The New Nomos

Dr Humaira Shahid is a journalist, human rights activist and former Member of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab, Pakistan.

She is passionate about the economic empowerment of women and hosts an online course called 'Woman and Power' that strives to reclaim natural born freedom and autonomy for modern women. Part of that course is the link between sexuality and spirituality. 

In this conversation the above themes are discussed alongside the idea of feminism and being a Muslim woman in the 21st Century. 

Devotion and Defiance: My Journey in Love, Faith and Politics - by Dr Humaira Shahid

Woman and Power - Online Course

The Collaborative Couple - by Shaykh Dr Abdalqadir as-Sufi

Daughters of the Sun - by Ira Mukhoty

Music by Ian Cattanach

A fun, spontaneous and insightful conversation with Mohammad Chowdhury around his book Border Crossings and beyond. 

From growing up as a Western born Bangladeshi Muslim in 1970s London to over 100 flights a year working for some of the worlds largest firms, Mohammad has a vast archive of anecdotes around his adventures and experiences alongside fascinating insights as one of the world's leading emerging markets technology experts.

Buy Border Crossings by Mohammad Chowdhury here

Two thirds of Imam Malik's Muwatta covers matters of muamalat, it is therefore critical to the Deen of Islam. Why then has it lost its importance in our time?

This question is put to Shaykh Umar Vadillo, the expert on applying the commercial parameters defined in the Muwatta to modern financial practice. The conversation leads from the reality of the term 'Islamisation' to where we should be setting our sights as Muslims in the 21st Century to revive muamalat and by doing so revive Islam.

Music by Ian Cattanach

To understand our present, we have to know our past. As Muslims living in the 21st Century it is imperative that we know about the life of Sultan Abdulhamid II.

So this episode is for you;

So you know that Sultan Abdulhamid II lived. And knowing that he lived, you know what he did. And you know what we got from him as an Ummah. And you know what we lost as an Ummah by the actions of those that plotted and acted against him.

This case study is with Dr Ali Azzali, the Vice-Chancellor of the Dallas College in Cape Town. 

What can we learn from the events that have transpired over the last month in Afghanistan?

In this episode, Abdallah discusses this theme with Jawwad Mughal who cuts through his geopolitical and historical insights with experiences and conversations from an adventurous life. 

Links to the 2007 articles by Shaykh Abdalqadir as-Sufi:

Afghanistan - The Next Phase

The Pakistani High Command - The Last Chance

The reality of Islam is in its being put into action and no example is closer to the source than the practise of the first generations in Madinah as highlighted by Prof Yasin Dutton in his book The Origins of Islamic Law.

This conversation covers the importance of Madinan Amal in the context of Imam Malik and his Muwatta and how we can draw learnings from this example for our present time.

The Origins of Islamic Law by Yasin Dutton

An exploration into the historical, political and spiritual context of the Zulu Nation and the Zulu Monarchy in the wake of the rioting and looting that took place in Kwa-Zulu Natal in July 2021 and the importance of the alliance between the Zulu and the Muslims for the future of the province.  

With Ihsan Mathe, a Lecturer in History at Dallas College in Cape Town. 

A conversation with Dr Abdalbasir Ojembarrena exploring the bullfight, literature, art, sport, courage and so much more...

Dedicated to El Fandi and Roca Rey who showed me how to face up to the beast with style, finesse and absolute beauty.

Music by Ian Cattanach 

Malik Matias Basso is a seasoned screenwriter, cinematographer and director. 

In this episode Abdallah delves into Malik's knowledge of the concept of The Hero's Journey in storytelling and screenwriting as laid out by Joseph Campbell and beyond.

Films and Series Mentioned in the Episode:

• My Octopus Teacher (2020, Ehrlich and Reed)

Malik's Two Recommendations:

• Stalker (1979, Tarkovsky)

Malik's Further Recommendations:

• Heaven (2002, Tykwer)

Malik's Work:

• DINAR MOVEMENT

Timecode Guide:

3:46 The beginnings making documentaries and how documentary is telling stories with found characters

The word documentary is quite deceiving - because you are telling a story.

5:18 My Octopus Teacher

9:10 Joseph Campbell and the 12 common stages of the Hero’s Journey in storytelling around the world and their psychological roots.

9:38 The basic structure of the classical Greek Tragedy

9:53 “If there is no heroism, there is no story”

10:02 Making relatable characters and the example of the bourgeois hero in Breaking Bad

12:20 What does it mean to be heroic?

12:02 A hero is someone who will sacrifice himself, his wellbeing, he will leave his comfort zone and bring healing to those around him.    

14:49 The hero as an example to others

15:13 Fulfilling your potential

16:05 “The best thing you can do for others is to fulfil your own potential”

17:45 Storytelling as warning signs and Greek Tragedy showing what happens beyond the limits of human behaviour and the therapy of it.

20:54 Black Mirror as a case

21:56 The deeper into hell the hero goes the more heroic he will be

22:00 Why storytellers want to put the hero through the worst possible things

23:59 Fiction vs Documentary in storytelling 

26:10 How Sci-fi may be a more effective form a storytelling 

26:46 Ertugrul as a case

28:38 The deeper the effect of the storytelling on you the less you will know of it

32:19 The hero is a hero from the moment he crosses the threshold

33:45 Should stories have a happy ending?

34:35 In human nature there is hope

35:55 Hollywood - its strong points and weaknesses

37:50 You can make documentaries and speak truth to power or you can tell fictional stories to inspire people and show them that something else is possible

39:40 The movie is the editor’s

40:10 How a story can take on a life of its own

43:10 Film as a means of manipulation and propaganda

46:15 Stalker by Tarkovsky

47:10 Avatar by James Cameron

Music by Ian Cattanach

What is education?

Join Abdallah as he discusses the theme of 'education vs conditioning' with Yusuf Perez and Jalid Vadillo drawing on Aldous Huxley's book Brave New World and its recent TV Series adaptation.

Brave New World - by Aldous Huxley

The Art of Loving - by Erich Fromm 

Timecode Guide:

1.57 What is the definition of education?

2.47 The Greek concept of Arete

4.09 “Know thyself” - Plato 

Knowing who you are is the most fundamental part of an education

Mastery of a skill will lead you to knowing yourself

5:11 The various Zen practises

6:02 Knowing yourself implies knowing where you stand in the world and seeking the knowledge that is going to help you in your weaker areas

7:33 You can’t live completely in an inner realm. Junger says that’s the de facto position of a defeated person

8:03 Education is the cultivation and refinement of your inward and outward and making them one 

8:18 Achilles’ teacher Chiron - the Centaur - and what that symbolises

8:56 Is ‘Obligatory education’ actually education?

9:31 The TV series Brave New World based on the novel by Aldous Huxley

10:47 The conditioning of children in Brave New World and the logical outcome of modern education being taken to its furthest extreme

11:24 Feeding the children ‘soma’

12:09 The drilling in of ideas through repetitive listening to certain maxims and how that is present in modern media

13:30 Neuroplasticity

15:03 The modern myth is that man is trying to get as close as possible to the perfect rational man

16:07 “To be rational all you really do is end up layering over all of your animal urges with your own fantasy or justifications on how you live

Man is a rope between animal and the Overman - Nietszche

17:21 The rational being doesn't exist

17:43 a contemporary example of the indoctrination of children

21:00 The abolition of the family

21:40 They want your loyalty to be to the State before anything else. The system is designed in a way that you go to cogs in the system before your personal relations. 

22:37 Safety as the most important function of the state - but you can't guarantee safety

The state as the protector where the state doesn’t guarentee anything. 

24:47 The abolition of monogamy - romantic love as the pinacle of human emotional experience

25:38 The book: The Art of Loving

26:12 The power of two people together that are loyal to each other

26:30 The highest form of love is love of everything

27:02 Marriage as a social contract

27:56 The process of growing up in the Brave New World example

28:43 Other examples of contemporary conditioning

29:43 The importance of physical training with regards to education

30:34 Rugby examples 

31:08 Surfing examples

33:56 If you don’t put yourself in that situation of danger and uncertainty you don’t get the reward that is delightful

34:43 Polo examples

37:45 How the above examples aren’t really provided to the majority in the modern setting

38:39 Avoidance of facing up to your self

39:00 You have to switch off the light inside you to live in this society

We are capable of so much more than we think we are - perseverance

41:40 Creating human beings that rather than functioning can do a function, but is not fulfilled

42:22 All it takes is one person to be authentic for the whole facade to come crumbling down

42:46 Soma and its contemporary examples 

44:05 Distraction as another form of Soma

45:00 Stop taking your Soma and sit with your pain and try to master your emotions

45:40 To look inside yourself and know that who you could be is worth the work

Music by Ian Cattanach