KalamCast

In an online event in which Furqan intended to talk with Zohra Sarwari about responsible use of social media, Furqan was also able to talk about  responsible use of social media. For those who are not aware, Zohra Sarwari is a Muslim author, life and business coach, entrepreneur, and international speaker living in Sacramento, CA, United States. She is the author of more than 14 books and several e-books. [zohrasarwari.com]

Recorded via Zoom (in order to maintain social distancing), Dr Abdul-Latif Halimi updated Furqan with regards to the coronavirus epidemic and provided his opinion on how the Muslim community has coped with such an unprecedented epidemic. Furqan and Dr. Dr Abdul-Latif Halimi also discussed when and how things would be resuming to normal, the importance of 'staying in one's lane,' closure of mosques and the dynamic nature of Islamic law in dealing with such pandemics.

Due to the recent concern regarding the coronavirus, Furqan met and spoke with a panel of Muslim medical doctors to unravel and understand aspects pertaining to the virus. Specific references and examples have been used relevant to members of the Muslim community such as praying in mosques, attending Friday prayers during the outbreak etc. Panel members have included Dr Zahid Haider and Dr Shiraz Mehkri (both general practitioners) and Dr Matheen Mohammed (a specialist). The doctors answered a few frequently asked questions, dispelled myths regarding the virus and shared some of their own thoughts and experiences.

The tables are turned as we decide to do something different for this episode. Furqan is interviewed by Mustafa, who usually helps out with his technical support and know-how. In this episode, we explore what the KalamCast podcast is meant to be all about, what motivated it and where we would like it to go.   

Beray is a post-impressionist artist who explores emotions and social issues through her landscape paintings. She teaches art within the community, exhibits her work and frequently sells her art at The Brunswick Artist Market and on Etsy. She also happens to a law student and one of the hosts of the Creative Lens podcast. Furqan caught up with her to discuss her artistic interests and inspirations, views on the Muslim community's approach towards the arts and the future of the creative arts within the Muslim community.

Ismail Kamdar is an Islamic Studies Graduate, author of over a dozen books, the founder of Islamic Self Help, a freelance writer and the faculty manager of Islamic Open University (IOU). Furqan got up at 2am in the morning to speak with Sheikh Kamdar during office hours in Durban, South Africa where he resides. Furqan spoke with Sheikh Kamdar about introversion as source of benefit, the concept of introverts gaining proficiency in public speaking, his experience as someone who works primarily from home and finally his advice to those wishing to write.

As the episode title suggests, The Hijabi Nurse (whose real name has not been mentioned due to privacy concerns) is a Muslim nurse, paramedic and Instagram influencer (the.hijabi.nurse) who uses her social media platform to inform and educate. She talks about her motivations for getting into her chosen field, how they are linked to her religious motivations, what she wishes to achieve through her social media activities as well as some of her experiences in each of these respective roles.

Podium Magazine is a Melbourne-based magazine which aims to "amplify the voices of those struggling to be heard." It aims to capture the wide variety of talents and voices belonging to members of Muslim youth in Australia. Furqan met up with two of the magazine's founders (Eva Mal and Aseel Sammak) as well as a member of the content research team (Muntasser Al Habsi) to discuss the what it is that they wish to achieve through the magazine and to share some of their experiences thus far.

Alim Osman (President of the Uyghur Association of Victoria) & Meyassar Ablat (Deputy President of the East Turkistan Australian Association) joined Furqan for an insightful discussion regarding the current situation faced by the the Uighurs. Br Alim started off by discussing the history behind the oppression. Sr Meyassar further elaborated by giving us an accurate understanding of what life in the region is currently like for the Uighur community. Another point of discussion included proposed facial recognition technology that will be used to spy upon the Uighur community. 

Bilal Ramnac returns to discuss a fictional novel he is currently working on. Furqan and Mustafa (but mostly Furqan) talk to him about fictional world-building, portrayal of Muslims within the media and his writing process. Bilal is in the middle of completing his book, he hopes that we can do another episode after the book has actually been completed. Unfortunately, this will not be for a while as Bilal will shortly be heading off for higher education at the Islamic University of Madinah.