Dr. Imam Ossama Bahloul is Islamic Center of Nashville’s first resident scholar. He was previously an imam at the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro. Imam Bahloul is a graduate of Al-Azhhar University in Cairo, Egypt where he earned his BA in Islamic Studies and has published his thesis “Critique of Christian Issues” within Will Durant’s “The Story of Civilization” series. Bahloul serves on the Fiqh Council of North America and as the Muslim Chaplain at Vanderbilt University. In our conversation, we discuss cultural assimilation, why faith is more important than tradition, and the Israel-Palestine conflict.