ImanWire Podcast

Alex Kronemer and Michael Wolfe, co-founders of Unity Productions Foundation, join the podcast to reflect on lessons learned from over 20 years at UPF, sharing the stories of Muslims in the media, and tackling Rumi and the refugee crisis onscreen in Lamya's Poem.

Part 1 features Dr. Denise Spellberg on the role of Islam in early American pluralism and enduring prejudices. In Part 2, ImanWire hosts discuss Muslims and the 2024 election.

"Those whom your right hands possess", a Qur'anic descriptor for female slaves, can evoke a number of charged emotions and thoughts that can be difficult to reconcile with our modern sensibilities today.

In part 3 of our series on slavery, Imam Dawud Walid considers the aftereffects of slavery on our current condition, its historical role in contributing to anti-blackness in the community today, and how it affects our understanding of Qur'anic language and theological concepts such as 'ubudiyyah (being a slave to God).

Our series on slavery continues as Dr. Bilal Ware joins the podcast to explore the Islamic tradition and the abolition of slavery, debunk the myths of the "Arab-Islamic" slave trade and reflect on how these histories impact our lives today.

Slavery might be considered a thing of the past, but the position of slavery in Islam continues to be an issue that many Muslims grapple with today. In this special four-part series of the ImanWire podcast, we approach this complex topic from several perspectives, beginning with a discussion with Dr. Jonathan Brown on the moral question of slavery, its place in Islamic law, and the diverse practices of it in Muslim history.

Shaykh Hatem El Haj and Imam Dawud Walid join the ImanWire podcast to offer words of encouragement and advice in staying true to Prophetic etiquettes for Muslims engaged in protests and activism for the Palestinian cause.

Dr. Youshaa Patel, author of the book, “The Muslim Difference: Defining the Line between Believers and Unbelievers from Early Islam to the Present”, joins the podcast to explore the many different layers of tashabbuh, weaving through scholarly commentaries, psychology, history, style and culture.

Who is the Islamic Mary? Was she a Prophet? Dr. Younus Mirza reflects on what her Qur'anic story means for us today, and how it connects us to deeper spiritual realities in Ramadan.

What is the Shama'il and how does it cultivate love for the Prophet ﷺ? Shaykh Hassan Lachheb joins the Imanwire podcast to discuss how the Shama'il is essential to building community and how we can learn from the fasting of the Prophet ﷺ as we approach Ramadan.

There will always be challenges in our lives, but hardships are never meant to break us. Ustadha Muslema Purmul, co-founder and Religious Director of the Majlis, joins the ImanWire podcast to discuss the process of readying ourselves by refining our spiritual states and avoiding the "D's" of the devil and our lower self.

What can we learn about ourselves from the daily flood of images of horror in Gaza? In this episode, we reflect on thankfulness and the heartwork that is required for us to positively impact the current global crisis.