bilal and Abu Dharr to the modern day, outlining the need to incorporate anti-racism work into the purification of the heart (tazkiyah) and our spiritual curriculum. We discuss the anti-blackness that pervades many cultures and the measures that may help in flipping the script in how we perceive blackness, including Dawud Walid's own book, "Centering Black Narrative: Black Muslim Nobles Among the Early Pious Muslims" and his upcoming work on the Black luminaries from the Ahl-ul-Bayt, the family of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). 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.

As recent events have shown, Islamic edutainment has failed in many respects to engender an Islamic ethos within the average Muslim. Are celebrity speakers, the culture of Muslim fandom, and sound bytes of curated content just a hollow shell of education, with more style than substance? Mohamed Ghilan, founder of Andalus Online, joins the podcast for a far-reaching conversation on the phenomenon of Islamic edutainment, the impact of a media-centric culture on both education and the soul, and several other topics. 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 joins the podcast to discuss his journey from a Catholic prep school, to a career in venture capital, to studying sacred knowledge at Al-Azhar. In this episode, he draws from his experiences as the senior imam of the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center and speaks about reinvigorating our mosques and making them central to our community again. 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 reconcile centuries-old texts and rulings of classical scholars with our current context? In this episode, Dr. Jonathan Brown, author of "Misquoting Muhammad", shares his insights on being faithful to tradition and mindful of the cultural and social realities of the present 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.

What role does our religious identity play in how we conduct ourselves and how we are perceived in modern academia? In part 2 of our series on believers in academic spaces, Dr. Elliott Bazzano, Assistant Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at Le Moyne College, discusses being an insider/outsider in the classroom, the tension between descriptive and prescriptive scholarship, and epistemology in academic Islamic studies. We also talk about teaching religious studies post-Trump, the debate over the role of academics engaging broader audiences to combat racism and Islamophobia after the events of Charlottesville, whether academia itself has played a role in contributing to the current toxic socio-political climate, and the importance of building our own narratives. 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.