Me & My Muslim Friends

Today’s guest is someone I’ve been SO eager to have on the podcast. Her name is Sameera Qureshi, and she is a therapist and founder of Sexual Health for Muslims. Her approach to sex education, therapy, and health is grounded in the Islamic framework and the Islamic understanding of the soul. Unfortunately, most Muslims don’t have access to a comprehensive sex education growing up. We’ll dive into the consequences of that, and we’ll talk about some of the most common issues Sameera hears in her counseling practice.

Join host Yasmin Bendaas and her friends as they chat with Muslim changemakers on the joys and challenges of making a difference in the Muslim community and beyond. From philanthropists to CEOs, our Season 4 guests have built their visions for change from the ground up. Listen to new episodes of Me & My Muslim Friends starting on May 1, 2024. Whether or not you have a Muslim friend, you'll find one here.

In the final episode of our Faith, Ritual and Spirituality season, we explore Islamic practices around death. Friend Tasbeeh Othman shares her experience helping with ritual washing of the body before burial and Dr. Hamdy Radwan joins us to explain Muslim funeral rites along with the age old question: What do we believe happens to us when we die?

In this episode we discuss the fifth and final pillar of Islam: Hajj. Friend Yosef Nofal joins to share his personal experiences of the holy pilgrimage and Dr. Youssef Carter, Professor of Religious Studies at UNC Chapel Hill, examines the spiritual meaning of going through Hajj rituals.

In this episode we discuss the third pillar of Islam: charity. Duke University professor Dr. Mona Hassan joins us to discuss the religious requirements and context behind Islamic giving while Ahmad Quqa of Edward Jones brings a financial advisor's perspective to making halal investments.

In this episode we discuss the second pillar of Islam: prayer. Friend of the podcast Yasmeen Kashef and Duke University professor Dr. Mona Hassan are our guests, as we explore required ritual prayers called salah and voluntary prayers called dua. We also share our personal struggles in establishing regular prayer and the meaning and purpose we’ve found in the ritual.

Duke University Muslim Chaplain Joshua Salaam and WUNC podcast producer Anisa Khalifa join us on this episode to discuss the first pillar of Islam, a declaration of faith called the Shahada. In addition to the Shahada, we dive into the foundational texts and scriptures that provide guidance for our practices and rituals.

Welcome to Season 3! On this episode, Duke University Muslim Chaplain Brother Joshua Salaam and former MLS and Palestinian national team soccer player Nazmi Albadawi join us to chat about Ramadan. We discuss the joys and challenges of fasting (especially as an athlete), exceptions for those who are unable to fast, and how we celebrate this month.

This season on Me & My Muslim Friends we explore faith, rituals, and spirituality. Through discussions of the 5 pillars of Islam and even death, host Yasmin Bendaas dives into the practices that make up our individual spiritual journeys and unite Muslims as a community. Whether or not you have a Muslim friend, you’ll find one here.

Last August, the US pulled out of Afghanistan, ending a 20-year war. The abrupt pullout triggered a refugee crisis, with more than 76,000 Afghan refugees arriving in the US afterward. In this episode, we speak to Mangal Mohmand (who arrived as a refugee from Afghanistan 8 years ago) to discuss his experience and the process of resettling his family in America. We also speak to Asma Khan, president of the Triangle Association of Muslim American Mothers (TAMAM), about the nonprofit’s charitable work which includes refugee resettlement.

Anisa Khalifa, a producer on the Me & My Muslim friends team at WUNC, also hosts her own podcast called Muslim in Plain Sight. The show focuses on coming of age post-9/11 and how our community became both “invisible and hypervisible.” In this bonus episode from Muslim in Plain Sight, Anisa and co-host Khadija Khalil talk to Joshua Salaam, Muslim Chaplain at Duke University, about being Muslim in the military, anti-Black racism in our communities, and Salaam’s musical and professional career post-9/11.

Palestinian-American guests Samia and Abdullah have navigated a politicized identity their whole lives. On this episode we discuss their eye-opening experiences visiting the Palestinian territories, how they’ve maintained their culture and identities growing up in the US, and their hopes for lasting peace.

Guests Nigel Edwards and Amath Diouf join us for reflection on the protests for Black lives in 2020 and how many Black Muslims were finally hearing Friday sermons challenging anti-Blackness. While Black Muslims make up at least 1 in 5 Muslims in America, we often don’t talk about the racism they face both outside and inside our community. In this episode, Nigel and Amath share experiences of what anti-Blackness looks and sounds like—even among fellow Muslims—and what they wish more non-Black Muslims understood.

We’re dropping back into Season 2, where we’re talking about how social justice intersects with our faith. Catch up on our already-released episodes, and join us as we don’t shy away from some harder social justice issues like racism faced by Black Muslims and the occupation of Palestine.

Guests Nida Allam and Lela Ali are two trailblazing Muslim women in politics. As Durham County Commissioner, Allam is the first Muslim woman elected to office in North Carolina, and she recently announced her bid for Congress (no big deal). Ali is Policy and Program Director at Muslim Women For, nurturing vibrant Muslim communities through grassroots organizing. In Part II, we discuss how their activism is influenced by their faith, the burden of representing the Muslim community, and what their message is for young Muslims who also want to step into politics.

Guests Nida Allam and Lela Ali are two trailblazing Muslim women in politics. As Durham County Commissioner, Allam is the first Muslim woman elected to office in North Carolina, and she recently announced her bid for Congress (no big deal). Ali is Policy and Program Director at Muslim Women For, nurturing vibrant Muslim communities through grassroots organizing. In Part I, we discuss their motivations for entering politics and the challenges they face, including Islamophobia. Listener’s note: This episode discusses the anti-Muslim hate crime that took the lives of 3 Muslim students in Chapel Hill in 2015.

Guests Abdullah Dorgham and Ahmed Amer share the same confusion when filling out their race on forms. According to the US Census categories, those of Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) descent are considered white. But Abdullah and Ahmed, who are of Palestinian and Egyptian descent, say that racial category misses the mark on their identity.

Coming up in Season 2, we’ll be talking about how social justice intersects with our faith. And with a community as diverse as ours, there is no shortage of causes to get behind. Join us as we discuss race and racism, pioneering Muslim women in politics, and our hopes for social justice here and abroad.

Three friends join me on our last episode for Season 1: Nida Allam, Mohammad Alsalti, & Abdullah Dorgham. But this date is really where the conversation on Muslim American identity started for us — 9/11, when we were sitting in our elementary school classrooms — and both our worlds and the world forever changed.

Guests Farris Barakat and Belal Ali discuss the emotional and personal consequences of wars in Syria and Iraq, their parents’ home countries.