Parvez and Omar take a visit to Souther California to sit down in person with Sue Obeidi and Evelyn Alsultany to discuss the state of Muslims in the media.

About Our Guests

Sue Obeidi is the Director of the Hollywood Bureau for the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC). Obeidi ensures that MPAC’s Hollywood Bureau is a partner with the entertainment industry.

Evelyn Alsultany is a leading expert on the history of representations of Arabs and Muslims in the U.S. media and on forms of anti-Arab and anti-Muslim racism. Alsultany is an Associate Professor in the Department of American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

Parvez and Omar are joined by a fellow podcaster, Ahmed Khan.  They sit down at Zaytuna College in Berkeley to discuss the power of storytelling, and the inspiration behind some of their respective work in the world of podcasts.

About The Creative Minority Podcast

The Creative Minority seeks to engage with contemporary intellectual issues ranging from but not included to politics, philosophy, theology, sociology, metaphysics, ethics, history, medicine and others. Our speakers include world class academics, theologians, scientists, professors, and celebrities who are at the forefront of shaping academia and culture.

The Creative Minority on Apple Podcasts

Parvez and Omar sit down with returning guest Shadi Hamid to discuss the midterm elections and his new book, The Problem of Democracy: America, the Middle East, and the Rise and Fall of an Idea.  

In The Problem of Democracy, Shadi Hamid reimagines the ongoing debate on democracy’s merits and proposes an ambitious agenda for reviving the lost art of democracy promotion in the world’s most undemocratic regions.  What happens when democracy produces "bad" outcomes? Is democracy good because of its outcomes or despite them? 

About Shadi Hamid

Shadi Hamid is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and an assistant research professor of Islamic studies at Fuller Seminary. He is also a contributing writer at The Atlantic, where he writes a monthly essay on culture and politics. His new book is The Problem of Democracy: America, the Middle East, and the Rise and Fall of an Idea (Oxford University Press). His previous book, Islamic Exceptionalism: How the Struggle Over Islam is Reshaping the World, was shortlisted for the 2017 Lionel Gelber Prize for best book on foreign affairs. Hamid’s first book, Temptations of Power: Islamists and Illiberal Democracy in a New Middle East was named a Foreign Affairs Best Book of 2014.  He is also the co-editor of Rethinking Political Islam with Will McCants.

Zaki Hasan, co-founder of the show, returns to catch up with Omar and Parvez.  They discuss the impacts of social media on the polarized state of politics, Muslim Twitter and much more!

About Zaki Hasan

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.

Parvez and Omar make a trek down to Orange County to sit with a pioneer in the American Muslim experience, Dr. Muzammil H. Siddiqi and learn about his life's journey from India to Madinah to United States and to discuss his legacy and impact on the American Muslim community.

About Dr. Muzammil H. Siddiqi

Dr. Muzammil H. Siddiqi is the imam and religious director of the Islamic Society of Orange County, Garden Grove; he also chairs the Fiqh Council of North America and the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California. Siddiqi has previously led the Religious Affairs Committee of the Muslim Students Association, Department of Religious Affairs at the Muslim World League Office to the UN and the United States, Islamic Center of Washington, D.C., and Islamic Society of North America. He is also a founding member of the World Economic Forum's Community of West and Islam Dialogue (C-100). Siddiqi is a frequent participant in interfaith events, authors commentary and issues fatwas through the internet hub IslamOnline.net, and lectures widely on Islamic law. Siddiqi was one of the signatories in October 2007 of A Common Word Between Us and You. He is a graduate of the Islamic University of Medina, Birmingham University, and Harvard University.

Parvez and Omar sit down with Michael Wolfe to discuss his journey to Islam, his pilgrimages to Mecca, and his work with Unity Productions Foundation (UPF).

About Michael Wolfe

Michael B. Wolfe is an American poet, author, and the President and Co-Executive Producer of Unity Productions Foundation. A secular American born in Cincinnati, Ohio to a Christian mother and a Jewish father, Wolfe converted to Islam at 40 and has been a frequent lecturer on Islamic issues at universities across the United States including Harvard, Georgetown, Stanford, SUNY Buffalo, and Princeton. He holds a degree in Classics from Wesleyan University.

Parvez and Omar are joined by Mona Haydar and Sebastian Robins to discuss their upcoming PBS Documentary, "The Great Muslim American Road Trip".

About "The Great Muslim American Road Trip"

Follow a millennial Muslim American couple on a cross-country journey along historic Route 66. As they meet new friends and explore more than a dozen stops, Mona and Sebastian weave a colorful story about what it means to be Muslim in America today.

About Mona Haydar and Sebastian Robins

Mona Haydar is a Syrian American Muslim born in Flint, Michigan. Her husband Sebastian Robins is an educator and convert to Islam. Both are passionate advocates for civil rights and inclusivity. In 2015, in the wake of extremist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, the couple gained international attention for their "Talk to a Muslim" project — an impromptu stand they set up in Cambridge, Massachusetts to "replace trauma with love" by offering coffee, free donuts and flowers in exchange for questions and dialogue.

An English major and a poet, Mona Haydar holds an M.A. in Christian Ethics from the Union Theological Seminary in New York. In 2016 she turned her talents to rap music. When her debut song "Wrap my Hijab" went viral, Billboard Magazine placed it among "The 20 Best Protest Songs of 2017" and named it one of the "Top 25 Feminist Anthems."

Sebastian Robins has served as both coordinator and CEO of the Lama Foundation. He has also worked as an elementary school teacher, vice principal, and assistant professor. As an advocate for sustainable agriculture, he has helped establish and maintain farms across the country. Sebastian is Mona Haydar’s music manager.

Together, the couple have been featured on NPR, CNN, CBS, BBC, The New York Times, The Washington Post, People Magazine, BuzzFeed, HuffPost, Mic, Marie Claire, Glamour, Refinery 29 and other publications. Their work was showcased in a 2017 episode of the Peabody and Emmy-nominated short documentary series "The Secret Life of Muslims".

Parvez and Omar are joined by Dr. Sofia Ghani to discuss health and wellness in this holy month of Ramadan.

About Dr. Sofia Ghani

Dr. Sofia Ghani started her career as a clinical pharmacist managing patients' drug therapy at Baylor Medical Center in Dallas. Being around very sick people on a laundry list of medications was an everyday norm for her. It never failed to surprise her how many medications one human can be on at the same time. In 2010 something shifted. It started with an idea of her doing a weight loss challenge with a couple of friends. By the time her friends asked some of their friends, word spread and 35 women joined this challenge! 12 weeks later, 35 lives were changed for the better and this was the start of Sofia’s journey in health and wellness. Her passion was and still is helping women get healthier, stronger and more confident in their body. Since then Sofia has worked with 100s of women individually and in group settings. She now practices as a Health & Wellness Coach, is a NASM (Nat’l Assoc. of Sports Med personal trainer and is on her way to becoming a certified Jay Shetty Life Coach. She is passionate about helping women get healthy and strong at any age. “The best part of my job is seeing women start believing in themself, radiating confidence, loving themself and knowing that they CAN get healthy and lead a well-balanced life”.

Parvez and Omar are joined again by Aaron Sellers and dive deep into his path as a Muslim convert, his move from the east coast to the west, to work at Zaytuna Institute, and Zaytuna's transition into a college.  This is the second episode of a 2 part conversation.

This is a continuation from episode 119, where we talked to Aaron about his early years, his conversion and his early experiences as a Muslim.

About Aaron “Haroon” Sellers

Aaron “Haroon” Sellars was born in Washington, D.C. and attended Virginia Commonwealth University, where he majored in graphic arts and developed a special interest in film, photography and music. After converting to Islam in 1994, he sought out ways to serve the Muslim community with his multi-media knowledge and interests. This drive inspired his move with his wife and daughters to the California Bay Area in the Summer of 2001 to serve the audiovisual needs of Zaytuna Institute and other Islamic organizations and institutions in the local Muslim community. Currently, Aaron is the Audiovisual Manager and longest serving employee at Zaytuna College -America’s first accredited Muslim liberal arts college where he has taken thousands of photographs and recorded hundreds of hours of lectures, classes, and other events using a variety of digital media to document and share the college’s historic contributions to Islam in America and the world, alhamdulillah.