Making Sense of Islam

Mohammed Magid is an outstanding figure in interfaith activities, Imam Magid is the Executive Director and Imam at the ADAMS Centre in Virginia, and former President of ISNA. He is an advocate for youth and women, and serves on the FBI’s Muslim, Sikh, and Arab Advisory Committee. In recognition of his efforts toward interfaith bridge building, Imam Magid was among the ten Washingtonians of the Year in 2010 presented with Washingtonian Magazine’s award for outstanding leadership. He has served as an advisor to many in Washington, including President Obama.

Over the last twelve years of her professional career, Sameera has worked closely with Muslim communities (and professionals who serve them), developing and facilitating programs and curricula in the field of sexual health education. In addition to building out the sexual health aspects of her work, Sameera is also a 200-hour Registered Yoga Instructor with trauma-informed yoga training. She regularly offers virtual classes - flow-based, sculpt, and trauma-informed.

This is a continuation of episode 100 where I get a chance to answer the remaining questions sent by all of you.

Dr. Tarek Elgawhary is a scholar of Islam and comparative religions having studied at both Princeton University and al-Azhar Seminary. He is the creator of the Making Sense of Islam platform where he discusses issues related to Islam and mindfulness. More can be found at www.makingsenseofislam.com.

Shaykh Dr. Muhammad bin Yahya al-Ninowy is the Founder and Director of Madina Institute, an Islamic seminary in Atlanta, Georgia, with campuses in South Africa, the United Kingdom, Norway, Sudan, and Malaysia. Dr. Muhammad bin Yahya al-Ninowy is considered to be a Muhaddith; a scholar of Hadith sciences. He has authored books in Usul, Creed, Hadith, and Sufi sciences. He has been a pioneer working on grass root levels to bring back Unconditional compassion and love as the central themes of religion and has been the forerunner promoting non-violence among all people and religions worldwide. Dr. Muhammad bin Yahya al-Ninowy also holds a bachelor’s degree in microbiology from the University of Illinois, and a doctor of medicine degree.

Omar Matadar is currently the Director of the Qasid Institute. The word qasid is used to describe a path that is direct and smooth. This is the way we believe the Arabic language should be taught. The Qasid Institute for Arabic has quietly developed a reputation as one of the leading centers in the Middle East for Arabic language learning. A comprehensive curriculum taught over five distinct levels takes a student from the proper pronunciation of letters to a level of mastery.

Mikhaael Mala is arising nashheed star and world-renown reciter and teacher of the Quran. He is currently based in Birmingham, UK.

Sohaib N. Sultan is the first full-time Muslim Life Coordinator and Chaplain at Princeton University. Imam Sultan is a graduate of the Hartford Theological Seminary, and the author of The Koran for Dummies (2004), The Qur’an and Sayings of Prophet Muhammad: Selection Annotated and Explained (2007). He is a public lecturer and writer on Islam, Muslim culture and Muslim-Western relations and occasionally blogs on the Huffington Post Religion section.

Born in London, Sanders began his career in photography in the mid-1960s, where he often recorded the faces of well-known musicians including Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison and The Rolling Stones. In the 1970s, his attention shifted, which led him to the traditional and spiritual universe of Islam. He converted to Islam in 1971. The same year, Sanders was given a unique opportunity to record the warmth of the world's largest worship gathering in Mecca during the Hajj season. These pictures have appeared in major UK and European magazines such as The Sunday Times, The Observer and Paris Match. Sanders travelled around the world to meet and capture the images of saints and sages of Islam which he has later published in a book titled 'Meetings with Mountains'.

Michael Sugich is a native of Santa Barbara, California and studied at UCLA and the California Institute of the Arts. He was initiated into a traditional Sufi order in 1972. Since that time he has studied Sufi doctrine and practice with spiritual masters across the Arab and Islamic world. He lived for 23 years in the precincts of the sacred city of Makkah Al Mukaramah where he kept company with many men of knowledge and illumination. He has written Palaces of India (Pavilion Books), a travel book, and Living in Makkah (Macdonald Publishers), a children's book, and, most recently a feature documentary film on the life of King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, Faisal: Legacy of a King.

Zaid Shakir, a cofounder of Zaytuna College, is a prominent American Muslim scholar. He has taught courses in Arabic, Islamic spirituality, contemporary Muslim thought, Islamic history and politics, and Shafi’i fiqh at the College. He speaks and writes on a wide range of topics, and he travels frequently across the United States to support institution-building projects in the Muslim community. In 2007, he was a signatory of the 2007 letter “A Common Word Between Us and You,” an appeal for peace and cooperation between Christians and Muslims, and in 2016, he presided over the public memorial for Muhammad Ali.

Muna AbuSulayman is an international development expert with over 25 years in cross sectorial work focusing on women empowerment, media, philanthropy, poverty alleviation, and community development. She is Partner with 3S Consulting focusing on improving philanthropy in the Middle East, and working to increase female empowerment and employment in MENA. She is perhaps most known for her television role as co-host of the top-rated MBC show, Kalam Nawaem. The show focused on cultural, social, and gender issues and has a worldwide viewing audience. Muna was the founding Secretary General of the Alwaleed Bin Talal Foundation, where she focused on women’s empowerment, East-West cross-civilizational programs, and strengthening educational institutions in the Middle East.

Mubin Shaikh is a former Muslim supremacist turned undercover operative for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Integrated National Security Enforcement Team (INSET). Shaikh worked multiple CLASSIFIED infiltration operations, online and on the ground. The last investigation became public when the RCMP in the “Toronto 18" terrorism case of 2006, arrested 18 individuals. In total, 11 aspiring violent extremists were convicted after 5 legal hearings over 4 years in which Shaikh was the main Fact Witness. Shaikh has a Master of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism (MPICT), is an external SME (Subject Matter Expert) to the Command Staff of CENTCOM, the United Nations Security Council and others, and trains police, intelligence and special operations forces on related topics. He was extensively involved with the ISIS social media boom, having infiltrated their networks online. Some of these individuals went on to be targeted by Coalition forces, some investigated by the FBI (and others), as well as those who were convinced to leave the group completely. He also deals with the Foreign Fighter file, including Returnees and rehabilitation at the international level. Shaikh is also co-author of the acclaimed book, Undercover Jihadi and is featured in a permanent exhibit at the new International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C. under, “Preventing Terror.”

Rabia Chaudry is an attorney, advocate, and author of the New York Times bestselling book "Adnan's Story" and Executive Producer of a four-part HBO documentary "The Case Against Adnan Syed." Rabia is also co-producer and co-host of two podcasts, Undisclosed and the new podcast the Hidden Djinn, which just launched shortly after we recorded this interview.

Navid is the Founder and CEO of Alchemiya.com, a video streaming service that showcases the best movies, dramas, docs and lifestyle content about Muslim life, culture, art, history, people, places and so much more. He is an award-winning Producer and Broadcast journalist, with over 25 years of experience in mainstream UK television and radio. During his time at the BBC he worked in both the arts and history departments, and advised senior management on diversity issues. He was responsible for organizing the first ever BBC conference on Muslim audiences and was the development producer for the acclaimed BBC Islam Season, which included the award winning ‘Journey of a Lifetime’ documentary. Other work includes ‘The Sword of the Samurai’ and ‘Ramadan Diaries’. For radio he presented Nusrat was my Elvis, The Black Cube, and A Dutiful Child. He has also worked on a number of key Channel 4 strands including Channel 4 News and Dispatches, and for Independent producers such as Shed Media, SMG, Tiger Aspect, Mentorn, and Chameleon TV. Navid was a Senior Producer on the 2013 Ramadan Season at Channel 4, producing a series of 30 Ramadan reflections and the first ever-Muslim 'Hipster' call to prayer, broadcast on UK television. Navid has served as a judge on the prestigious V&A Jameel Prize for Islamic Art, Sanford St Martins awards for Religious Broadcasting and The Royal Television Society Journalism Awards. He has lectured about the role of the media in the global Muslim economy at the World Halal Forum in Kuala Lumpur, the Global Islamic Economy Summit in Dubai, and advised Turkish Broadcaster TRT on its global content strategy and producer guidelines.

Dr. Walead Mohammed Mosaad is an internationally recognized scholar in Islamic studies and human development. His academic and traditional training has accorded him the opportunity to work with communities worldwide as a teacher and project driver. He is currently the Chair and Scholar-in-Residence of Sabeel Community, a community-oriented service organization focused on cultivating and nurturing Muslim communities worldwide. Additionally, he is the director of Muslim student life at Lehigh University. He has also worked for the Tabah Foundation, where he managed educational projects in Belgium, Denmark, and Kenya. He has completed degrees from Rutgers University, Fath Islamic Seminary in Damascus, Al-Azhar University in Cairo, the University of Liverpool, and a PhD in Arab and Islamic Studies at the University of Exeter in the UK.

Someone reached out to ask if we can consider non-beard wearing men and non-hijab wearing women believers and Muslims. Please listen for the quick, definitive response.

Ahmed Younis is committed to the untested feasibility of what is possible through the process of always becoming. Ahmed was raised between Los Angeles, California and Cairo, Egypt. He is the Host of The Study with Ahmed Younis, a podcast that brings Art, Books, and Ideas to the challenges of our time. Dr. Younis focuses on the duality of personal and societal growth, encouraging a critical assessment of the word and the world. He served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, and Deputy Special Envoy in the Obama Administration responsible for state and non-state sponsored disinformation and propaganda. He holds a JD from Washington & Lee University, VA and a PhD in Critical Pedagogy with an emphasis in leadership studies from Chapman University, CA

Abdul-Rehman Malik is an award winning journalist, educator and cultural organizer. In June 2019 he was appointed Lecturer and Associate Research Scholar at the Yale Divinity School. He also serves at the Program Coordinator at Yale University’s Council on Middle East Studies, and is responsible for developing curricula and partnerships with public schools to promote better cultural, language and religious literacy about the Middle East to educators and students alike. Abdul-Rehman also serves as Director of the Muslim Leadership Lab, an innovative student leadership program being incubated at the Dwight Hall Center of Social Justice at Yale. He remains programs manager for the Radical Middle Way, which offers powerful, faith-inspired guidance and tools to enable change, combat exclusion and violence and promote social justice for all. His work has spanned the UK, United States, Indonesia, Pakistan, Sudan, Mali, Morocco, Singapore, Canada and Malaysia.

Some of my thoughts on how to find a Shaykh. What sort of criteria should you use to take religious knowledge from someone? How do you know if someone is qualified and will not lead you astray? These and many more are the types of questions I seek to answer in this episode.