Another huge bucket list item for the show, we delve into the life and legacy of Imam Faheem Shuaibe, a prominent figure in the American Muslim community and heir to the life and legacy of Imam Warith Deen Muhammed(ra). The riveting conversation follows Imam Faheem's life and journey to Islam which in turn beautifully serves as the vehicle to explore the often overlooked years (1965-1975) of the Nation of Islam as well as the importance of it's founder, the Honorable Elijah Muhammed and his spiritual mentor, the enigmatic figure of Master Fard Muhammad.

Imam Faheem Shuaibe has been the Resident Imam of Masjidul Waritheen in Oakland, California for 43 years.  He has been married to Yolanda Mahasin Shuaibe for 53years. They have 4 children and 9 grandchildren. Faheem is a lifelong student Of Imam Warith Deen Mohammed.

He is the founder of M.A.R.I.A.M. (Muslim American Research Institute Advocating Marriage), A Clear Understanding Institute and The Sacred Life Project (A public language codification project focused on the language, logic and legacy of Imam Warith Deen Mohammed). Imam Faheem Shuaibe was inducted into the African American Intellectual Royal Family by the Institute for the Advance Study of Black Family Life and Culture. Imam Shuaibe addresses diverse audiences across the country on a wide range of topics of religion, world politics, human relationships and societal evolution.

His commentary on contemporary issues have been cited by the Muslim Journal, The Wall Street Journal, the Oakland Tribune, the San Francisco Chronicle, the San Jose Mercury news, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, National Geographic, USA Today, The Christian Science Monitor and others. Faheem was a major consultant to several award winning PBS film projects on Islam in America.

Omar and Parvez welcome back Sana Saeed to discuss the intersection of social media, politics, and the Muslim community. They explore the Mamdani campaign as a case study in Islamophobia, the evolution of online communities, and the impact of online and social merdia cultures on Muslim youth. The conversation delves into generational differences in online consumption and the challenges confronting young Muslim, male and female, navigating their identities in a complex digital landscape. The conversation explores the impact of algorithms on discourse, the rise of toxic masculinity in online spaces, and impact it continues to have on gender dynamics in contemporary society. 

Sana Saeed is an award-winning media writer and critic, and a former on-camera correspondent with Al Jazeera. For the past fifteen years, she’s written, reported, and commented on Islam and Muslims in the United States, national security, foreign policy, immigration, and the culture wars — and how they intersect with both popular and news media.

This episode was another opportunity to check off a bucket list for the podcast as we were honored to sit with Imam Khalid Latif. Some unchartered territory for the show as co-host Omar Ansari was unable to make the recording but Parvez was able to find a last minute Associate co-host to fill in!

We had the chance to discuss Imam Khalid's life and the experiences that shaped him, the challenges and joys of building community, and his civic engagement via various Mayoral appointments. We even discussed his work with the rising star in New York politics, Zohran Mamdani. Toward the end of our conversation, we also turn to a sobering moment in recent public life: the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, and what events like this mean for our country and our collective future.

About Imam Khalid Latif

Imam Khalid is Executive Director and Community Chaplain for The Islamic Center of New York City and serves as Director of Campus Support with Muslim Campus Life, a national initiative supporting Muslim students in higher education. He previously served as the University Chaplain for New York University (NYU) and Executive Director of the Islamic Center at NYU, where he also held faculty positions in the NYU Wagner School of Public Service and Gallatin School of Individualized Study. He continues to serve as Visiting Faculty at Bayan College of Chicago Theological Seminary and Union Theological Seminary.

Imam Latif was appointed the first Muslim chaplain at NYU in 2005, and in 2006, became the first Muslim chaplain at Princeton University. After a year of serving both institutions, he committed full-time to NYU, where in 2007 his position was officially institutionalized. Under his visionary leadership, the Islamic Center at NYU grew into the first-ever established Muslim student center at an institution of higher education in the United States.

His work helped shape a dynamic and inclusive Muslim community that emphasizes both spiritual growth and civic engagement. Imam Latif has been a tireless advocate for interfaith dialogue, social justice, and community service. His efforts have brought him to global platforms, sharing stages with leading faith leaders, while also working on the ground in refugee camps, conflict zones, and disaster-stricken regions, raising millions of dollars in humanitarian relief.

Through his public scholarship, teaching, and pastoral care, Imam Latif has carved out essential space for young American Muslims to authentically embrace and celebrate their identities, while amplifying their voices in broader societal conversations.

A highly sought-after speaker, Imam Latif has shared his insights with audiences worldwide and has been featured in media outlets such as the Huffington Post, BBC, NPR, CNN, the New York Times, New York Magazine, The Colbert Report, Katie Couric, Newsweek, Time, BET and GEO TV.

Imam Latif continues to be a transformative voice and bridge-builder, dedicated to fostering healing, equity, and spiritual well-being in both local communities and across the globe.

Parvez and Omar finally return after the longest hiatus in the show's history! They bring us up to speed with all the going-ons in their lives from new jobs, moves, kids graduating to new kids being born!

About David Coolidge

David earned his PhD from the Graduate Theological Union in 2023 and serves as Research Faculty at Bayan Islamic Graduate School.

David Coolidge was born in Chicago, and raised in Kenilworth, IL. He has a BA from Brown University and an MA from Princeton University. He converted to Islam in 1998.  From 2008-2013 he worked as a Muslim chaplain, first at Dartmouth College and then again at Brown. From 2014-2017 he taught an undergraduate course on Islamic law and ethics at New York University. 

Parvez and Omar kick-off 2025 by finally dedicating an entire episode to a recurring and perennial conversation on the podcast: parenting challenges in today's climate. To help navigate this conversation, they are joined by Ali Bishop, an experienced mental health professional who works as a Mental Health Clinician at a local Bay Area public high school. Topics include the general challenges facing teens in high school today (e.g., mental health, academic and peer pressures, social media, etc.), how these challenges might uniquely affect Muslim youth, and what can parents do to better support their children in navigating these challenges. Ali Bishop also shares his personal faith journey resulting in his conversion to Islam in 1998. 

About Ali (Mark) Bishop

Ali Bishop is a dedicated mental health professional with over 17 years of experience in both clinical and educational settings. He earned his Master's degree in Social Work, with a focus on Community Mental Health. Following graduation, he became a licensed clinician in the state of California. He specializes in providing therapy to families impacted by physical abuse, grief and loss, drug addiction, and suicide prevention. 

Mere days aways from Election Day 2024, Parvez and Omar are rejoined by Civil Rights Attorney and Activist Zahra Billoo to discuss the Muslim vote and the 2024 Presidential Election. Are Muslims simply approaching who to vote for with the "lesser of two evils" calculus? Is there a long game and what are the short term consequences of playing the long game? All this and more for the show's special Election 2024 episode!  

About Zahra Billoo

Zahra Billoo serves as the Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, San Francisco Bay Area (CAIR-SFBA) office, the oldest CAIR chapter office. Since joining in 2009, Zahra has led the organization through a period of six-fold growth. Today, she manages one of the largest CAIR offices in the country with a team of civil rights and social justice advocates dedicated to the empowerment of American Muslims through legal services, legislative advocacy, and community organizing.

Under Zahra’s leadership, CAIR-SFBA has filed lawsuits against the United States Department of Justice, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Southwest Airlines, representing American Muslims facing discriminatory treatment. CAIR-SFBA has also significantly expanded its capabilities to provide know-your-rights sessions on a nearly weekly basis to mosques and community members in the San Francisco Bay Area, while also providing direct legal representation to Bay Area residents facing numerous civil rights violations, including FBI interviews, employment discrimination, airport harassment, school bullying, and hate crimes.

Zahra’s advocacy has included media appearances in local and national media, including MSNBC, NPR, the San Francisco Chronicle, and even FOX News. Among her awards, she received the 2017 Human Rights Award from the Society of American Law Teachers and the 2018 Community Builder Award from People Acting in Community Together (PACT). She was also listed by the San Jose Mercury News as a “Woman to Watch” in March 2017 for Women’s History Month, as well as by the Chronicle of Philanthropy in their January 2018 cover story on millennials who lead.

She is currently a fellow with Levi Strauss Foundation Pioneers in Justice, a senior fellow with the American Leadership Forum’s Silicon Valley Chapter and an alumna of Rockwood’s Fellowship for a New California, LeaderSpring’s Executive Directors Fellowship, and USC’s American Muslim Civil Leadership Institute. Zahra earned her undergraduate degrees from the California State University, Long Beach, and her Juris Doctorate from the University of California, Hastings. She is licensed to practice law in California.

After a bit of a hiatus due to busy schedules, Parvez and Omar are honored to be joined by Imam Jihad Mustafa, Founder of the Qawwamun Retreat. This was a wide-ranging conversation with Imam Jihad discussing how socially conscious Hip-hop brought him to Islam, how today's Zeitgest and pop culture has engendered a crisis of defining and exemplifying masculinity to young men, and how the Qawwamun Retreat for young men seeks to address these challenges. 

About Imam Jihad Mustafa 

Closing out the blessed month of Muharram, Parvez and Omar are back for a timely and important discussion about Muharram, the Day of Āshūrā, and the events of Karbala from a Shīʿī  perspective. This is a deep dive into Shīʿī  readings of early Muslim history and the centrality of the Ahl-al Bayt (The Household/Progeny of the Prophet Muhammedﷺ) and specifically how the events of Karbala and the venerative rites and traditions of Muharram inform Shīʿī  devotional life.  

About Ahmad Rashid Salim 

Ahmad Rashid Salim (احمد راشد سليم) is a doctoral candidate and instructor at the Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures at the University of California, Berkeley, in the fields of Islamic studies and Persian literature. His areas of scholarship include classical Persian literature - particularly mystical poetry, translation, Sufism, Qur’an interpretation, language and power, Persian literature in Afghanistan, the Kabuli dialect, Shīʿī  - Sunni polemics, and religious thought in Afghanistan. His dissertation is titled: The Harmony of Hayrat: Words, Wonder, and Worlds in Persian Mystical Poetry and Poetics. Salim is also the founder of Aleff Institute, a premier online instruction program for the Persian language, with a special emphasis on the Kabuli dialect. He is the author of Islam Explained, a best-selling book utilized in a number of university courses throughout the United States. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Political Science with a focus on Islamic studies, and was awarded a master’s degree by the Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures at the University of California, Berkeley.

A special discussion for the Haj and Eid-ul Adha season, Parvez and Omar are joined by returning guest Dr. Ali Ataie. The show dives deep into the Prophet Abraham(as) in the monotheistic scriptures/traditions, including Abraham's service of sacrifice, the innumerable blessings bestowed to Abraham and his covenant with God. The conversation then examines how the Biblical and Tanakhic traditions has been co-opted and distorted by Jewish and Christian Zionists alike as it relates to the modern state of Israel. 

The goal was to release the show a couple of days after Eid so we are sorry for the delay!

About Dr. Ali Ataie 

Dr. Ali Ataie is a scholar of biblical hermeneutics with field specialties in Sacred Languages, Comparative Theology, and Comparative Literature. 

He received his BS in accounting from Cal Poly State University in 2000. In 2011, he received his MA in Biblical Studies from Pacific School of Religion, and in 2016, his PhD in Cultural and Historical Studies in Religion from the Graduate Theological Union.

Dr. Ataie is a native Persian speaker. He can read and write Arabic, Hebrew, and Greek. Dr. Ataie joined the Zaytuna College faculty in 2012. 

At Zaytuna College, Dr. Ataie has taught Arabic, Creedal Theology, Comparative Theology, Sciences of the Quran, Introduction to the Qur’an, and Seminal Ancient Texts.