The Thinking Muslim

How do Muslims deal with what looks like the comprehensive success of Western civilisation. Is it time to accept defeat, as one writer put it? Or does Islam have something to offer the world that can move us beyond this dysfunctional world.

Our guest today is Hasan Spiker, he argues that modernity is not neutral. The assumption is that modernity is regarded as universal is false. He argues that modernity is Western and its embrace is a means to Western hegemony and domination. He is the author of this soon to be published work, published on the 26th November – The Unraveling of Intelligibility.

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How do Muslims deal with what looks like the comprehensive success of Western civilisation. Is it time to accept defeat, as one writer put it? Or does Islam have something to offer the world that can move us beyond this dysfunctional world.

Our guest today is Hasan Spiker, he argues that modernity is not neutral. The assumption is that modernity is regarded as universal is false. He argues that modernity is Western and its embrace is a means to Western hegemony and domination. He is the author of this soon to be published work, published on the 26th November – The Unraveling of Intelligibility.

Let me remind all viewers that to help us continue to engage critical thought at this time, Please consider becoming a Patron. https://www.patreon.com/TheThinkingMuslim

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Timestamps:

0:00 – Introduction

1:58 – Muslims Disempowered?

4:34 – What is Modernity?

9:42 – Metaphysics and progress

 14:51 – Islam and modernity

19:00 – The 5 Bifurcations

24:20 – Importance of Sharia

25:36 – Separating sacred from spirit

27:58 – Sharia vs Spiritual

29:57 – The second bifurcation

37:43 – Protestantism and secularism

41:02 – Nation-state and modernity

44:06 – Liberalism development

49:52 – The third bifurcation

53:02 – Reasoning religious belief

56:38 – Empirical vs Metaphysics

59:10 – The fourth bifurcation

1:08:21 – non-recognition of Metaphysics

1:11:40 – The final bifurcation

1:13:47 – The west’s Machiavellianism

1:17:20 – Liberalism’s Façade

1:19:18 – Gaza western hegemony

1:27:17 – Ideologies and modernity

1:31:58 – Islams counter-hegemony

1:41:41 – City of Love

1:45:51 – Strength of modernity

1:50:30 – Islam will save modernity

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What does Trump mean for the wider world, how do we position Trump’s America First philosophy in the context of US Unipolarity. Are we seeing the unravelling of the US in the world? To help us understand Trumps America I am happy to have back on the show Sami Hamdi. Sami is an analysts and campaigner and we are forever indebted to his energy.

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Timestamps:

0:00 – Introduction

3:49 – How much did Gaza play in Kamala’s loss?

17:00 – The Muslim community’s role in Kamala’s loss

21:15 – The Green Party not a vehicle?

23:00 – The power of Dawah

31:30 – Has Gaza brought about a shift?

37:11 – Is Netanyahu emboldened by the Trump presidency?

43:45 – Does Iran have to worry about Trump?

56:42 – Is the Trump administration going to be more ‘America First’?

1:04:35 – ‘America First’ from a trade perspective

1:10:37 – Gaza created a new environment

1:14:27 – What will dictate the future of America?

1:15:58 – Public opinion in America turning towards Nationalism?

1:19:25 – Dawah’s ability to shift society

1:27:20 – Never forget that Gazans are at the centre of all of this

1:38:30 – The reward for our activism is Jannah – centre this

1:43:00 – Connecting Dawah to politics

1:55:09 – Is politics so ingrained within Sami that he will carry on in Jannah?

1:57:56 – We all build on the backs of each other

1:58:45 – Imagine the impact we have if we continue moving

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Should we, people who remain married to justice, accept that international law, if it ever did work, is today defunct? In a broader sense, when we pursue its application are we in danger of creating a sense of false hope. These are the existential questions we are now asking ourselves as the genocide proceeds at pace into its 2nd year.

My guest today is Francesca Albanese, an international lawyer who has been in the eye of the storm, speaking truth at the highest levels. Francesca specialises in international humanitarian law and is the special rapporteur for the UN reporting on Palestine.

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Timestamps:

0:00 – Introduction

3:21 – Is international law the problem?

5:05 – ICC ruling, why the delayed decision?

7:07 – How effective are the ICJ judgements ?

9:54 – Who is the system working for?

11:05 – Is Francesca hopeful about international justice?

13:27 – David Lammy and the definition of genocide

16:51 – The reluctance of the West to call this a genocide

19:30 – Is October 7th a catalyst for ethnic cleansing?

26:03 – Can Israel be isolated by the UN?

29:27 – Arab and Muslim countries lack of solidarity

33:48 – How successful can the ICJ complaint be?

37:08 – Weaponizing of antisemitism

41:40 – How can young Muslims stay active?

44:45 – How does Francesca stay motivated in an unjust world?

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There’s an assumption that the West have remained honest brokers in the Gaza genocide, or at least critical friends of Israel. My guest today Matt Kennard argues that contrary to public utterances, the British government, like the Americans are deeply involved in Israel’s merciless bombing of Gaza. They are providing military support, intelligence, diplomatic cover whilst at the same time claiming they want a quick resolution to the slaughter.

Matt is an independent journalist and author of three books Irregular Army, Silent coup and The Racket

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Timestamps:

0:00 – Introduction

2:03 – Britain’s participation in the Gaza genocide

7:48 – The secrecy around the intelligence

10:26 – Britain leads in giving intelligence to Israel

12:11 – How do we apply pressure on the Labour government?

15:37 – We need transparency around Cyprus

24:23 – Mainstream media’s complicity

32:15 – Has the Labour government really shifted?

37:29 – Labour has lost control of the narrative

42:37 – How can the activist space reset their focus

51:42 – How do we recalibrate the Palestinian movement

54:11 – Have people moved on from Gaza?

59:29 – What can we do?

1:04:31 – The role of the Muslim Community

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The US elections are nearly upon us, and we have all be subject to the empty words and rhetoric of of the two main political parties. The Green Party has gained a lot of traction, especially amongst the countries small but very important Muslim community. I have already interviewed the leader of the Greens, Dr Jill Stein. But Today I have the pleasure to speak with Professor Butch Bilal Ware, its Vice Presidential nominee.

Professor Butch Ware is a lifelong activist and educator specializing in the history of empire, colonialism, genocide and revolution. For the past two decades, Ware has put scholarship in service of the people, especially in response to the ongoing genocide in Gaza, as well as the George Floyd murder in 2020.

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Timestamps:

0:00 Introduction

2:00 Embrace Islam at 15

5:00 Malcolm X and radicalism

9:09 Sufis and being radical

13:21 Diluting radical tradition

19:40 Green Party and Liberals

23:25 Green’s and social issues

31:57 Uyghurs and foreign policy

40:06 His political leanings

45:55 Can Muslims work independently

52:44 Voting for Trump

58:31 George Floyd

1:03:32 Fascism in US

1:11:42 Dismantling Empire

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The Abandon Harris campaign has been making waves across the US. It has galvanised largely Muslim and conscientious Americans so build a coalition together to resist the genocidal administration through the ballot box. They have a lot of detractors, paid democratic people ready to defame them. But my guest today is relentless.

Hassan Abdel Salam is one of two founders of the Abandon Harris movement. He is also the Executive Director of the Civil Rights Alliance for America, which is the organization that is organizing and coordinating the Abandon Harris movement. Hassan Abdel Salam has been a professor of strategy, movements, and human rights, for 12 years.

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Timestamps:

0:00 Introduction

1:30 – His movements

5:54 – The Greens

9:13 – Is this realistic ?

18:40 – A return to Democrats

23:32 – Trump

28:20 – Are you winning?

35:51 – Is the appeal just Muslim?

43:44 – Speaking truth

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I know that not all Americans value what I have to say on the US elections. However, I do receive many emails and messages daily asking for advice, and my podcast, The Thinking Muslim, has been fairly instrumental in setting the correct intellectual parameters in parts of the US Muslim community when forming a conscious electoral decision on November 5th.

My original position was to echo the views of many leaders within the US Muslim community who have said Muslim voters must disavow the two parties and opt for a third-party option, whoever that may be. But upon reflection, I think that advice, although in the right direction, will not procure the intended result – simply because it will diffuse the messaging of our vote. And thus diffuse its ability to make a statement. That’s why I have concluded that Muslims must vote for the Green Party on November 5th, even if they disagree, as I do, with some parts of their policy platform and public positions.

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The pro-genocide administration of Biden and Harris has been involved in a frenetic outreach to America’s small but vocal Muslim community. These critical constituents in crucial battleground states like Michigan are where November’s election will be won or lost. Both parties, the Democrats and Republicans, are Zionist to their core, but this genocide has happened with the seal of approval and the consent of the Biden-Harris administration.

Is Gaza a turning point? Can we move beyond this two-party nightmare? Are third-party options plausible in a system that approves only two possibilities? Or is voting for anyone but the two bad options a wasted vote? And what of the broader question of the US empire and its propensity to violence? How will this election address what the world observes as an imperium without moral or ethical standards?

Today I have a very special guest, Dr Jill Stein, leader of the Green Party and Presidential candidate. Jill is a Harvard educated doctor, an environmentalist, campaigner and organiser.

Let me remind all viewers that to help us continue to engage critical thought at this time, Please consider becoming a Patron. https://www.patreon.com/TheThinkingMuslim

Let me remind all viewers that to help us continue to engage critical thought at this time, Please consider becoming a Patron. https://www.patreon.com/TheThinkingMuslim

You can also support The Thinking Muslim through a one-time donation: https://www.thinkingmuslim.com/Donate

Listen to the audio version of the podcast:

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Sign up to Muhammad Jalal's newsletter: https://jalalayn.substack.com

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Timestamps:

0:00 Introduction

2:00 Is a vote for the Green Party a vote for Trump?

6:27 Voters vs Donors

7:31 Why is Kamala Harris not opposing the Genocide?

9:22 Does the Green Party have a Syria problem?

12:47 Oppressive leaders

14:24 Mehdi Hasan's position on Kamala Harris

20:33 How does voting Green Party help Gaza?

22:00 Green Party being contested

23:30 AIPAC is running America

25:38 The Responsibility of a Third Party

32:41 Building a Third Party for the American people

35:00 Muslims in the Green Party

39:50 5% of The Popular vote

44:46 Dr Stein's vision of American power?

50:59 Where do Ordinary Americans stand?

59:26 It's Not Too Late

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I have been struck by the thoughtful and nuanced conversations that are being had across the US about the coming elections. But there remains confusion. One such community that probably has reason to be sceptical of mainstream Muslim organisations and their approach to politics, as relationships, is the all-important African American Muslim community – very often neglected in any conversation.

I have invited today to show someone who I deeply respect for how he thought through these essential topics long before Gaza came along to haunt us. Imam Dawud Walid is the author of Towards Sacred Activism and an Imam in Michigan.

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We have seen the horrific genocidal scenes unfolding in the north of Gaza and in particular the onslaught by the occupation in Jabaliya. There is a horrendous cleansing of Palestinians, apparently to make way for Israeli settler expansion and cut the territory into two. This is a Nakba but worse. A catastrophe. But the world seems to remain silent. On a deeper level – many are asking when will the help of Allah come? How do we deal with this situation as a personal trauma. 

My guest today, is Imam Fuad Abdo, himself from palestine. Imam Fuad is the imam of Goodmayes Mosque, and someone who I have seen firsthand at the forefront of activism – especially encouragement the encampment movement.

You can also support The Thinking Muslim through a one-time donation: https://www.thinkingmuslim.com/Donate

Listen to the audio version of the podcast:

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