Life is like the wheel of fortune. There are moments where we will have our highlights, such as graduation, marriage, and, becoming a parent. But also there will be times of hardships, such as losing a loved one, becoming fatally ill, and financial hardship. So what is our response when our life falls apart and adversity takes over?

In this podcast, Ahmed is invited by the South Fraser and Beacon Unitarians to discuss what the Islamic perspective is to overcome adversity and the correct response.

Imagine yourself lying down in your grave with no one around you. You sit there reflecting on your life and all the mistakes you made. You wish you had taken advantage of your life but now it's too late. Now the only thing that awaits you is your judgment. And that judgment either leads to salvation or horror.

In this podcast, we discuss some reflections upon death, including Ahmed's close encounter with seeing his life flash before his eyes. If you want to prepare for death, then this podcast is what you need.

"Mankind prays for evil just as they pray for good for indeed they are hasty."  Often we attribute our downfall and our failures to others praying against us but what if the acceptance of our prayers is the reason for it instead?

In this podcast, we discuss the mechanisms behind prayer, avoiding prayers that cause us evil, and learning the etiquette behind asking God for assistance. 

Timestamps:

0:00 Intro

1:06 Man Prays for Evil Just as He Does For Good

12:04 Delaying Gratification

34:55 How to Make Dua Correctly

58:43 Conclusion

#podcast #Islam

Imagine receiving news that your beloved family member has been locked up and thrown in jail because of his religion. Imagine the pain of knowing he's being tortured and knowing you may never hear from him again.

In today's podcast, we are joined by prominent Uyghur activist, Kabir Qurban, to discuss the plight of the Uyghur people and what the solution moving forward is.

Timestamps

0:00 Intro

1:32 What is Occurring in East Turkistan?

7:51 How I Can Help

10:59 Moment when you Heard your Cousin is in Jail

13:58 How Did Your Parent's React?

22:16 Uyghur Diaspora

25:04 Becoming an Uyghur

33:51 Doubts

38:57 How Religion helps you Cope

46:44 Being Optimistic

55:07 What is the Future?

1:03:28 Conclusion

God says "If you tried to count the blessings of God, you would never be able to count them. Truly, humankind is ungrateful." According to Forbes, Psychology Today, and other sources, gratitude is the key to one's success and motivation. If practiced properly, gratitude can act as a shield that can protect you mentally from any hardship or hurdle.

In this podcast, we discuss the importance of remaining grateful, counting one's blessings, and how being grateful is the key to success.

Timestamps:

0:00 Intro

1:26 Being Grateful During Hardships

43:03 Developing Good Character

51:31 Honouring Muslim Women

57:23 Where Are You Going? 

1:07:51 Being Grateful for Parents

1:13:52 Conclusion

Procrastination is the primary hurdle preventing us from succeeding in our goals and we can't seem to overcome it. The advent of social media is largely to blame for this phenomenon. In this podcast, we are joined by Ayadh to discuss ways to defeat procrastination, leaving behind the fame of TikTok, and motivating ourselves to accomplish all our goals. 

Intro song: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e26WEmSGMgg

Timestamps

0:00 Introduction

00:55 Motivation and Discipline

17:09 Fixing Sleeping Schedule

22:09 Time Management

27:49 TikTok and social media

39:39 Where is Allah in Your Life? 

1:03:57 Conclusion

#podcast #islam #motivation #tiktok #socialmedia

“The strong are not those who defeat people. Rather, the strong are those who defeat their nafs (ego)."-Prophet Muhammad

The Ego is the number one enemy we must defeat in our life. It is responsible for our pride, arrogance, envy, and corrupting our intention. If left unchecked, it can wreak havoc on our lives and destroy our relationships. 

In this podcast, we are joined by Aanghel to discuss how to defeat the ego, understanding Sufism, and acquiring the Alchemy of Happiness. 

Timestamps

0:00 Intro

1:04 What are you Currently Reading? 

4:19 Acquiring Happiness

11:40 Intentions

22:26 Social Media

39:44 Ego

42:07 Story of Imam Al Ghazali's Life

50:09:11 Analogy of the Soul's Journey

52:43 Changing Yourself

55:47 Sufism

1:11:30 Conclusion

Intro Song: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e26WE...

#Islam #podcast #happiness #sufism

In today's age, society has informed us there are more than 2 genders. The traditional understanding of gender being between "male" and "female" has been discarded and several other genders have been created. So is gender really a social construct or a Divine Construct? 

In this podcast, we are joined by Mobeen Vaid, author of "Sexual Identity: An Islamic Perspective" to discuss this pertinent topic. 

#islam #podcast #gender

Timestamps

0:00 Intro

0:58 What is going on?

11:00 Lack of Spirituality in People

20:42 Social Engineering

36:45 Gender and Sex

47:57 Confirmation Bias

55:18 Historical Truths?

59:48 Conclusion

The theory of evolution has historically been used as a critique against religion. Scripture claims God had created Adam (AS) but science states Adam was created through a series of random mutations. Who is correct: scripture or science? Or is there a middle-ground where both religion and science can be compatible? 

During this podcast, we are joined by Dr. Shoaib Ahmed Malik, author of "Islam and Evolution", to discuss this pertinent topic and try to understand the Islamic perspective on human evolution. 

#evolution #science #islam  

Intro song: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e26WE...

0:00 Intro

1:00 The Importance of the Topic

5:17 What is Evolution? 

18:45 Creationism

22:00 Human Exceptionalism

35:58 Adamic Exceptionalism

59:35 No Exceptions + recap

1:02:05 Which Positions Can We Accept

1:20:56 The Future of Evolution and Islam

1:27:41 Are you Re-interpreting the Quran?

1:32:36 Vice's Article about Evolution & Muslim Scholars

1:37:33 Conclusion

Today marks the beginning of National Suicide Prevention Week. It is a week dedicated to bringing awareness around the topic of suicide, the harms associated with it, and how to prevent it. We are joined by world-renowned scholar, Dr. Rania Awaad to discuss this pertinent topic and how we can prevent suicide from occurring and addressing the symptoms leading up to it.

Here are some resources on the works of Dr. Rania and on understanding suicides:

Stanford Muslim Mental Health and Islamic Psychology Lab @StanfordMMHIP 

The lab's new non-profit focused on Muslim mental health & Islamic

Psychology: maristan.org @maristan_org 

Support us: maristan.org/support-maristan

Mental health resources: maristan.org/resources

Maristan Suicide Response "500 Imam" Campaign video Dr. Rania was referring to where she trained Imams on this topic. The Suicide Response trainings for the Muslim community are developed by her lab, and offered by their non-profit, Maristan.org mentioned above: 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1NJIn58I8OM

Recent AP article about her suicide response trainings:

https://apnews.com/article/tx-state-wire-health-mental-health-religion-663828d07e5f32b5ab44f755e79f8d67

Recent radio or TV interviews: 

https://omny.fm/shows/kcbsam-on-demand/mental-health-professionals-and-faith-leaders-are?

Muslim Network TV: https://youtu.be/X9A3wz_Ex0Q

CBS News Radio Weekend roundup interview: https://art19.com/shows/weekend-roundup/episodes/afa8b98e-9dc9-4bed-820c-a4a73a3646dd

KCBS San Francisco Radio interview: https://www.audacy.com/kcbsradio/podcasts/kcbs-on-demand-20757/new-study-indicates-american-muslims-have-higher-attempted-suicide-rates-651290296

CBS Kaleidoscope with Allison Keyes interview: https://art19.com/shows/kaleidoscope/episodes/04de6fb7-8761-472b-beb5-bf9610fdfc20

0:00 Disclaimer

1:40 Intro

2:16 Advice related to suicide

4:14 Why people consider suicide

11:33 When living is Hard

13:20 How often to contact them

15:53 Cryptic messages

21:32 When people feel like they are a burden on others

24:50 Regret and reaching out

31:02 Postvention

43:46 Recap and concluding