The Thinking Muslim

In this second session of our 2024 roundup we have Sami Hamdi back on the show to discuss Syria in more detail. Syria is in many ways a ray of hope but also raises all sorts of uncertainties. What path will the revolution take? How do we assess Jolani and the rebel movement? What of the demands of regional and global actors, ideological and otherwise. And how does Syria navigate the US and Israel's anxieties about the new government and its Islamic colour.

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Timestamps

0:00 – Introduction

1:34 – Ahmed Al Sharaa

11:23 – Implement Sharia?

21:52 – Jeremy Bowen Interview

32:47 – Role of Türkiye

43:45 – Türkiye NATO member

53:41 – Trump Presidency

1:01:48 – Taliban and West

1:12:31 – Forgiving?

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The situation in Germany is very tense for Muslims. The recent Christmas market attack has brought into focus how the political elites in the country malign muslim voices. but it goes deeper, there is a systematic campaign to make advocating for Palestine unlawful.

Hebh Jamal is a Palestinian journalist and activist based in Germany , currently working on an upcoming documentary film, The Reason of State: Germany’s War on Palestinians.

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Timestamps

0:00 – Introduction

1:35 - Magdeburg car attack

6:22 – Elon Musk Germany

8:37 – Islam and AFD

14:45 – ‘Reason of state’

20:24 – Germany Liberal country?

33:35 – Muslim group pushback?

35:14 – Atmosphere of fear?

38:40 – Wider German population?

40:55 – Comfort vs Religiosity

45:09 – How to help?

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Syria has witnessed a remarkable victory in recent weeks, with a brutal dictator falling against all odds. What is the Islamic significance of this? How should we understand the concepts of victory and seeking Allah’s help? To delve deeper into this topic, we welcome Dr Shadee al-Masri back on the show to enlighten us about these crucial ideas of victory and seeking Allah’s assistance. How much do Allah’s help and victory rely on our actions, iman, and preparation? What are the religious implications of surrendering the struggle or feeling disheartened?

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Timestamps:

0:00 – Introduction

2:09 – Allah’s victory?

4:11 – Realists in Ummah

13:54 – Leaders in Ummah

17:40 – Competing obligations

28:28 – Allah’s intervention

35:45 – Wait for victory?

39:39 – Gaza’s victory

45:36 – Hypocrisy

49:54 – Believer’s mindset

56:36 – Importance of Dua

1:00:18 – Value of Tahhajud

1:02:39 – Battle of prophet

1:10:47 – Giving up

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This year we have seen two Muslim countries move away from bitter dictatorships, Bangladesh and Syria. Yet the horrific scenes in Gaza remain. Any joy that comes from Syria is always muted as we endure the horrific genocide perpetrated by the west and its colonial enterprise. Gaza exposes the hollowness of an international order.

The civil war in Sudan remains active, Pakistan’s generals have consolidated power, and the Egyptian pharaoh seems comfortable aiding Israel in its blood-shedding and the Saudis are looking forward to selling Palestine for a US security deal.

We have the pleasure of inviting Sami Hamdi back on the show to look at the year gone and the year ahead. Please as always remember to subscribe to this podcast on your preferred platform, this helps us grow our audience. Alhamamdulillah we are now the 2nd most listened to Muslim podcast on Apple. If you want to support the show, please think about becoming a patron. For a small monthly donation, you will be helping to expand our reach and our content.

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Timestamps:

0:00 – Introduction

2:22 – Saudi Ceasefire agreement

10:51- Hezbollah peace deal

20:28 – Netanyahu’s aims

34:45 – Metaphysical and Politics

55:07 – Sisi

1:01:44 – Sisi Palestine betrayal

1:06:59 – Syria and Egypt

1:10:17 –2025 Looking ahead

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As part of Muhammad Jalal’s conversations with young Muslims from around the world, he speaks with Mosaab and Watfae about the Trump presidency and what this will mean for young Muslims.

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Timestamps:

0:00 – Introduction

1:20 – Dread for Trump?

4:06 – Writing on Ballot?

5:00 – Feeling on ground

8:15 – Tactical voting

12:45 – Muslims in politics

16:48 – Public figures

20:57 – Hijrah

27:47 – American Muslims progressive?

33:12 – Sami Hamdi

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The Syrian revolution began in 2011 as a grassroots civil society uprising against one of the most tyrannical rulers in the Muslim World. Bashar al-Assad, like his father before him, presided over a state of terror, with mass disappearances, secret police repression and a brutal, corrupt state machinery that governed through fear. Assad had four secret service agencies (mukhabarat) that worked independently. If you got onto a list, your life would become a never-ending Kafkaesque tragedy. All four had to pardon you before you could be absolved of any guilt. Ordinary Syrians talked in hushed tones in case stray criticism of the state would be misconstrued as insurrection. Assad was a ‘god’ who had to be adored by his people.

What has happened over these past two weeks is truly spectacular. But how did we get here? And how do we understand the past 13 years?

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Is the European Union a model for Muslim unity? Can the often fractious and politically weak Muslim world improve its regional strength and international standing by pooling economic and even political sovereignty and creating a zone of prosperity that harnesses talents and halts a brain drain to the West? Until 1924, the Muslim world came under a caliphate; many calling for a modern unity cite the EU as a model.

But is the EU really something to aspire to? What binds the EU states is their unity, which is fracturing under the weight of what my guest today calls Euro Whiteness. Today, many Muslims are being marginalised not just by EU nation states but in a larger sense by an EU that observes itself to be a paradise, protecting its borders from Eastern barbarians – the jungle, as Joseph Borel referred to the world outside.

To help us understand the EU, what it is, and what its failings are, I have the pleasure of speaking today to Mehreen Khan. Mehreen is the economics editor of the Times and she spent five years with the Financial Times as their Brussels Correspondent.

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Timestamps:

0:00 – Introduction

2:24 – Euro whiteness

8:42 – Neutrality and Hijab ban

18:29 – European Islam?

20:35 – Secularism – France’s religion

23:38 – What is EU?

27:16 - EU Ideology

31:17 – The Left

34:44 – EU Success

38:05 – Binding structures

44:48 – Europeanness vs Muslimness

47:40 – EU on Gaza

50:03 – Media on Gaza

54:32 – Islamophobia and Optimism

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This live event was held on Youtube to show solidarity with the Syrian revolution. Here’s a list of speakers and their respective timestamps

Timestamps:

0:00- Introduction

9:00 - Omar Suleiman - Justice

24:10 – Tox – On ground feeling

32:44 – Dilly Hussain – Freedom

37:47 – Azzam Tamimi – The Left

46:02 – Ali Hammuda – Quranic view

59:45 – Shadee Elmasry – Propaganda

1:05:35 – Imam Tom – America

1:13:50 – Saifullah – Filmmaker experience

1:17:36 – Razzan Saffour – Syrians experience

1:28:03 – Moazzam Begg – Assad

1:36:40 – Robin Yassin – Prisons

1:47:37 – Maryam Abdulrahman – Faith

1:54:55 – Ismail Patel – Palestine

2:02:30 – Taji Mustafa – Ummatic thinking

2:10:20 – Abdul Wahid – Islam vilification

2:22:23 – Arslan Hidayat – Uyghurs view

2:29:30 – Mohammad Abdulrahman – Martyrdom

2:40:38 – Sikander Iqbal – Victory

2:48:31- Mufti Mangera – Al-Sham

2:51:00 – Imran Muneer – Muslim activism

2:57:48 – Mufti Mangera - Al-Sham

3:06:41 – Bilal Abdulkareem – Revolution Subverting

3:11:40 - Abdullah Jabbar – Aid

3:15:35 – Haitham Al-Haddad – Advice

3:34:17 – Yasir Qadhi – Final words

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Syria is now free. But what does the future hold for a revolution that we believed had all but been decimated? The most recent spectacular offensive has given the rebel groups control over the country's major cities. There now is an appetite for change and unity. I have been struck by the jubilation felt by most Syrians as the tyrant fell. Many who escaped his brutality are returning. The optimism has to be maintained, and the positivity it expresses should not be replaced with the pessimism shown by some partial commentators who are wishing for Syria to fail.

But challenges remain. How do we navigate these? And what of the people who are now at the centre of the new government? I have the pleasure of having Bilal Abdul Kareem on the show to help us understand the complexities of the road ahead and analyse the current players.

Bilal Abdul Kareem is a video journalist who has been covering the conflict in Syria since 2012. He has produced reports for CNN, Channel 4, BBC, and Sky News and runs his own news channel, On The Ground News.

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Timestamps:

0:00 – Introduction

2:30 – HTS ideology

5:55 – Justice – Islamic call

8:41 – Jolani – positive?

11:50 – Bilal too pessimistic?

14:34 – New Syria

16:31 – Toleration of Journalists

17:49 – Capability to govern

20:11 – Israel

23:30 – How far is Israel in Syria

26:00 – Assad central to resisting Israel?

28:06 - Where Islam fits?

33:28 – New government and the West

35:54 – Syrian Prisons

39:38 – SDF

43:35 – Iran and Hezbollah

46:25 – Iran’s role in Syria

49:18 – Anti-Imperialist left

52:18 – Syrian Mindset

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Syria has finally been liberated after 13 years of struggle. We mourn the lives of all that have fallen and celebrate with Syrians. But the horrors of Assad’s gulags are coming to light for the world to see. The scenes from Seydnaya, the slaughterhouse, have shocked many of us. Reflecting on the horrors and looking at some of the challenges, I am honoured today to have a Syrian who has been at the heart of this struggle.

Robin Yassin-Kassab is the author of the novel The Road from Damascus. He is co-author with Leila al-Shami of the Rathbone-Folio prize-shortlisted book Burning Country: Syrians in Revolution and War. And he is the chief English editor of the ISIS prisons museum – which may soon become the Syria Prisons Museum

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Timestamps:

0:00- Introduction

2:16 – Reflections

8:13 – Syria another Libya?

15:20 – Prisons – Torture state

22:57 – Information accessing

25:13 – HTS discipline

31:48 – Syrians re-migrating

35:02 – Israelis in Syria

41:47 – International community crippling revolution

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