Pakistan is an enchanting country, fertile and vast, with a talented young population and, at least on paper, all of the ingredients of a regional powerhouse. But the country is experiencing a tumultuous time. Former Prime Minister Imran Khan languishes in prison while the country’s military leaders use every greater coercion to maintain the status quo. Pakistan’s economy is faltering, and the brain drain of qualified professionals continues to leave the country, devastatingly affecting public s...
Mar 10, 2025•1 hr 33 min
The Seerah (biography) of the Prophet Muhammad (saw) is a key reading for all Muslims. However, many view it through a lens that misses its essence. Sami Hamdi explains how we need to rethink how we view Seerah so that we can internalise it in our lives. This Ramadan, support an alternative Muslim media platform rooted in faith, thought, and enlightened activism. Your donation is an investment in Sadaqah Jariyah, bringing you rewards that will last long after this life. Become a monthly member t...
Mar 06, 2025•1 hr 28 min
This Ramadan, support an alternative Muslim media platform rooted in faith, thought, and enlightened activism. Your donation is an investment in Sadaqah Jariyah, bringing you rewards that will last long after this life. Become a monthly member today and be part of The Thinking Muslim’s sacred mission. Become a member here: https://www.thinkingmuslim.com/membership Or give your one-off donation https://www.thinkingmuslim.com/donate Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Mar 05, 2025•2 min
We often associate Ramadan with seeking closeness to God, which is its aim. A believer abstains from food and drink in the daylight hours to commit themselves to Allah. We draw closer to him through worships and good deeds and this is a month of charity. Muslims give more in this month than any other time in the year, hoping that our sincerity reaches Allah and in the process he overlooks our failings. But in many ways Ramadan stands as a denunciation of capitalism, the insatiable wants, greed, ...
Mar 03, 2025•50 min
Bait ul Maqdis – the sacred precinct in Palestine - is a blessed place in Islam – but today, we have downplayed maybe its centrality to what it means to a believer. From my last conversation with Dr Khalid El-Awaisi – where he controversially said that al Aqsa and these blessed lands have to be more clearly central to our faith and worldview – we want to explore how we practically manifest this nearness to Bait ul Maqdis and Palestine. Dr Khalid El-Awaisi is from Hebron, Al Khalil, in Palestine....
Feb 28, 2025•44 min
Donate to the critical aid campaign at http://btml.us/thinkingmuslim At the time of recording, the German election results have just been announced, revealing an extraordinary outcome for the far-right AFD party, which came second in the Bundestag (parliamentary) elections with 20% of the popular vote, primarily from the country's East but also among some younger voters in the West. The opposition CDU party, led by Friedrich Merz, is on track for victory but will need to negotiate with either it...
Feb 25, 2025•1 hr 6 min
Donate to the critical aid campaign at http://btml.us/thinkingmuslim Islam is about justice and Gaza has mobilised the community to confront the settler colonial enterprise. On this journey we have met many non-Muslims who share our sense of mission and have embraced this collaboration to carve out a better world. I have experienced as a result of these past 15 months that we have a huge following amongst such principled people, trying to understand what motivates the people of Gaza and our fait...
Feb 22, 2025•1 hr 27 min
Donate to the critical aid campaign at http://btml.us/thinkingmuslim Africa is a resource-rich continent with immense potential. When countries within the continent demonstrate good governance and sound economic judgment, they thrive. It is, of course, overly simplistic to discuss Africa as a monolith. Yet some regions, particularly sub-Saharan Africa, continue to grapple with debt, poverty, and civil conflict. This is why the continent remains the most underdeveloped, leading to a brain drain o...
Feb 20, 2025•1 hr 24 min
Profound words on the liberation of Palestine. Dr. Khalid El-Awaisi is from Hebron, Al Khalil in Palestine. He is a lecturer of the pioneering field of Islamic Jerusalem Studies. His main speciality is in the historical-geography of Islamic Jerusalem. He is currently the Associate Professor of Islamic History at the Social Sciences University of Ankara and Executive Director of Islamic Jerusalem Academy . You can find Dr Khalid Awaisi here: IG: https://www.instagram.com/khalid_elawaisi/ X: https...
Feb 18, 2025•9 min
Donate to the critical aid campaign at http://btml.us/thinkingmuslim The struggle for Gaza is not over. For over fifteen months, Israel's Western backers told us that there was no genocide taking place. Now, President Trump confirms that the Israelis have turned it into rubble. His plan, ludicrous as it sounds, is to displace Gaza’s population to surrounding countries and colonize it for America, and presumably Israel. This plan has been roundly rejected by Palestinian voices and regional govern...
Feb 14, 2025•2 hr 41 min
The announcement of Donald Trump at the press conference with Netanyahu had all the shock value we expect from the rogue president. How do we understand his intention to ‘clean out’ Gaza and turn it into a riviera, and how do Palestinians view this brazen ethnic cleansing? To help us understand the we have back on the show Dr Azzam Tamimi, who is one of the leading Palestinian commentators and author of one of the most authoritative works on Hamas. You can find Azzam Tamimi here: X: https://x.co...
Feb 12, 2025•45 min
Despite the recent incendiary declaration by Trump to occupy Gaza and clean the land of Palestinians, there remains fervent talk that normalisation with Saudi is on the cards. The de facto leader Mohammed Bin Salman has made it clear that he wants to make public what is very much the reality: his embrace of Israel and probably the most significant political prize to the genocidal state. The kingdom, in many ways, is rapidly moving towards a westernisation, at least in economic and cultural terms...
Feb 08, 2025•1 hr 16 min
Trump’s Gaza Riviera, in the impossible event it was realised, would be built on the corpses of hundreds of thousands of dead Palestinians, half of them children. The idea is a grotesque display of American profligacy. A hegemon that knows no bounds. It would be wrong to blame it on President Trump's excesses. Trump is no more than another vile iteration of this crumbling colossus. The Biden administration was responsible for this genocide. They armed Israel, gave it diplomatic cover, undermined...
Feb 06, 2025•5 min
The Gaza genocide has come to a pause, with the hope that a ceasefire will remain in place. The details of the deal has allowed many to return to their homes, shattered by a deliberate attempt to destroy all infrastructure. The West remains accomplices and its media have shamefully misrepresented what has happened. Last year we spoke with Amr Abdul Latif, from Gaza who told us about his life growing up under this brutal occupation. Today we have him back on the show. Amr Abdul Latif who was unti...
Feb 02, 2025•52 min
Al Aqsa is the first Qibla, prayer direction, of Islam. It is regarded by Muslims as one of the three sacred Mosques, and its surroundings Bayt al Maqdis has been blessed by Allah in the Quran. The hadith talk of the blessed one who prays in all three of the Masjids, something alhamdulillah I have managed to do. But this mosque, its precincts and the entirety of Palestine is today under threat by a foreign settler force that is hellbent on eradicating its history. My guest today argues that ther...
Jan 29, 2025•1 hr 25 min
When commentators talk about the relationship, often fraught, between Islam and the west, most start with the mass migration from the Indian subcontinent, North Africa and Middle East to western countries. A few years back, the British foreign secretary announced the greatest culinary delight of the brits was the chicken tikka masala. But many do not recognise the deep, often interconnected relationships between European civilisation and Islamic civilisation and how much Islamic influence contri...
Jan 24, 2025•1 hr 4 min
Islamophobia across the Western world is on the rise. It is a pernicious prejudice that seems to have seeped into public acceptance. It is not just the prize of the ultra right, across the West, even liberal minded governments have sought to malign Muslims unjustly. Consider President Macron’s separatism Act, that maligns in effect any believer that follows the shariah. Or consider at home, the Labour government’s reluctance to recognise anti Muslim hatred as a cause of the most recent riots acr...
Jan 21, 2025•53 min
Never in human history has the role and position of men and women been subject to so much dispute. The advent of liberalism has ushered in an era of free thought and individualism that has removed previously accepted notions of roles and obligations. Liberal feminism has explicitly sought to forward a hollow version of equality that has on the whole, harmed women and men. And sadly, the backlash has been a crude assertion of masculinity that loathes women and removes any of their rights. Social ...
Jan 17, 2025•1 hr 19 min
In a world of alternative facts, Elon Musk acts as the high priest of disinformation. The world’s richest man has exploited his platform, X, to embark on a vitriolic anti-Islam tirade with real-world consequences. It is unfathomable that he believes his incendiary messages are based on reasoned evidence and intellectual rigour. But truth and integrity are expendable commodities in this new world of democratised lies. Musk appeals to a radicalised Western population experiencing the repeated shoc...
Jan 12, 2025•8 min
When we talk about Gaza, we often speak of it in isolation from the broader Muslim world. When the Muslim countries are mentioned, it’s normal to suggest that they have given up on the Palestinian cause. The Abraham Accords are oft-cited as an example of the Muslim world turning its back on a beleaguered member. But is that really the case? Is the future fortunes of the Palestinians linked to the Muslim rulers? To help us untangle fact from fiction, I am happy to have Dr Azzam Tamimi back on the...
Jan 11, 2025•53 min
The Waqf, or endowments, is an age-old Islamic method of supplying public services. Throughout Islamic history, this third space enabled entrepreneurs and the monied to donate to causes that would multiply their reward. Many of the key services from health to education in history were funded by this method and it became a model of giving, emulated by many Westerners. Oxford University, it is said, built its endowment structure on the Waqf model. But what is a Waqf, and why do many call for its r...
Jan 08, 2025•56 min
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. Become a member to ger access to exclus...
Jan 03, 2025•1 hr 48 min
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. Let me remind all viewers that to help us continue to engage...
Jan 02, 2025•48 min
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 implica...
Dec 29, 2024•1 hr 17 min
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 t...
Dec 27, 2024•1 hr 26 min
Join our Patreon to get access to exclusive monthly calls: https://www.patreon.com/TheThinkingMuslim 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. 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 th...
Dec 25, 2024•36 min
Become a member to ger access to exclusive monthly calls: https://www.thinkingmuslim.com/membership 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 ind...
Dec 22, 2024•21 min
Become a member to ger access to exclusive monthly calls: https://www.thinkingmuslim.com/membership 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 th...
Dec 20, 2024•1 hr 1 min
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 – Mo...
Dec 17, 2024•3 hr 41 min
Become a member to ger access to exclusive monthly calls: https://www.thinkingmuslim.com/membership 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...
Dec 15, 2024•55 min
