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A podcast seeking to celebrate the many facets of the American Muslim experience. The goal of the show is to highlight and focus on unique and interesting personalities from both within and without the American Muslim community, and engage them in what will hopefully be a worthwhile and invigorating conversation not only for the guests, but also for listeners. Essentially, a long form interview format that’s meant to flow organically.
Episodes
Tuesday Feb 16, 2021
Tuesday Feb 16, 2021
Parvez and Omar welcome Imam Ibrahim to talk about his youth, his transition to Sunni Islam, and his nearly 50 years of needs based community work in the Chicago area for the past 50 years.
About Imam S. T. Ibrahim
Imam Ibrahim served as the founding Imam of the Mosque of 'Umar, Inc. on Chicago's Far South Side in the Roseland community from 1973 to 2009. He led prayers and all related services, coordinated needs based programs (food panty, youth, voter registration, job training, etc.) and partnered with Muslim merchants to establish a sense of brotherhood in the inner city. From 2009 through 2018 he operated Masjid Khalil'ullah in Chicago's Morgan Park community. He also served as the Director of the Transitional College Prepatory Program (TCP) at Chicago State University from 1992-2009. Imam Ibrahim was a participant (along with Imam Siraj Wahhaj) in the 1st Imam Training Program in Saudi Arabia in 1978 sponsored by the Ministry of Higher Education.
Wednesday Jan 27, 2021
Episode 108: Politics, Religion and Culture, with Sana Saeed from AJ+
Wednesday Jan 27, 2021
Wednesday Jan 27, 2021
Parvez and Omar are joined by Sana Saeed from AJ+ to discuss, among other things, social media culture, holding Muslims leaders to a standard, the "akh-right" and the transition to the Biden administration. It was an engaging, no holds barred conversation that we hope you'll join us for.
About Sana Saeed
Sana Saeed is a Host and Senior Producer who has been with AJ+ since 2014, helping launch the channel. A Canadian who has spent most of her life in the United States, she’s interested in politics, religion, culture and working very hard to stay out of arguments on Twitter. She has a background in media critique and analysis, with her work having appeared in The New York Times, LA Times, Quartz, Guardian, Salon and AJE.
Sana is currently working on ‘Pop Americana’ - a show that looks at American pop culture as a vehicle for politics. In reality, she’s really just living out her ‘VH1 Behind The Music’ remake fantasy. She’s also usually the one in the room who sounds like that reading you kinda, sorta skimmed in your elective liberal arts class.
Sunday Jan 03, 2021
Episode 107: CelebrateMercy, with Tarek El-Messidi
Sunday Jan 03, 2021
Sunday Jan 03, 2021
Parvez and Omar are joined by Tarek El-Messidi, founder of CelebrateMercy. They look back to the inspiration behind the organization, discuss its genesis and initial launch, and touch on some of the team's current initiatives.
About CelebrateMercy
CelebrateMercy is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that teaches about the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ’s life and character – to Muslims and the general public. They do this through short films, online campaigns, traveling conferences, and webinars that feature world-renowned speakers and scholars on Islam.
In 10 years, CelebrateMercy has:
- • Reached 300 million people through national media coverage
- • Held 25 events for 200,000 participants in 115 countries
- • Produced 200+ videos with 7 million views on YouTube & Facebook
- • Generated social media posts leading to 700,000 subscribers
About Tarek El-Messidi
Tarek El-Messidi is a Muslim-American speaker, activist, and social entrepreneur. In 2012, he was listed by Georgetown University in the Muslim500 as one of the 500 Most Influential Muslims worldwide. He has pursued Islamic studies in the United States, Morocco, and Jordan and served for 10 years on the boards of multiple mosques, including as President and Vice-President of two Islamic centers.
In 2001, while serving as President of the Muslim Student Association at his university, Tarek co-founded Fast-a-thon: an event that raises money to feed the hungry when non-Muslims try fasting with their Muslim peers for one day. Fast-a-thons at 300 universities have raised over $2 million total to feed the hungry across America.
In 2010, after earning an MBA and working as a supply chain manager at Procter & Gamble, Tarek founded CelebrateMercy.
Tuesday Dec 01, 2020
Tuesday Dec 01, 2020
Parvez and Omar welcome Sadia Jalali, LMFT to start a conversation on marriage and divorce in the American Muslim community. They discuss the importance of premarital counseling, of nurturing marriages from day one, and of getting help before it's too late to save a marriage.
Tuesday Nov 24, 2020
Tuesday Nov 24, 2020
Parvez joins Mahin Islam on Episode 036 of the Sultans and Sneakers podcast to talk about "Podcasting, Platforming, and Politics".
The Sultans and Sneakers podcast, based out of Chicago, is a podcast, according to Mahin, which asks "WHY do we believe the things we do?" Mahin regularly interviews "interesting people to understand the WHY behind their beliefs." He has interviewed athletes, entrepreneurs, professors, and artists to discuss belief systems around sports fandom, politics, religion and personal development.
Friday Oct 23, 2020
Friday Oct 23, 2020
With only days left until the pivotal 2020 U.S. election, Parvez and Omar are joined by Democratic strategist Mustafa Tameez, to discuss how we got here and possible outcomes for election night and thereafter.
About Mustafa Tameez
Mustafa Tameez is Outreach Strategists’ Founder and President. Mustafa began his career in New York advertising for corporate clients, but after moving to Texas he shifted to advising successful campaigns for state legislators, mayors, members of Congress and public institutions. Mustafa is a national opinion leader with over 600 appearances on CNN, FOX News, MSNBC, and CBSN. The Atlantic names him as a top Democratic consultant in Texas and Texas Monthly refers to him as one of the top Democrats to watch. Mustafa is the Chairman of the Transportation Advocacy Group board, a Director of the Texas Lyceum, and a member of the Unity National Bank board, among other civic and business affiliations. He has also provided extensive consulting services for the Department of Homeland Security.
Tuesday Oct 20, 2020
Episode 103: The Exorcist, a Conversation with Kamran Pasha
Tuesday Oct 20, 2020
Tuesday Oct 20, 2020
Parvez and Omar are joined by screenwriter and director Kamran Pasha, to discuss The Exorcist (1973).
In addition to being a favorite film of both Parvez's and Kamran's, The Exorcist has had a significant influence on popular culture and has received critical acclaim, with several publications having regarded it as one of the greatest horror films of all time.
We hope you enjoy this discussion, part of a recurring series of recordings focused on movies and film.
About Kamran Pasha
Kamran Pasha was one of the first Muslim filmmakers to succeed in Hollywood. He recently worked as writer-producer on Showtime Network’s drama series set in the American military prison at Guantanamo Bay, directed by Oliver Stone. Previously, Kamran served as a writer and co-producer of Showtime’s Golden Globe and Emmy-nominated series “Sleeper Cell,” about a Muslim FBI agent who infiltrates a terrorist group. Kamran has also served as a writer and producer on television shows such as “Reign,” “Nikita” and “Roswell, New Mexico” on the CW, and “Kings” and “Bionic Woman” on NBC. He also served as head writer for the “Tron: Uprising” animated series on Disney XD.
Kamran’s movie career launched when he sold his first feature script to Warner Brothers Pictures, an historical epic on the love story behind the building of the Taj Mahal. He is currently developing a movie on the famed Sufi poet Rumi, as well as a feature film about Ibn Battuta, which follows the adventures of an Arab traveler who journeyed from Morocco to China in the 14th century.
Kamran is a published novelist as well. In 2009, Simon & Schuster published “Mother of the Believers,” a novel showing the rise of Islam from the eyes of Prophet Muhammad’s wife Aisha. His second novel, “Shadow of the Swords,” follows the conflict between Richard the Lionheart and the Muslim leader Saladin for control of Jerusalem during the Crusades.
Kamran holds a BA and an MBA from Dartmouth College, a JD from Cornell Law School, and is an alumnus of the MFA Producers Program at UCLA Film School.
Sunday Oct 11, 2020
Sunday Oct 11, 2020
Parvez and Omar are joined by Zaki Hasan, co-founder and former co-host of the Diffused Congruence podcast. In this episode, commemorating seven years since the launch of the podcast, we catch up and discuss all the craziness of 2020. This episode was recorded on Friday, October 9th, only a few weeks before the upcoming U.S. election.
Zaki Hasan has been a media scholar and critic for more than twenty years. His film reviews and analyses have appeared in The San Francisco Chronicle, HuffPost, and The Philadelphia Weekly, and in 2015 he was inducted into the prestigious San Francisco Film Critics Circle. He also co-wrote Geek Wisdom: The Sacred Teachings of Nerd Culture, contributed to books on the Star Wars, Star Trek, Planet of the Apes, and Blade Runner franchises, and has appeared as an expert panelist on HuffPost Live and Al Jazeera America's The Stream.
Monday Sep 14, 2020
Monday Sep 14, 2020
Parvez and Omar are joined by Dr. Ali Ataie (professor of Arabic, Qur'an, and Comparative Theologies at Zaytuna College) for a discussion covering early Muslim history, Ahl-al-Bayt, and sectarianism in Islam.
This episode is the last in a series we are doing in the month of Muharram. In the previous three episodes, we covered a believer's journey from Sunnism to Shi'ism and Shi'ite theology, history and practices.
About Dr. Ali Ataie
Dr. Ali Ataie is a perennial student and researcher who has been involved in interfaith activities for over two decades. He holds a Masters in biblical studies with a focus on New Testament and biblical languages. He also holds a PhD in cultural and historical studies in religion from the Graduate Theological Union. His doctoral work focused on Muslim hermeneutics of biblical texts, especially the Gospel of John. He lives in San Ramon, CA with his wife Roya and three daughters.
Thursday Sep 10, 2020
Episode 100: Shi’ism, a Deep Dive (Part 2), with Imam Hadi Qazwini
Thursday Sep 10, 2020
Thursday Sep 10, 2020
Parvez and Omar welcome Imam Hadi Qazwini (a Shi’i scholar and current Ph.D student at USC) as we partake in PART TWO of a deep dive into Shi’i history, theology and common practices. This discussion is the 2nd in a series of conversations on the topic of Shi’ism in this Islamic month of Muharram.
Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar, is held to be the second holiest month, after Ramaḍān. The Tenth day of Muharram is known as the Day of Ashura. Sometimes, as part of the Mourning of Muharram, Shia Muslims practice partial fasting, and Sunni Muslims practice fasting on Ashura.
About Imam Hadi Qazwini
Imam Syed Hadi Qazwini is an educator, public speaker, and lecturer in Islamic studies. He is a graduate of the Shiʿi Islamic Seminary of Qum and also has a Master’s from Bayan Claremont. Imam Hadi and is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Religion and Islamic Studies at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. His areas of academic interest and research include: Islamic intellectual history, with a focus on theology, law, and Imami-Shiʿism.