Quran Conversations

What do our dreams mean? Who should hear about them? What should we do with good and bad dreams?  These are just some of the questions we discuss in this week’s episode (episode 13) where we explore the verses of Surat Yusuf describing the king’s dream. Make sure to stay until the end when I share my absolute favorite aya of the entire surah and why it blew my mind.

You will learn:

How to know if a dream is a true vision (ru’ya) or just your subconscious thoughts or from Shaytan.

How to respond to both good and bad dreams

One thing dreams can never be used for.

What the people a leader surrounds him or herself with says about the leader. 

How to apply the lessons of times of abundance and scarcity to one’s own life

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If you’re enjoying this podcast, please review it on your podcasting platform.  It helps more than you know. 

@Quran.Conversations is sponsored by Fawakih, an online learning platform for Quranic Arabic which I myself use.  Start your journey in unlocking the language of the Quran.  Go to Fawakih.org/journey

We hope this podcast encourages your own reflective journey with the Quran. Make sure to stay until the end to hear this week’s reflection prompt. 

For more spiritual insights, follow me on Instagram at @daliamogahed

I remember a difficult time in my life when it felt like the opening to hardship would never come no matter what I did.  Many of us have experienced delays.  Delays in relief, delays in attaining the things we desire and work for.  This episode discusses the delay in Yusuf (as) delay in being let out of prison and what it meant to the trajectory of his life.  This episode will change the way you think about the delays in your life.  (Verse 39-42)

You will learn:

How to use emotional connection as well as logic to invite people to believe in the singularity of God.

The inner turbulence of answering to more than one master.

What is the hand, heart, head method of connecting?

How to examine the premise of a question to identify bias.

Why does God delay answering our prayers?

If you’re enjoying this podcast, please review it on your podcasting platform.  It helps more than you know. 

@Quran.Conversations is sponsored by Fawakih, an online learning platform for Quranic Arabic which I myself use.  Start your journey in unlocking the language of the Quran.  Go to Fawakih.org/journey

We hope this podcast encourages your own reflective journey with the Quran. Make sure to stay until the end to hear this week’s reflection prompt.  

For more spiritual insights, follow me on Instagram at @daliamogahed 

Have you ever gone through a hard time in your life and looking back you realize it was actually God protecting you, redirecting you to your destiny? In this episode we discuss Yusuf (AS) imprisonment, and the masterclass this surah provides in inviting people to Islam.  (Versus 34-38)

You will learn: 

How our apparent calamities can be protections

How to manage our frustration with the imperfect justice of worldly courts.

The preconditions of a free society

The real reason Yusuf was imprisoned

The Quran’s prescription for inviting people to God’s way.

If you’re enjoying this podcast, please review it on your podcasting platform.  It helps more than you know. 

@Quran.Conversations is sponsored by Fawakih, an online learning platform for Quranic Arabic which I myself use.  Start your journey in unlocking the language of the Quran.  Go to Fawakih.org/journey

We hope this podcast encourages your own reflective journey with the Quran. Make sure to stay until the end to hear this week’s reflection prompt.  

For more spiritual insights, follow me on Instagram at @daliamogahed 

In society today, we are often told that being “free” means indulging our every impulse to its fullest.  We hear messages like “obey your thirst”, “just do it” and “YOLO”.  But is this indulgence of our drives actual freedom? In today’s episode we explore the themes of resistance, power and what it means to be truly free as we discuss how the minister’s wife responds to the womens’ reaction to Yusuf (as) and the prophet’s choice of prison over succumbing to their pressure.  (Versus 32 to 33)

You will learn:

The deeper meaning of “holding on to the rope of Allah”

What happens in the brain when someone is “madly in love.”

What is true dignity and what is true humiliation.

How do we become truly free?

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If you’re enjoying this podcast, please review it on your podcasting platform.  It helps more than you know. 

@Quran.Conversations is sponsored by Fawakih, an online learning platform for Quranic Arabic which I myself use.  Start your journey in unlocking the language of the Quran.  Go to Fawakih.org/journey

We hope this podcast encourages your own reflective journey with the Quran. Make sure to stay until the end to hear this week’s reflection prompt.  

For more spiritual insights, follow me on Instagram at @daliamogahed 

I think this episode will resonate with a lot of people who have struggled with unhealthy obsessions, negative body image or being judged on their looks. We discuss how both the wife of the minister and the women of the city viewed Yusuf (as) through the lens of superficial beauty and not the real beauty of his character.  (Versus 28 to 31)

You will learn:

The real meaning of an often abused verse of the Quran.

What happens when we allow people into the part of our heart only meant for God.

How the type of beauty we see is a reflection of our inner state.

How to address negative body image.

If you’re enjoying this podcast, please review it on your podcasting platform.  It helps more than you know.

@Quran.Conversations is sponsored by Fawakih, an online learning platform for Quranic Arabic which I myself use.  Start your journey in unlocking the language of the Quran. 

Go to Fawakih.org/journey

We hope this podcast encourages your own reflective journey with the Quran. Make sure to stay until the end to hear this week’s reflection prompt. 

For more spiritual insights, follow me on Instagram at @daliamogahed 

In this episode we discuss how Yusuf (AS) responds to the advances of the minister’s wife, and how his innocence is verified by a member of his accuser’s own family.  (Verses 24 to 27).  

You will learn:

Why ‘willpower’ is a lie, and what it really takes to resist temptation.

How we should think about ourselves when we successfully resist temptation.

How should we look to others who have fallen into sin.

The truly pious response to being falsely accused.

-Why falsehood requires aggression.

The true meaning of freedom

In this episode we discuss Yusuf (AS)  maturing from a child to a young man in the house of the Egyptian minister, and the minister’s wife attempting to seduce him. (Verses 22 to 23).

You will learn:

The true meaning of Muslim manhood.

How to address  abuse of authority by both men and women.

How to stand your ground even when there is a power imbalance in the other party’s favor.

The meaning of “Ihsan” and how to instill it in ourselves and our children.

Defining Arabic terms used in this episode:

Khalwa: Seclusion

Zina:  Sexual relations outside of marriage.

Ihsan:  Excellence, beauty, perfection. Learn more: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/islam-iman-ihsan-climbing-the-spiritual-mountain

In this episode we explore the themes of dehumanization, self-worth and God’s Dominion over all no matter the apparent reality. 

You will learn about:

How to protect your sense of self-worth.

The power of knowing that God is in control no matter your circumstances.

Why mindless acts of exploitation can be worse than major deliberate acts of evil.

The traps before the triumphs.

In this episode we discuss the events of surat Yusuf after he is put in the well and his brothers come back to their father with a heinous lie. 

You will learn:

The characteristics of playing victim to shield against accountability when in the wrong.

The difference between the influence of Shaytan and that of our own nafs when we act outside our values.

How dehumanizing others harms the oppressor.

The real meaning of “beautiful patience.”

How to hold space for our children to return to righteousness even when they’ve lost their way.

The symbolism of the shirt as a literary device in surat Yusuf.

In this conversation, we discuss what we can learn from the way Yaqoob (AS) chooses to express his objection to Yusuf’s brothers’ insistence on taking him to play and the terrifying events of the brothers' betrayal. 

You will learn:

How to speak our hearts instead of just our minds.

What really determines success?

The dangers of a hardened heart.

The emotional intelligence of Qur’anic comfort

How our darkest moments can be the launching pad toward our purpose.