Cyrus Zargar is the Endowed Al-Ghazali Distinguished Professor in Islamic Studies at the University of Central Florida. He earned his PhD from the University of California, Berkeley in Near Eastern Studies in 2008. Zargar’s research interests include Classical Sufism, Islamic Philosophy, Arabic and Persian Sufi Literature, and Ethics in Literature and Film. He is the author of: The Polished Mirror: Storytelling and the Pursuit of Virtue in Islamic Philosophy and Sufism. London: Oneworld. Sufi Ae...
Mar 04, 2019•1 hr 19 min
Dr. Xavier is a professor of Religious Studies at Queens University in Ontario Canada. She works on contemporary global Islam and Sufism, with particular regional interests in North America (United States and Canada) and South Asia(Sri Lanka). She broadly examines how Sufism transforms and/or maintains continuity as it is transmitted to new regions, such as through migration, diaspora, literature, and popular culture (i.e., Rumi). In doing so, she engages sacred spaces (Sufi shrines), rituals, p...
Feb 15, 2019•1 hr 41 min
Kabir Helminski is a Shaikh of the Mevlevi Order of Sufis, which traces its inspiration to Mevlana Rumi. He began his Mevlevi training as a student of the late Shaikh Suleyman Loras. In 1990 he was subsequently appointed a Shaikh. Under Kabir’s direction, the Mevlevi Order is working to apply traditional Sufi principles to the conditions of contemporary life. Kabir and his wife, Camille, founded and now direct The Threshold Society, a nonprofit educational foundation that has developed programs ...
Feb 01, 2019•1 hr 42 min
Zachary Markwith is the Executive Director of the Hub Foundation. He is also a doctoral candidate in Islamic Studies at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. He earned an MA (cum laude) in Comparative Religious Studies at the George Washington University and a BA in Islamic and Near Eastern Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His research and teaching interests include Muslim sacred texts (Quran, Hadith, and ahadith qudsiyyah) and spiritual traditions (ihsan...
Dec 18, 2018•57 min
Rory Dickson is Assistant Professor of Islamic Religion and Culture at the University of Winnipeg, Canada. He researches Sufism (Contemporary Sufism, Sufism and Islam, Sufism in North America). You can find his books here: https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=dp_byline_sr_book_2?ie=UTF8&text=William+Rory+Dickson&search-alias=books&field-author=William+Rory+Dickson&sort=relevancerank And other writings here: https://uwinnipeg.academia.edu/RoryDickson
Sep 10, 2018•1 hr 37 min
Farooq Maseehuddin is the Founder of Tarjuma in Edmonton, Canada and has worked closely with Taleef Collective. His graduate research is a comparative study of Christian and Muslim communities in North America. https://tarjuma.ca Topics discussed include: History of Muslim community in North America - Unmosqued vs. Demosqued - Third Spaces - Social Media Culture - Internet Disruptions - Muslim, Evangelical, Hindu, Buddhist communities in North America - Virality as Authority - Religious Economie...
Aug 13, 2018•1 hr 48 min
Omid Safi is an American Professor of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at Duke University, where he is the Director of Duke Islamic Studies Center, and a columnist for On Being. Dr. Safi specializes in Islamic mysticism (Sufism), contemporary Islamic thought and medieval Islamic history. He has served on the board of the Pluralism project at Harvard University and is the co-chair of the steering committee for the Study of Islam and the Islamic Mysticism Group at the American Academy of Religion....
Jul 05, 2018•1 hr 25 min
Azhar is a standup comedian, actor, writer, playwright, and producer. He is one of Chicago's top standup comics; CNN called him "America's Funniest Muslim," and Georgetown University identified him as "one of the 500 Most Influential Muslims in the World." In 2010, standup icon Dave Chappelle–for whom Azhar has opened over 50 times–commented "Azhar is untouchable. He's like a comedian from the future." He is a paid regular at the prestigious Comedy Cellar in New York City, and hosts a monthly st...
May 06, 2018•1 hr 40 min
Hunter Brown studied Art History and Physics at UC Berkeley. His core areas of research are early Buddhist art and ancient Asian art more generally. He is currently living in Bali and studying traditional Balinese Gamelan music. You can support Path & Present here: https://www.patreon.com/pathandpresent
Dec 21, 2017•2 hr 13 min
Michael Sugich is a native of Santa Barbara, California and studied at UCLA and the California Institute of the Arts. He was initiated into a traditional Sufi order in 1972. Since that time he has studied Sufi doctrine and practice with spiritual masters across the Arab and Islamic world. He lived for 23 years in the precincts of the sacred city of Makkah Al Mukaramah where he kept company with many men of knowledge and illumination. He has written Palaces of India (Pavilion Books), a travel boo...
Oct 30, 2017•1 hr 15 min
Leonard Lewisohn is an American author, translator and lecturer in the area of Islamic studies and a specialist in Persian language and Sufi literature. He is the editor of Mawlana Rumi Review. He is a member of the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies in University of Exeter. Mawlana Rumi Review: http://socialsciences.exeter.ac.uk/iais/research/centres/cpis/rumireview/ Some of Dr. Lewisohn's writings can be found here: https://exeter.academia.edu/LeonardLewisohn
Oct 08, 2017•1 hr 6 min
Abdul-Rahman Malik is an award winning London-based journalist, educator and organiser. Toronto born, he is Programmes Manager for the Radical Middle Way, and Director of the Insight Film Festival. He is a regular contributor to BBC Radio, offering Pause for Thought - contemporary perspectives on spirituality - on Radio 2’s flagship breakfast show and presenting documentaries for Radio 4 and the World Service. His most recent radio documentaries include “The Muhammadan Bean: The Secret History o...
Sep 08, 2017•1 hr 25 min
Antar Hanif (iAMSHOOTER) is a veteran photographer who has worked for many clients, including Ikea and Nike. More recently he has been focusing his lens in the fields of fashion and travel photography. We spoke about how your art/craft/work transforms the way you see the world, how travel changes one's vantage point, learning to ride a scooter in Bali without killing oneself, and more. http://www.iamshooter.com
Aug 26, 2017•1 hr 26 min
Adisa Banjoko aka The Bishop is an author and educator based in the SF Bay Area. In 2006 he founded the 501c3 non-profit Hip-Hop Chess Federation Inc. They fuse music, chess and martial arts to promote unity, strategy and nonviolence. He is also the chess and jiu-jitsu instructor at Zaytuna College. In 2016 he released the book Bobby, Bruce & the Bronx: The Secrets of Hip-Hop Chess. It was recently selected to be preserved at the Cornell Hip-Hop Collection. www.hiphopchess.com
Aug 08, 2017•51 min
Michael Vicente Pérez is a professor of Sociocultural Anthropology at the University of Washington. His research interests include migration and displacement, ethnicity and nationalism, memory, violence, human rights, Muslim societies and Islam. https://anthropology.washington.edu/people/michael-vicente-perez
Jul 07, 2017•59 min
Ali Hussain is a doctoral candidate in Islamic studies in the department of Near Eastern Studies, University of Michigan. His research focuses on Jesus in the thought and writings of the 12th/13th century Muslim mystic Muhyi al-Din Ibn al-ʿArabi (d. 1240). He's also interested in sacred bodies as tools for mythic storytelling in Sufism. https://www.facebook.com/AkbariAliZHussain
Jun 18, 2017•1 hr 41 min
Syed Muhiyuddin bin Husein Al-Attas graduated with a B.A. in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from the University of Otago, New Zealand in 2011. Since 2012 he has been a student of contemporary Malaysian Philosopher Syed Naquib Al-Attas and his students, especially Prof Wan Mohd, at CASIS(Center for Advanced Studies on Islam, Science and Civilisation) concentrating his Master's thesis on Naquib Al-Attas' conception of the West. He has also taught introductory courses on Islamic philosophy, civ...
Jun 02, 2017•1 hr 21 min
Professor Dr. Malik Badri was born in Rufa’a, Sudan in 1932. He obtained his B.A. (with distinction) and his Masters from the American University of Beirut, in 1956 and 1958 respectively. He further obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Leicester, England in 1961 and his Postgraduate Certificate of Clinical Psychology from the Academic Department of Psychiatry of the Middlesex Hospital Medical School of London University in 1966. He was elected Fellow of the British Psychological Society in ...
May 05, 2017•1 hr 58 min
Anse Tamara Gray is a scholar, translator, spiritual teacher, and publisher. She is the founder of Rabata, an organization dedicated to promoting positive cultural change through individual empowerment, spiritual upbringing of women by women, and the revival of the female voice in scholarship. Anse Tamara Grey lived in Syria for twenty years, studying sacred knowledge and traveling along the road of tarbiya (spiritual upbringing). She is a doctoral student in the Leadership, Policy and Administr...
Apr 11, 2017•1 hr 9 min
Parvez and Zaki have a really cool podcast called 'Diffused Congruence: The American Muslim Experience', with a wide range of interesting guests. We are co-releasing this episode on both of our podcasts. Be sure to check out their podcast here: https://diffusedcongruence.podbean.com
Mar 24, 2017•1 hr 17 min
Philip Goldberg is the author or co-author of numerous books; a public speaker and workshop leader; a spiritual counselor, meditation teacher and ordained Interfaith Minister. He lives in Los Angeles, cohosts the Spirit Matters podcast, leads American Veda Tours and blogs regularly on Huffington Post and Spirituality & Health. http://philipgoldberg.com For more about the book: http://americanveda.com
Mar 01, 2017•1 hr 8 min
Tyson Amir is a rapper, poet, musician, author and activist. He has also taught within the prison system for many years. He recently published his first book, 'Black Boy Poems'. www.tysonamir.com Between Huey & Malcolm poem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDU-WtYcHfI&feature=share --- *We had some technical difficulties with this episode. Please forgive the audio distortion at certain points in the conversation.
Feb 19, 2017•1 hr 41 min
Jamil Suleman is an artist, activist, and teacher. http://www.jamilsuleman.com He is also Seattle Jesus: http://www.seattleweekly.com/news/meet-jamil-suleman-a-k-a-jesus-the-muslim-man-bringing-a-message-of-peace-to-seattle/ http://www.thestranger.com/slog/2016/09/19/24568537/spotted-muslim-jesus-takes-the-link-train
Jan 30, 2017•1 hr 39 min
Kabir Helminski is a Shaikh of the Mevlevi Order of Sufis, which traces its inspiration to Mevlana Rumi. He began his Mevlevi training as a student of the late Shaikh Suleyman Loras. In 1990 he was subsequently appointed a Shaikh. Under Kabir’s direction, the Mevlevi Order is working to apply traditional Sufi principles to the conditions of contemporary life. Kabir and his wife, Camille, founded and now direct The Threshold Society, a nonprofit educational foundation that has developed programs ...
Jan 13, 2017•1 hr 4 min
Virginia Aisha Gray Henry is the director of Fons Vitae, a publishing house devoted to world spirituality. She is a writer and film producer under contract with the Book Foundation, and co-founder and trustee of the Islamic Texts Society of Cambridge, England. She has served as a contributing editor for Parabola magazine for over a decade. She has taught filmmaking at Dalton and Fordham University and world religions and art history at the Cairo American College, Cambridge University, Centre Col...
Dec 28, 2016•1 hr 30 min
Michael Sugich is a native of Santa Barbara, California and studied at UCLA and the California Institute of the Arts. He was initiated into a traditional Sufi order in 1972. Since that time he has studied Sufi doctrine and practice with spiritual masters across the Arab and Islamic world. He lived for 23 years in the precincts of the sacred city of Makkah Al Mukaramah where he kept company with many men of knowledge and illumination. He has written Palaces of India (Pavilion Books), a travel boo...
Dec 07, 2016•48 min
W. Rory Dickson is Assistant Professor of Islamic religion and culture at the University of Winnipeg. His interests are in Sufism, Contemporary Islam, and philosophy. He is the author of the new book Living Sufism in North America: Between Tradition and Transformation. In this book, William Rory Dickson explores Sufism as a developing tradition in North America, one that exists in diverse and beguiling forms. Sufism’s broad-minded traditions of philosophy, poetry, and spiritual practice infused ...
Oct 19, 2016•1 hr 57 min
This podcast was recorded at America's Islamic History Museum, in Washington, D.C. with the founder and curator of the museum, Amir Muhammad a.k.a. "The People's Historian." http://www.aihmuseum.org/home.html **Path & Present** Is a community endeavor produced for the sake of sharing the stories of our communities and amplifying the forces of positivity and goodness in the universe. It is made possible through community support. You can give a donation of any amount via paypal to connect@bar...
Sep 17, 2016•1 hr 11 min
Greetings of Peace loved ones! Apologies for the time between podcasts. I have been on the road for the last 3 months and haven't been able to sit down for another episode. I just finished up a tour in Malaysia and, while there, had the opportunity to do an interview for Malaysia's BFM Radio Station. Unlike a lot of interviewers who simply ask stock questions, the host really did his research asked excellent questions and we had a good conversation. After it aired I asked him if we could share t...
Aug 21, 2016•34 min
Usama Canon is the Founding Director of Taleef Collective, a community based non-profit focused on creating healthy social and sacred spaces. He is also a spiritual advisor to the Inner-City Muslim Action Network (IMAN). http://taleefcollective.org Ali Sharrief is is a Bay Area hip hop artist, film director/editor, community activist and founder of The Hijabi Chronicles. http://aliasharrief.com One Be Lo is a hip hop artist from Pontiac, Michigan. He is well respected for being one half of the r...
May 28, 2016•2 hr 1 min
