Abdullah Sameer Podcast

Chris at Speakers Corner had quite an experience with Bobby's Perspective and we're going to expose Bobby.

Did Ali Dawah also get a secret second wife??

Ellie is a British convert "revert" to Islam, who left it after realizing she was sold a lie.

A former Muslim and a Christian Pastor discuss comparative religion Find Pastor George at https://www.youtube.com/@DrGeorgeAntonios

We respond to "The White Muslim Guy" on how he almost left Islam

Danny Burmawy holds a Master of Theological Studies and is the author of The God of My Grandmother. He is the Co-Founder & CEO of Project Ex, an organization focused on countering Islamic extremism and dismantling ideological falsehoods. A former Muslim turned Christian, Danny is a rising voice in foreign policy and national security, with expertise in Middle Eastern affairs, radicalization, and global terrorism. He has led NGOs across the U.S. and the Middle East and provided training and consultation in both religious and policy contexts. Born in Jordan, he spent 15 years in Lebanon before moving to the U.S., where he continues to work at the intersection of theology, counter-extremism, and geopolitical analysis. His insights have been featured by major outlets on issues ranging from Islamic ideology to Western strategic interests. You can find him on X at https://x.com/DanBurmawy ---

Responding to FaiyadFit with Mrs. Friendly Exmuslim and  @ReasonedAnswers 

Mohammad Hijab Blackmails a Sheikh?!

A gross scandal is unfolding in Britain. The British Dawa man and a Muslim scholar, Mohammed Hijab, has been accused by a Muslim woman of sexually and psychologically abusing and controlling her in the name of Misyar marriage, which is permissible in Islam. The wife in this kind of marriage gives up some rights typical of a traditional Islamic marriage. This essentially grants permission to Muslim men to sexually abuse Muslim women for the sole purpose of sexual gratification. However, the issue of a Muslim woman being sexually exploited has been met with defamatory silence from the British Muslim communities. At the expense of a Muslim woman's integrity, those who have spoken out appear more concerned with preserving the "reputation" of Islam and the Muslim communities in Britain. As I say, it is considered a "noble lie" in Muslim culture to take part in the conspiracy of silence to downplay the abuses of women's rights in the name of upholding the so-called honour of religion and family.

Magan Magan was born in Yemen in 1987. At the age of four, after living in Malta for several years, he and his family migrated to Australia. He was awarded a Hot Desk Fellowship at The Wheeler Centre and was co-editor of anthologies Growing Up African In Australia and Australian Poetry Anthology. Magan is the author of From Grains to Gold and the host of the Inner Self Rising Podcast, a show for free thinkers focused on self-development and living authentically. Follow him on Twitter: https://x.com/maganmagan9 Follow him on IG: https://www.instagram.com/innerselfrising

We discuss the problems Lubna found in her faith, what she thinks of the exmuslim movement and more

Pakistani Exmuslim Tariq Elhaad discuses his journey, the trip to Umrah that changed everything, his divorce and how Islam was used against him and how he went from Sunni Islam to Quranism to Atheism. Watch on YouTube here: https://youtube.com/live/F0ZcAV78oDI

In today's episode Gondal and I continued with our response to @Farid Responds. Youtube version of this podcast: https://youtu.be/eEKf_s2Y8GY Timestamps: 0:00 Introductions. 2:10 Debunking Lie #16 - Pretending to respond? Hiding slides. 9:30 The game of miracles - discrepancy between the Quran and the hadith on the frequency of miracles. 17:00 Sam Harris's take on the game of miracles in Christianity. 21:03 The game of miracles (continued) - Farid believes in other miracles in the hadith, so why is he rejected this one? 29:36 Is Waqidi really unreliable? 35:01 Debunking lie #17 - The reference for Muhammad's mom hallucinating, does it even exist? 41:52 Was it just a dream or did she see the light when she gave birth to Muhammad? 47:50 Debunking lie #18 – Farid does not understand hypnopompic seizures. 53:05 Debunking Lie #19 - Farid does not understand the epigastric rising aura.  57:06 Debunking Lie #20 - Muhammad's chest splitting incidents. Editing a 10min discussion on chest splitting incidents into a 1min clip. 1:09:40 Debunking Lie #21 - Anas was born 36yrs after the first chest splitting incident so he cannot be an eyewitness! 1:17:50 Debunking Lie #22 - Chest splitting incidents supposedly occurred multiple times….why do we only have witnesses to just one incident? 1:22:35 Debunking Lie #23 - Heavy camel or fainting? The burden of revelation or dead weight effect. 1:32:20 Debunking Lie #24 - Farid Hid many instances of dead weight 1:37:30 Debunking Lie #25 - The dog VS Camel sniffing strawman. Epilepsy and the smell of fear. 1:44:50 Channel announcements 1:44:00 Can camels and untrained dogs detect seizures? Farid's twisted logic. 1:54:30 Farid makes an apples-to-oranges comparison and his twisted logic. 2:03:15 Comments from the live section. 2:04:36 Farid's malicious editing - Khasais  al Kubra - Suyuti  on severe trembling during ‘revelations' 2:12:45 The sound of bees is a more precise description of Muhammad's seizures. 2:21:08 Farid cherry-picking hadith that support a particular narrative/ view.   2:23:10 Debunking Lie #26 - Trees speaking to Muhammad 2:29:01 How old was Ali when Muhammad started hearing voices? 2:33:55 Can you diagnose via witness testimony? Yes, but with many caveats. 2:35:40 Crazy descriptions of Muhammad's seizures. 2:36:50 Final remarks.

I'm speaking to Ash, an Iranian blogger, translator, and podcaster who works on philosophy, translating banned books and politics of the MENA region on the protests that have swept across Iran. People are protesting the death of Mahsa Amini at the hands of the Morality Police for removing the hijab. Please tune in and listen to this insightful conversation. Ash's channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCz3S... Ash's other channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7oQ... Ash's blog, etc: https://linktr.ee/ashkan_roshan Youtube version of this podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4XwCFkSt0o

I was interviewed by a Harvard student on the topic of Islamic finance and why I think it's a scam. I hope you will enjoy listening in. Gaurav's IG: https://www.instagram.com/gauravtee/ YouTube version of this podcast: https://youtu.be/VsKEhsPQMoI

In this episode, the two Abdullahs are back together to review Farid's response to our "Epileptic Prophet" series. We decided to respond because Farid was manipulating our videos by editing them to create the impression that we were ill-informed on the topic and that we were misleading our audience. Abdullah Gondal and I took our time to go through Farid's claims and pointed out how he was manipulating our videos. We showed how he was editing out explanations, twisting our words, and outright lying just to make it seem like he had countered the arguments we had raised. We even replayed our original videos to show Farid's bad faith rebuttals and hypocrisy. This was a fun-filled episode as we exposed the intellectual dishonesty and manipulative ways of the Dawah people. I invite you to take a listen! YouTube version of this podcast: https://youtu.be/beoT5YxeBdo Timestamps: 0:00 Introductions. 5:26 Do people care about facts or do they just defend their faith no matter what the evidence shows? 6:30 Debunking Lie #1 - Secondary sources are useless. Understanding basic research methodologies. 12:15 Debunking Lie #2 - Conflating historical sources with Islamic sources. 17:42 Are hadith primary sources by historical standards? 20:00 Debunking Lie #3 - Gondal was not showing the hadith he used to build his argument? 24:00 Debunking Lie #4 - Gondal only produced 1 primary source. Tabrani is a primary source? 30:44 Did Gondal mislead people about repeating sources? 34:40 Debunking Lie #5 - Weak hadith? Stop lying and distorting. 43:55 Debunking Lie #6 - Islam web lie. Farid dishonestly hides some of the slides to create a wrong narrative. 48:30 Nuances in hadith authenticity and acceptance 53:58 Debunking Lie #7 - Who is Dede? 1:01:55 Debunking Lie #8 - Hiding experts 1:02:36 Debunking Lie #9 - Burahaa does not mean paroxysm? Farid seems not to understand what synonyms are and how they work 1:11:42 Debunking Lie #10 – Hiding the scholars' translations. 1:19:36 Debunking Lie #11 - Hiding alternative translations for the word paroxysm. 1:25:40 Comments from the live chat - What motivates the two Abdullahs to keep working on counter-apologetics. 1:29:40 Debunking Lie #12 - Karb = Pain? Farid misses the point on synonyms. 1:37:23 Debunking Lie #13 - Almaany dictionary is unreliable? 1:42:24 Debunking Lie #14 - Sun rising back hadith is Sahih?! 1:47:45 Debunking Lie #15 - Why act all surprised about the sun rising again when you already accept that the sun stopped and the moon was split? 1:48:59 Summary of the stream. 1:54:00 Comments from the live chat. 1:58:02 Final remarks

In this episode, I went into detail debunking Yasir Qadhi and Hamza Yusuf's apologetics on the age of Aisha. Both of these men are highly regarded sheikhs in the Muslim community and their arguments are usually used by Muslims. Although both Hamza Yusuf and Yasir Qadhi agreed that in the present-day child marriages are harmful and must be banned, they both found twisted and contorted ways to excuse Aisha's marriage to Muhammad. They argued that child marriages were the norm back then although there are no other companions who had wives that young. They also tried to recycle some of the usual ridiculous arguments that Muslims use to justify Muhammad's actions. I also took comments and questions from the audience on this issue. This was a very insightful and interactive episode. I invite you to take a listen. YouTube version of this podcast: https://youtu.be/pQLUgxdBn1c Timestamps: 0:00 Introductions  1:20 Are people leaving Islam because of the Islamic teachings or because of bad treatment at the hands of Muslims or other reasons? 7:55 Discretion of Ahmadiyya graves y police in Pakistan 9:20 Aisha's age and the Sharma controversy. 13:46 The impact of child marriage on the victim and why we should all fight child marriages. 23:00 Islam is not the ONLY reason for child marriages  26:40 Reacting to Yasir Qadhi's apologetics on Aisha's marriage to Muhammad. 34:20 Hadith - Aisha playing with dolls and other children. 35:30 Reacting to Yasir Qadhi's take on Aisha's marriage to Muhammad - Was this an ideal situation for Aisha? 46:28 Why do Muslims revere Muhammad so much when they are the same people responsible for wiping out his whole family? 47:36 What is Ifk? 48:20 Hadith - Muhammad's dreams about Aisha and Abu Bakr's reaction 51:25 Why is it only Muhammad and not his companions married a wife that young? 52:44 Reacting to Yasir Qadhi's take on Aisha's marriage to Muhammad - People matured faster in the old days? 58:36 Comments from the live chat - Why not have a live debate with Yasir Qadhi instead of reacting to his videos? 1:05:23 Reacting to Yasir Qadhi's apologetics on Aisha's marriage to Muhammad - was Aisha's marriage a happy marriage? 1:17:00 Comments from the live chat. 1:21:25 Reacting to Hamza Yusaf's apologetics on Aisha's marriage to Muhammad - was it customary or religious? 1:27:17 Alternative views on Aisha's age and child marriage in the Quran - chapter on divorcing immature girls. 1:33:24 Reacting to Hamza Yusaf's apologetics on Aisha's marriage to Muhammad - were the companions extraordinary men? 1:48:40 How did Abdullah justify all the stuff in Islam when he was a Muslim 1:51:10 Technical issues - no audio. 1:52:34 Is it safe for children to have sex before they are mature or physically ready? 1:55:00 Comments from the live chat. 1:57:55 Reacting to Hamza Yusaf's apologetics on Aisha's marriage to Muhammad  2:00:00 Comments from the live chat 2:02:12 Reacting to Hamza Yusaf's apologetics on Aisha's marriage to Muhammad  2:10:08 Comments from the live chats 2:11:36 Saudi Children left behind and other contemporary news. 2:17:40 Final remarks

In this episode, I revisit the topic of Aisha and her marriage to Muhammad due to recent events. I also take calls from the audience. YouTube version of the podcast: https://youtu.be/d-Q231ci9gM

I am going to be speaking to the man behind Arabic Translated Memes (https://exmuslimmemes.com/). Hassan and I will also discuss his journey out of Islam, his work as an Ex-Muslim, as well as battling censorship of his work on various online social media platforms. I am inviting you to take a listen to this insightful conversation! Connect with him on IG: https://www.instagram.com/arabic_translatedmemes/

In today's podcast, I discuss recent events in India and the controversy that resulted in Apostate Prophet being banned from Twitter. I also take calls from the audience. It was such a lively and interesting show and I invite you to listen in. YouTube version of this podcast: https://youtu.be/1X4HwNT4Q7w

In this episode, I was joined by @Critical Faculty to discuss his path out of Islam. We kicked off the podcast by discussing Critical Faculty's religious background and how he ended up in Islam. We also talked about how his family molded his views and philosophy when it comes to religion. Critical Faculty and I then delved into the paradox of free will in Islam. We talked about how free will and the main Islamic God narrative are incompatible yet some Muslim apologists and scholars still find a twisted way to explain it. We also discussed evolution and Scientism. Later in the episode, we also took questions and comments from the live chat. The questions were from a wide range of topics including Islamic morality, Quran compilation, and preservation as well as Scientific issues in the Quran.  This was such a lively and interactive episode and I hope you will enjoy listening to the conversation.   YouTube version of this podcast: https://youtu.be/TObHJK0BPrw Here are the timestamps for the episode: 0:00 Introductions. 1:12 Critical Faculty's background 5:15 Is the Islamic community becoming more religious or not?  9:16 The paradox of free will in Islam. 24:55 Evolution. 28:38 Scientism. 30:52 Reading comments from the live chat 33:55 The moon splitting miracle - Is there evidence for such an occurrence? 41:40 Can miracles in the Quran be authenticated? Problems with Pre-Islamic evidence. 46:35 The anthropomorphic God in Islam. 52:40 Channel announcements 53:40 More comments from the chat 57:40 Can you be a Muslim/theist and still accept evolution? 1:00:52 More comments 1:04:40 Can science explain a miracle? 1:11:06 Did Muhammad and Allah forget to mention Allah in the Quran? 1:12:46 More comments  1:15:40 How the Quran compilation shows that Islam is a human effort 1:17:40 Is Abdullah normalizing the popular Muslim narrative? 1:22:57 Why did Uthman have issues with the Quran being revealed in various dialects? 1:25:37 Did Muhammad not encourage the preservation of the Quran in written form because he believed he was living in the “End of times”? 1:28:14 Parallels between Muslims and Christianity when it comes to the preservation of scripture. 1:30:00 The aqeedah differences and how they led to rifts in the Muslim community 1:31:47 Was Muhammad an epileptic? 1:33:24 More comments 1:38:00 Critical Faculty's current projects 1:39:09 Is there still any relevance in discussing the Scientific miracles argument? 1:41:56 Closing remarks

In this episode, I joined @MythVisionPodcast on his channel to take calls from Muslim callers. This was a very lively and respectful discussion and we explored different topics. Some of the topics include Free will VS determinism, Pagan and Christian influences on Islam, as well as the topic of Apostasy and apostasy laws. On the topic of Apostasy, we explored the origins of the law, the various hadith, and interpretations from respected scholars. We also took calls from two Muslims who approach this topic differently but both reach the conclusion that apostasy laws are not fundamentally a part of Islam. Also, we discussed the story of Jesus's crucifixion both from a Christian and Islamic perspective. @MythVisionPodcast and I then took a call from Miran who wanted to discuss the problem of not having a single authority in Sunni Islam when it comes to issues of Islamic fiqh, hadith authentication, and scholarly advice. The conversation then, later on, moved to the topic of historical Muhammad and the story of Aisha. I hope you will enjoy this episode. YouTube version of this podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcPSLHTgpBM Timestamps: 0:00 Introductions 6:22 Islamic apologetic's reliance on the free will argument. Surah 10. 17:37 The Perfect Dawah - There is no predestination in Islam. Is Isis the true interpretation of Islam? 29:28 Comments from the live chat  30:34 Victor - Shoutout 31:27 Cush - Crucifixion of Jesus 35:15 Abdullah Sameer's take on the crucifixion of Jesus according to Islamic teachings. 38:46 The Pagan influences in Islam 40:27 Crucifixion of Jews by the Romans 20 years before Jesus. 41:41 Whysthetruth -  43:41 Pagan influences in Islam  47:40 Superchat 48:05 Apostate Prophet - Sheik Yabooty  57:55 How do Muslims know there was an uncorrupted holy book? 1:00:16 Advice for Muslims who want to leave Islam but are married to Muslims. 1:02:14 The influences of Pre-Islamic Arabia on Islam. 1:03:16 Rashid - Compliments for Abdullah 1:04:50 Nader - The Quran's position on Apostasy. Surah 4: 137  1:25:23 Superchats - How is it possible that Pharoh was able to speak perfect Words 1:27:10 Muhammad was a dictator who wanted total submission. 1:31:10 Comments from the super chats 1:32:56 What is the ruling on the apostate? 1:39:55 Muhammad was a fascist political leader whose actions created a fascist political-religious ideology. 1:42:02 Rashid - Complements and introductions 1:45:17 Hadith give the impression that it is okay for apostasy. 1:48:49 Why Rashid is Muslim  1:50:16 Super chat - Other prophet claimants other than Muhammadin the 7th-century  1:52:54 Was the idea of Muhammad being the final prophet a way to prevent political uprisings after his death? 1:59:40 Muhammad might have been a Christian before Islam - Christian influences on Islam. 2:03:30 Miran - Is the lack of a single authority in Sunni Islam problematic? 2:13:23 Historical Muhammad and the story of Aisha. 2:19:50 Super chats  2:22:42 Final remarks and channel announcements.

In this episode, I was joined by Proud Pakistani Gay Salman. He was born in Pakistan and grew up as a Muslim. His family was Ismaili and then converted to the Sunni sect of Islam. Salman and I kicked off the conversation by discussing his family and religious background. We then went on to discuss minorities in Pakistan and how the government favors Sunnism over other sects of Islam and other religious minorities. Also, we talked about the safety of minorities as well as the human rights situation in Pakistan.   Salman then shared his experiences of growing up in a devout Sunni family while also being gay. He talked about how the religious teachings and subtle messages from his parents led him to develop internalized homophobia. Salman also discussed how he dealt with internalized homophobia and how that opened a door for him to start critically questioning some of the broader religious beliefs he was holding. He also detailed his struggle to hold onto the Muslim identity even as his beliefs were no longer aligning with traditional/mainstream Islamic teachings. We later talked about how he came to the realization that he was no longer Muslim. The conversation then moved to the topic of coming out as gay and coming as an apostate/ ex-Muslim. Salman shared how his relationship with his family soured when he came out as gay. He also talked about how his relations with various family members are improving with time. We also discussed the need for community and being prepared before coming out. I invite you to take a listen to this insightful discussion! YouTube version of this interview: https://youtu.be/Gx2EgXCFdkU Salman's TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@proudpakistanigay?lang=en Salman's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/proudgaypakistani/ Timestamps: 0:00 Introductions 1:10 Salman's family background 6:54 Is it safe for Ismailis and other religious minorities in Pakistan?  22:05 The importance of enlightenment values and secularism. Is religion still relevant in today's society? 30:50 Salman's religious background and how being gay impacted his religious beliefs. 43:05 Moving out of the family and dealing with internalized homophobia. 49:35 How exploring sexuality helped Salman start questioning some aspects of Islam. 56:50 Are Muslims in the West more accepting of the LGBTQ+ community?  1:05:40 Comments from the live chat 1:06:23 Marriage of convenience. 1:09:56 Salman's social accounts  and channel announcements  1:12:00 Is being gay normal? 1:13:50 Struggling to hold onto the Muslim identity 1:18:46 Salman coming to the realization that he was no longer Muslim and dealing with the grief of losing a community. 1:22:36 Salman's relationship with his family - Coming out as Gay compared to coming out as an ex-Muslim. 1:27:40 The victim mentality in the Muslim community. Islamophobia and anti-Muslim bigotry.  1:33:40 The importance of having a network/ community before coming out. 1:39:11 Salman's goals as an out gay and ex-Muslim. 1:41:50 Salman's advice for Muslims 1:44:27 Final remarks.

For this episode, I was joined by an Ex-Muslim convert Al-Muealim. Al-Muealim was a pentecostal Christian up to the age of 18 then he converted to Islam for about seven years. He later left Islam and is now an agnostic atheist and he is interested in the academic analysis of the origins of various religions. Al-Muealim was gracious enough to share with us his journey from Christianity to Islam then to losing faith. We discussed the points that make Islam more appealing to Christians, particularly fundamentalist Christians.  Al-Muealim recounted how the idea of a single God and the preservation of the Quran lured him to Islam. We also talked about stories in the Quran that seem to have pre-Islamic origins for example the stories that were circulating in Syriac well before the Quran was written. The discussion then moved to the evolution of polytheism to monotheism. We also talked about theophorics and how it is used to piece together the history of gods. Al-Muealim and I then touched on how Muhammad Muhammad was an apocalyptic prophet and how the concept of the afterlife (heaven and hell), and Satan/Iblis were later on integrated into the Abrahamic religions. We also discussed the parallels between the Christian version of apocalypticism and that found in the Quran. We finished off this conversation by discussing the stories of Dhul Qarnayn and Gog and Magog.  I hope you will enjoy this episode     Al- Muealim's TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@al.muealim?lang=en Al-Muealim's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCW5_fHLQ2DvGVpCr4Agkz4g List of books referenced:Ehrman, Bart. Forged (Book)Ehrman, Bart. Heaven and Hell (Book)Friedman, Richard. Who wrote the Bible? (Book)Hayes, Christine. Introduction to the Old Testament (Lecture series) https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh9mgdi4rNeyuvTEbD-Ei0JdMUujXfyWiPagels, Elaine. The Origin of Satan (Book)Smith, Mark S. Origins of Biblical Monotheism (Book)Smith, Mark S - The Birth Of Monotheism (lecture): https://youtu.be/PvOT6Kj8Yxk Timestamps: 0:00 Introductions 0:34 Al-Muealim's interest in academic analysis of the history of various religions. 3:04 What appealed to Al-Muealim in Islam that made him convert from Christianity to Islam.  7:50 Quranic stories that were circulating in Syriac well before the Quran was written. 9:36 The Injil. Jesus in Islam and how this is a selling point for Muslims trying to lure Christians into Islam. 16:10 AI- Muealim's position on faith 16:32 Comments from the live chat. 18:50 Monotheism - was this always the situation?  23:17 Theophorics and how it is used to piece together the history of gods. 26:12 Comments from the live section 26:40 Exercpt of Mark S Smith speech, Source criticism of the Torah 33:40 Quran makes sense if taken as a text written by seventh-century humans 36:18 Muhammad as an apocalyptic prophet - the Meccan Surahs. Cultish traits of Muhammad and Islam. 40:58 The infancy gospel of Thomas - Forged by Bart Erhman. The Christology of Jesus in the Bible. 46:13 Comments from the Live chat. 48:33 Preservation of Quran  51:47 Comments from the live section 52:46 Why did Muhammad not plan for what would happen after his demise? 53:36 Channel announcements - Al-Muealim's TikTok and YouTube channel 55:05 Evolution of monotheism 1:02:28 The Afterlife - Heaven and Hell, Satan/Iblis,  Surah 87/11. The books of Moses. 1:14:05 The importance of academic inquiry in conquering religious dogma. Fighting Islamic fundamentalism and extremism. 1:21:11 Converting to Islam for the community. The conditional love and support in the Muslim community. 1:25:43 Apocalypticism - the origins of this concept and how it found its way into Islam. Presuppositionalism  1:31:19 How Al-Muealim lost his faith 1:37:05 Apocalypticism (continued).  1:38:40 Occam's razor. Dhul Qarnayn. Gog and Magog 1:50:30 Final remarks .

In this episode, Apostate Prophet and I discuss Ismailism, an esoteric branch of Shia Islam that we usually do not talk much about. Here is the YouTube version of this conversation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-mHCtpsiyg

For this episode, I was joined by a Malay ex-Muslim Fairuz to discuss apostasy in Malaysia and his experiences trying to officially renounce Islam. He shared with us his story of growing up as a Muslim boy in Malaysia in a very religious family. In spite of his ultra-religious family, Fairuz started developing doubts and questioning the Islamic teachings he was receiving at a very young age. Fairuz and I also discussed his relationship with a Christian girlfriend and how it created problems for both of them. He opened up about his decision to petition the Malaysian government and the Sharia courts to renounce Islam as this was the only way that his marriage to his Christian girlfriend would be formally recognized. He also shared the ordeals that he went through in Sharia court-mandated counseling and psychotherapy for 4 years, which was one of the hoops that Fairuz had to jump through for him to get the renunciation formally completed. Fairuz was also subjected to intrusive surveillance as the religious by state investigators as they were trying to build a case to block his renunciation of Islam. We then talked about Fairuz's family and how his parents decided to side with the state over their own son. They even went so far as to testify against him in the court proceedings and they signed off on having Fairuz committed to a detention center for more counseling and psychotherapy. However, Fairuz managed to escape to Sweden with his girlfriend. We wrapped up the show by discussing Fairuz's asylum-seeking process in Sweden and the hurdles that he is facing. I hope this episode shows you what ex-Muslims in Malaysia and some Muslim majority countries are experiencing. I invite you to take a listen. YouTube version of this podcast: https://youtu.be/Awz-M7Xn5fI His twitter: https://twitter.com/rahim_fairuz Timestamps: 0:00 Introductions 2:30 Why is Fairuz sharing his story? 4:28 Fairuz's religious background  7:34 Leaving Islam as a young boy. Reading hadith and how it made Fairuz question Islam. 16:08 The Arabic/Islamic influence on the Malaysian culture and history. 21:49 Fairuz's relationship with a Christian woman and his experience petitioning a Sharia court to renounce Islam. 29:08 Responding to comments from the live chats - Why is Fairuz wearing a mask? Racism in Malaysia and Marithir M's comments. 37:30 Fairuz's experience petitioning a Sharia court to renounce Islam (continued) 57:10 Being court-ordered to attend religious counseling/ repentance by a Sharia court. 1:11:04 How did Fairuz's parents respond to his ordeal?  1:15:33 The system of self-policing among community members and friends and the intrusive investigations by the courts 1:18:25 Fairuz's parents sided with the Sharia officials over their son and how he escaped being committed into a counseling institution. 1:26:04 Seeking assistance from UNHRC and Amnesty International.  1:27:00 Arriving in Sweden and the process of seeking asylum. 1:30:06 Problems with the Swedish asylum system 1:48:55 How Amnesty international declined to offer assistance to Fairuz. 1:52:19 The paradox of tolerance.  1;52:52 Responding to comments in the live chat. 1:53:18 Final remarks.

This episode is the 7th and final installment in the series ‘The Epileptic Prophet' in which Abdullah Gondal and I tackle the question of Muhammad's mental health and possible epilepsy. Our aim is to provide an alternative explanation to Muhammad's supposed prophethood from a neurological perspective. In this episode, we go through famous cases and interviews of people with epilepsy. We kicked off the episode by discussing Dr. Karen Armstrong, a British author and distinguished academic who is also an epileptic. We presented an excerpt from an interview she had with Oprah Winfrey in which she explained her struggles before she was diagnosed with epilepsy. She also explained the symptoms that she experienced during seizures.  Gondal and I went on to present various cases of famous people from different walks of life who have enjoyed success in their respective fields. Some of the famous army leaders and politicians we discussed include  Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Theodore Roosevelt Jr.(both former US presidents), Joan of the Arc, Laura Sandys and Paul Maynard (both members of the British Parliament), and Julius Caesar. We also discussed cases of people in the arts and entertainment industry who are very successful inspite of epilepsy including Lil Wayne, Van Gogh, and Prince. We also discussed Fyodor Dostoevsky's case and its parallels to the story of Muhammad. The main aim of this episode was to destigmatize epilepsy and show people that epileptics can enjoy high levels of success in life if epilepsy is managed and treated. We wrapped up the show by giving a recap of the main arguments that we raised throughout the series. We hope you will enjoy this episode and share the series with your friends. Support this show: https://abdullahsameer.com/two-abdullahs Full Series Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBhSsGcWqsZ7Z--bKEjzqHlRyD6IhN25d Timestamps: 0:00 Introductions 1:52 Famous cases of epileptic patients - Karen Armstrong 11:55 Alyssa D'AMico - Epileptic poet 13:06 Socrates had epilepsy? 15:10 Caligula (Gaius Caesar) - Roman emperor  16:24 Prince Erik  17:22 Joe Doyle - British politician. 19:00 Neil Abercrombie - Governor of Hawaii (2010 - 2014) 21:28 Tony Coelho - Lawyer to priest to congressman 30:10 Chief Justice John Roberts 32:46 Laura Sandys - British member of parliament 37:12 Paul Maynard 39:19 Elliott Roosevelt, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Former US president), Theodore Roosevelt Jr.(Former US president) 44:46 Lil Wayne 48:28 Prince - a famous musician/music writer-actor 50:33 Edward Lear 52:08 Alfred Lord Tennyson - A genius poet. 53:36 Did Julius Caesar suffer from epilepsy 54:35 Pope Pius IX 55:40 George Inness 56:14 Edgar Allan Poe - Poet and storyteller *57:18 Gustav Flaubert 1:00:18 Machado De Assis 1:02:09 Kumagusu Minakata - Japanese genius devoted to natural history and folklore. 1:03:35 John Nash - founder of game theory,  1:04:11  Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. Farid's strawman. 1:17:24 Emperor Michael IV, Paphlagonia 1:18:04 Joan of Arc 1:22:15 Mirza Ghulam Ahmed - Founder of the Ahmadi Islamic sect. 1:27:20 Richard Doddridge Blackmore 1:28:06 Fyodor Dostoevsky's case and its parallels to the story of Muhammad 1:32:10 Van Gogh, Lorna Byrne 1:38:32 Ron Hubbard - hypergraphia. 1:39:50 St. Birgitta case 1:43:58 Lies of Dr. Hassan Aziz - Did Muhammad have epilepsy? 1:49:26 The role of psychotic disorders in religious history considered.  1:51:00 A quick summary of the stream 1:53:49 Gondal's future plans 1:59:46 Channel comments 2:01:22 Responding to comments - Is this series the final nail in the coffin for Islam? 2:03:03 Recap of the series  2:07:30 Is there a clear distinction between demonic possession and psychological problems? 2:16:40 Final remarks List of Resources: Karen Armstrong - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Armstrong

This episode is the 6th installment in the series ‘The Epileptic Prophet' in which Abdullah Gondal and I tackle the question of Muhammad's mental health and possible epilepsy. Our aim is to provide an alternative explanation to  Muhammad's supposed prophethood from a neurological perspective. In this episode, we explore Muhammad's possible OCD, violence, and hypergraphia. We started the episode by discussing Muhammad's narcissism. We presented an excerpt of an interview by Dr. Ali Sina in which he explains Muhammad's narcissistic traits and possible causes for such levels of narcissism. Gondal and I then went on to talk about Muhammad's delusions of grandeur. The conversation then moved on to Muhammad's hallucinations including his purported friendship with angel Gabriel. We went through various hadith and seerah which document such hallucinations. Another issue we discussed is Muhammad's supposed visions and how questionable his claims are. We talked about the hadith in which the angel Gabriel supposedly visited Muhammad and taught him how to pray and perform ablution. Lastly, we compared the hallucinations and visions to those of contemporary epileptic patients who also have OCD and hypergraphia. We ended the conversation on the topic of violence and epilepsy. We discussed how epilepsy patients sometimes have a tendency to be violent or to incite violence. Gondal and I then went through various Quranic verses as well as hadith which document Muhammad's violence, the vigilantism, and forced conversions of prisoners of war that Muhammad encouraged. We also discussed the Banu Qurayza massacre. This episode was very eye-opening and I invite you to take a listen.  Support the two Abdullahs show at https://abdullahsameer.com/two-abdullahs YouTube version of this podcast: https://youtu.be/B1TQsdHBtN0 Here are the previous episodes in this series: Part 1: https://youtu.be/WlO4nZUGVf4 Part 2: https://youtu.be/ZI16w6Sl3DE Part 3: https://youtu.be/fD4FyXSN96k Part 4: https://youtu.be/Z-IgOnBCv3U Timestamp: 0:00 Introductions 3:15 Muhammad the narcissist - Dr. Ali Sina. 13:00 Another chest opening incident - hadith 14:35 Muhammad's delusions - A green screen covering the horizon, the seal of the prophet? 17:25 The holy spittle, holy sweat, urine, and poop of Muhammad. 25:40 A tree that sees genies? People manipulating Muhammad. 29:10 Talking cows and wolves. The vision of nations in the sky. 31:05 More of Muhammad's hallucinations - hanging out with Gabriel,  riding during the funeral. 35:13 Comments from the live chat. 37:53 Muhammad reports seeing 12 angels rushing around the mosque - hadith. 39:45 Disappointment after being stood up by Muhammad. 41:22 Sick Muhammad imagines angel Gabriel visiting him, Gabriel came down to lead Muhammad in prayer? 48:58 Allah and Gabriel praise Khadija, Muhammad chocking Satan. 52:44 Muhammad's auditory and visual hallucinations. 55:00 Genies request Muhammad to stop wiping with bones and dung, communicating with genies 57:13 Muhammad recites Surah Rahman to the genies 59:18 Angels hate onions and garlic? 1:03:20 Comments from the live chat. 1:04:45 Hypergraphia and temporal lobe epilepsy - Dr. Abbas 1:09:13 Psycho Quran - the theme of extreme torture in the first 5 revealed chapters. 1:14:45 Muhammad's hypergraphia - Dr. Dede Korkut 1:17:26 Contemporary cases of hypergraphia. 1:22:06 The Quranic compositions degraded in rhyme as Muhammad aged - Dr. Abbas 1:27:06 Violence and epilepsy - Dr. Abbas. Massacre of Banu Qurayza. 1:40:36 How challenging delusional patients cause them to be more irritable - Dr. Abbas. 1:42:40 Muhammad the murderer, vigilantism, and forced conversions of prisoners of war to Islam. 1:48:19 Scrupulosity, OCD, and epilepsy. 1:59:54 A quick recap of the stream and preview of the upcoming episode. References: Another chest-splitting incident?

For this week's episode, I am joined by Mookie. He is an American Jew and we will be exploring Mamet's archetype of the allegedly self-loathing Jew who has internalized the world's antisemitism. He's going to defend his intellectual agnosticism, rational criticisms of Israel, and advocacy of global humanism. You can find Mookie on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mookiespitz YouTube version of this conversation: https://youtu.be/KIF-NqNjhss

This episode is the 5th installment in the series ‘The Epileptic Prophet' in which Abdullah Gondal and I tackle the question of Muhammad's mental health and possible epilepsy. Our aim is to provide an alternative explanation to  Muhammad's supposed prophethood from a neurological perspective.  We kicked off the episode by discussing behavioral changes/characteristics attributed to interictal behavior in temporal lobe epilepsy. We compared these characteristics to those of Muhammad as described in various hadith corpus and other Islamic literature. Gondal and I then presented a clip by Dr. Ali Sina detailing Muhammad's narcissism and how it fits in perfectly with the theory that Muhammad was an epileptic. We also discussed Muhammad's anger issues and how he would overreact to small provocations. We cited various hadith which report that Muhammad's face would turn red due to anger even while delivering teachings. In other hadith it is reported that he would get extremely angry when questioned by his companions and at one time he threw a tantrum after missing the angel Gabriel. The conversation then moved on to the topic of Muhammad's anxiety. We discussed how mundane things like gusty winds, clouds, thunder, and lightning would trigger Muhammad's anxiety. We also talked about Muhammad's weird fixation with praying for the dead. We went through various hadith that show Muhammad running to the graveyard sometimes during the dead of the night purportedly to pray for the dead. We finished the episode on the topic of Capgras and how it affects epileptic patients. We went through various hadith and Seerah which show how Muhammad used to confuse Dhiya Kalbi for Gabriel.  We invite you to take a listen to this detailed and entertaining episode. YouTube version of this series: Part 1: https://youtu.be/WlO4nZUGVf4 Part 2: https://youtu.be/ZI16w6Sl3DE Part 3: https://youtu.be/fD4FyXSN96k Part 4: https://youtu.be/Z-IgOnBCv3U Part 5: https://youtu.be/g0-vhNlxJhw Support the show here: https://friendlyexmuslim.com/two-abdullahs/ Timestamps: 0:00 Introductions 2:40 Changes in people suffering from temporal lobe epilepsy - Dr. Dede Korkut 10:40 Muhammad's narcissism  - Dr. Ali Sina 14:18 Muhammad's anger issues, yelling while preaching 18:50 Don't smile around Gabriel. Muhammad's red face from anger and more anger problems. 43:18 Comments from the chat 50:30 Muhammad had anxiety attacks because of heavy winds, thunder, solar eclipse, and the call to prayer. 59:23 Running off to the graveyard to pray for the dead? 1:06:00 Muhammad found talking to a dead body inside the grave. 1:07:55 Comments from the live chat 1:09:05 Muhammad's Hyper and hyposexuality - Dr. Abbas 1:33:46 Aisha - A dream come true or child rape? 1:35:50 Revelation under the blanket of Aisha? Sexual triggers? 1:37:35 Descriptions of virgins in Jannah, 72 wives in paradise. 1:39:49 Muhammad married dead women? 1:41:50 Capgras - Impostor syndrome and epilepsy. Muhammad mistakes Dhiya Kalbi as Gabriel 2:09:37 A quick recap of the night journey 2:15:30 The tree that stretches from the 6th heaven to the 7th heaven. 2:23:09 A quick summary of the episode and a sneak peek of the upcoming episode 2:28:17 Final remarks. List of resources: Characteristics attributed to Interictal behavior in temporal lobe epilepsy - Life Alert: The Medical Case of Muhammad by Dr. Dede Korkut 2. Angry and ripping curtains - Sahih Al-Bukhari 6109 bk 78 hadith 136, Sahih Muslim 2107f bk 37 hadith 138 3. Yelling while preaching - Mishkat al-Masabih 1407 bk 4 hadith 808, Bulugh al-Maram bk 2 hadith 368 4. Don't smile around Gabriel - Musnad Az-Zubair bin al-Awwam p34 5. Red face from anger - Muwatta Malik bk58 hadith 14 6. Turned red like a pomegranate - Sunan Ibn Majah 85 Vol 1 bk 1 hadith 85 7. Muhammad overreacting when questioned - Sahih al-Bukhari 2427 bk45 hadith 2,

For this episode, I was joined by Tarek, an Egyptian ex-Muslim who is now based in Canada. We started off the conversation by discussing Tarek's religious background in Egypt and the role that religion played in his life. We then went on to discuss how Tarek came across programming through online gaming. Tarek's programming adventure opened a window of logic into his life and he went on a quest to apply critical thinking and logic to other aspects of his life. Tarek then shared how this sparked his skepticism and then, later on, made him question his religious beliefs. He shared how he started questioning stories in the Quran for example the creation story of Adam and Eve and whether or not Iblis/ Satan was an angel. The conversation then turned on to the questioning of unnecessary suffering. We discussed why it does not make sense for there to be an ‘all merciful' creator in a world filled with unnecessary suffering. We also talked about the poor evidence for the existence of God. We also discussed evolution and why it is true. We covered how humans have evolved to need community for thriving. Tarek and I then moved on to talk about how we as humans are able to develop better moral systems and how religions have evolved along with humans to provide answers to human beings. Later on, we touched on how the ‘God did it' explanation keeps on shrinking whenever science comes with an explanation for various natural phenomena.  We closed off the episode by discussing how technological advancements have brought forward new moral questions that are not covered by religious scriptures.  Many thanks to Tarek for sharing his story with us. I hope you will enjoy this episode! YouTube version of this interview: https://youtu.be/hJDQ71CVEuQ His FB: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100074299471362 Timestamps: 0:00 Introductions 1:15 Apostate Brain's background 8:30 How programming helped Apostate Brain to start learning about logic and truth 15:34 What sparked Apostate Brain to start questioning Islam? 18:40 Why would God provide questionable evidence for his existence? 23:00 The genetic bottleneck in the Adam and Eve creation story - Why evolution is true. 33:12 Doubting the existence of God. 44:40 Is Iblis an angel? 46:22 Analyzing the Quran from an academic perspective. 47:30 The problem of suffering. 51:10 Evolving to survive in a given environment. The beauty of understanding how the environment around us functions  1:03:37 Morality as a product of evolution.  1:05:30 Our brains grapple with understanding technologies - AI, robots, lab meat 1:09:22 How our morality has improved over time. Large numbers and probabilistic phenomena. 1:06:25 Moral questions regarding advancing technology. 1:14:20 Overcoming our animal instincts. What would happen to advanced civilizations? 1:20:40 Does absolute truth exist? What is absolute truth? 1:27:02 The constant need to keep improving. How Humanism maximizes human thriving. 1:32:30 The importance of community for humans to thrive. How religions have evolved with time. 1:36:50 Using the concept of identity to dehumanize ‘outsiders' 1:38:48 Al-Azhar's challenge on why people are leaving Islam 1:41:25 Apostate Brain's experience of having a Jewish friend as a Muslim.  1:42:30 How religion sometimes limits people's potential. Salafi flat earther. 1:49:10 How the ‘God did it' explanation keeps shrinking as Science continues to explain more natural phenomena. 1:55:37 Qada qa qadr… 2:02:00 How religion provides a false sense of security and meaning 2:03:53 Channel announcements 2:04:05 God and robots - How AI is transforming religion. 2:05:50 Tarek's contact details 2:06:09 Human limitations in understanding axioms. The Kalam argument. 2:09:43 Final remarks

This episode is the 4th installment in our series ‘Epileptic Prophet' in which we tackle the question of Muhammad's mental health problems and possible epilepsy. Our aim is to provide an alternative explanation of Muhammad's actions and prophethood from a neurological perspective.  We started off this episode by going through the automatisms that Muhammad experienced while receiving revelation. These include severe convulsions accompanied by face color changes, heavy breathing/ snorting like a camel, excessive sweating as well as trembling/shivering. We also responded to Farid's ill-informed claim that such experiences never occurred by pointing to various hadith, seerat, and other Islamic literature that show that Muhammad did in fact experience these automatisms. Additionally,  we presented contemporary epilepsy patients who also have similar symptoms during seizures. The conversation then moved on to absence seizures and how they affect epileptic patients. We also presented clips of contemporary patients experiencing absence seizures and we compared their symptoms to the descriptions of Muhammad's seizures provided in various hadith.  We then discussed dreamy states and religious inspirations that stem from lingering thoughts that epileptic patients experience after seizures. Another topic we touched on was Muhammad's amnesia and how the people around him erroneously attributed it to black magic attacks. We also discussed how amnesia affected the revelation of the Quran resulting in forgotten verses. We hope you will enjoy this episode and share it with your friends! Support this show: https://abdullahsameer.com/two-abdullahs YouTube version of this series: Part 1: https://youtu.be/WlO4nZUGVf4 Part 2: https://youtu.be/ZI16w6Sl3DE Part 3: https://youtu.be/fD4FyXSN96k Part 4: https://youtu.be/Z-IgOnBCv3U Timestamps: 0:00 Introductions 1:04 Muhammad's convulsions and shivering, autonomic changes during seizures 6:52 Muhammad snorting like a camel while receiving revelation, moaning like a calf 10:54 Comments from the chat - Does epilepsy make people socially awkward? - personality changes of Muhammad 16:22 Responding to Farid  27:05 Epileptic patients experiencing the snorting sound during seizures 35:53 Muhammad's face color changes during seizures, contemporary patients with similar symptoms.  38:30 Comments from the chat 46:12 Severe sweating, shaking, and pain while receiving revelation- Responding to Farid  53:53 Dreamy states and religious inspirations from lingering thoughts - Dr. Dede Korkut. 59:15 Channel announcements. 1:00:03 Lip-smacking automatism - responding to Farid 1:08:15 The difficult state of receiving revelation 1:10:20 Epilepsy patient experiencing lip-smacking 1:12:30 Comments from the chat 1:21:00 Absence seizures/ behavioral arrest/ Petit Mal - responding to Farid 1:31:25 Contemporary epilepsy patients experiencing absence seizures 1:33:48 Muhammad's absence seizures. 1:36:00 Atonic head drop seizures 1:40:20 Comments from the chat 1:44:05 Muhammad's amnesia and black magic, transient epileptic amnesia. 1:46:46 Did Muhammad have dementia and amnesia? Responding to Farid 1:54:22 Postictal blindness, Muhammad almost went blind due to magic? 2:00:50 Muhammad in a catatonic state - lose limb control, cupping the head 2:06:15 Muhammad forgetting the Quran/revelation 2:10:24 Comments from the chat 2:17:27 Gait disturbance and hydrocephalus - Dr. Marion Walker 2:30:00 Comments from the chat 2:36:42 Sneak peek for the next episode. - Personality changes  2:43:30 Final remarks. List of Resources: 1. Migraines and severe headache - The life of Prophet Muhammad p308, Itqan Ful Uloom Ul Quran 2. Migraines and epilepsy - Sahih al-Bukhari 5698 bk76  hadith 20, 1836 bk 28 hadith 16, Which lie Within Prophetic Guidance p561, Angel Nelson -  Migraines and epilepsy: Is there a link?

This is the third installment of our series “The Epileptic Prophet', Abdullah Gondal and I continued where we left off last time. In this series, we tackle the question of Prophet Muhammad's neurological problems and possible epilepsy. For this episode, we started off by giving a quick recap of the previous two episodes of this series. We went through Dr. Abbas's explanation of Muhammad's convulsions, some videos of contemporary epilepsy patients having convulsions and then we compared their symptoms to what is reported in the hadith corpus as Muhammad's condition while receiving revelation.  We also responded to Farid and his cousin's ill-informed assertion that Muhammad did not experience secondary generalization. We presented various accounts(both from Islamic Scholars and secular scholars) that reported Muhammad as having secondary generalizations. The conversation then moved on to more symptoms experienced by Muhammad while receiving revelation. These include severe trembling, teeth clattering/ grinding teeth, convulsions and fainting, snotting like a camel, headaches, and head twitching. We also discussed how Muhammad's friends wrongly attributed these symptoms to the heaviness of the revelation. We also presented more footage of modern-day epilepsy patients having seizures and drew parallels between them and Muhammad. This was such a heavily researched and detailed presentation, I hope you enjoy it.  YouTube version of this podcast: https://youtu.be/fD4FyXSN96k Part 1: https://youtu.be/WlO4nZUGVf4 Part 2: https://youtu.be/ZI16w6Sl3DE Support the Two Abdullahs here: https://abdullahsameer.com/two-abdullahs Timestamps: 0:00 Introductions and a quick recap of parts 1 & 2 of the series 1:34 Convulsions of Muhammad - Dr. Abbas explains seizures 4:40 ‘Burahaa' of revelation / paroxysm 6:24 Generalized seizures - Epilepsy patients having seizures 11:15 Where are the secondary generalization? - Refuting Farid and cousin 16:56 Khasais -Al Kubra - Arabic V Urdu : heavy thigh?, severe convulsions. 21:20 Burhan Quran - fits of revelation 25:50 Comments from the chat  28:46 How do we determine the authenticity of the hadith corpus? 31:40 Muhammad's seizure symptoms/ convulsions and trembling during revelation (continued) 46:30 Abdullah Gondal's thoughts on the evidence from the hadith and Islamic literature on Muhammad's epilepsy. 48:55 Muhammad trembling while receiving revelation 58:00 Comments from the chat 1:06:50 Did Muhammad clatter his teeth? - responding to Farid and his cousin 1:15:08 Muhammad's fainting problem - Music caused Muhammad to faint? Muhammad fainting during the revelation 1:23:27 Michael, an epilepsy patient, slept with his son's wife. 1:27:03 Muhammad fainting and swooning while receiving revelation(continued) 1:33:05 Dr. Ali Sina explains camel incident 1:34:30 Muhammad's fainting spells (continued).  Is it possible that Muhammad died from a stroke? - Dr. Abbas explains 1:41:18 Did Muhammad suffer from lethargy and fatigue after receiving revelations? - Response to Farid et al. 1:49:55 Revelation was a draining experience - explained by Dr. Yasir Qadhi. 1:51:22 Muhammad foaming and salivating during seizures. 1:56:36 headaches, head twitches, and head-turning 2:11:51 Patients experiencing seizures 2:19:30 What to expect in the upcoming episodes 2:20:52 Comments from the chat and final remarks. List of Resources Used: Muhammad's beard trembling - Sahih Muslim 2104 a., The perfect guide to the science of the Quran p64, Tafsir Al Qurtubi,  2. Muhammad clattering his teeth - Itqan Fil Quran, Itqan Fil Uloom Ul Quran - Suyuti,  3. Clattering teeth + lethargy - Musnadi Aisha  (Ibn Saad), Asbab Ul Nuzul Wahidi 4. Was budding sound rhythm - https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1046/j.1528-1157.2002.48501.x 5. Was Muhammad grinding his teeth? - https://moh-it.pure.elsevier.

Shaykh Faroos (AKA The Faroos) is a teacher of Islam located in the United States who began studying Islam in the 1990s. He has published books on Islam, lectured throughout the United States, taught at the masjid, and served as a Youth Group Director. He specializes in Usul al-Fiqh, comparative fiqh, comparative religions, epistemology, history, Physics, and the experiences of being an American convert of Norse and Celtic background - a modern-day "Viking" Muslim. Shaykh Faroos accepts that not everyone in the world will agree with religion and politics, but is devoted to ensuring that on issues of religion and politics that he provides evidence-based and data-driven answers that include all positions and variables so that humanity makes educated and informed decisions. The link to his channel can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/c/ExperienceIslamwithTheFaroos/featured YouTube version of this podcast: https://youtu.be/YbluIihUOE0

For this episode, I was joined by Terence Kenneth John Nunis, a Singaporean Muslim convert. He grew up as a devout Catholic until his late teenage years when he converted to Islam. We kicked off the interview with Terence sharing his background as a Christian, his journey searching for the truth, and how it led him to Islam. Terence and I then talked about why he thinks that controversial Muslim apologists like Dr. Zakir Naik and Nouman Ali Khan must be banned from Singapore. We discussed the impacts of Muslim apologists of their ilk on the Muslim community and Muslim apologetics. We then delved into the importance of having free speech and democracy without taking such concepts to the extreme. The conversation then moved onto  Terence's views on Sunni tafsir and how each mufassir's own personal baggage, prejudices, and limitations as humans of their own time affect the tone of the tafsir. Terence then explained the need to be less dogmatic and to apply logic when learning tafsir to determine which ones are valid and applicable in the contemporary world.  We also discussed the various schools of thought in Sunni Islam and Terence's points of contentions with some of the schools of thought. This led to a discussion about various Sunni hadith including the ones on apostasy, fornication, and blasphemy. Terence then explained the “traditional Muslim” position on hadith and what makes a hadith sahih and if a hadith can supersede a verse in the Quran.  The discussion then turned to the state of affairs in the Muslim world and tokenism of Muslim converts by Muslims who were born in Islam. We ended the interview on the topic of the Sufi Tariqas' corruption scheme and how they are exploiting their fellow Muslims. YouTube version of this podcast: https://youtu.be/WlF47q3HQB0 You can follow Terence at https://www.facebook.com/stailth.jaartem.3/ https://amuslimconvertoncemore.blogspot.com/ https://www.quora.com/profile/Terence-Kenneth-John-Nunis Timestamps: 0:00 Introductions and how Abdullah and Terence came to know each other 7:01 What appealed to Terence in Islam for him to convert from Catholicism to Islam? 14:53 Teaching Islam 15:55 Terence's family's response to him becoming a Muslim 17:49 Does the Muslim community set expectations on Muslims to confirm? 20:22 Should people like Zakir Naik, and Nouman Ali Khan be banned from Singapore? 26:50 Free speech and cancel culture. Is Democracy a sustainable form of government? The Muslim community in India. 36:24 Short break 37:05 Comments from the live section  - Zakir Naik's antics and intellectual dishonesty. 43:15 The problem with memorizing the Quran and hadith instead of learning how to critically analyze and apply Islamic literature.  52:28 Terence's opinion on the concept of hell 54:47 Are there Muslim disbelievers? Does Islam prioritize Muslims over everyone else? Quran 4/93 1:00:54 Terence opinion on Tafsir and Tafseer like Ibn Kathir 1:05:07 The schools of thought are there in Islam 1:10:05 What are Terence's points of contention with some schools of thought? 1:18:28 Terence's take on the hadith on apostasy, fornication, and blasphemy. 1:21:29 The traditional Muslim position on hadith. What makes a hadith Sahih? 1:31:44 Islam is all about submission? And can the hadith be rejected? 1:38:03 The state of the Muslim world. The tokenism of Muslim converts by the Muslim community 1:45:14 Muslim scholars using doublespeak when addressing audiences in English and their vernacular language. 1:48:33 The Sufi Tariqas - MLM for afterlife insurance 1:54:26 Is it safe for Terence to be outspoken in Singapore? The importance of secularism. 2:00:38 The Sufi Tariqas - MLM for afterlife insurance (continued) 2:05:47 Final remarks

This episode is the second installment in the series ‘The Epileptic Prophet' in which we discuss Muhammad's neurological condition and possible epilepsy. We were joined by Dr. Ali A. Rizvi to help us with his take on this topic based on his experience as a medical doctor specializing in pathology.  We kicked off the discussion by giving a quick recap of the first episode in this series. We then move moved on to talk about Muhammad's postictal psychosis symptoms while he was receiving revelation. We then compared the descriptions of Muhammad's condition in the Islamic literature to the symptoms of contemporary epilepsy patients. Additionally, we listened in on an interview by Dr. Dede Korkut in which he explains psychosis and behavioral changes in epilepsy patients. The conversation then moved on to how Islamic scholars and the Muslim population in general attribute epilepsy to jinn possession. We went through various hadith, Quranic verses, and other Islamic literature that support this idea. We also responded to Farid's assertion that people around Muhammad did not notice or record any accounts of Muhammad having seizure-like symptoms or epilepsy. We presented numerous Quranic verses and hadith in which people thought that Muhammad was crazy, mad, or jinn possessed. Finally, we discussed Muhammad's conditions while receiving revelation. We talked about Muhammad's auditory hallucinations, his convulsive seizures, and his paroxysm. To support our claims we went through a vast number of Quranic verses, Seerah, Hadith, and tafsir and we compared them to the books on Muhammad written by neuroscience experts. A full list of resources referenced in this presentation can be found on the link in the description below.  I urge you to take a listen and also to check out the sources we used.  Epileptic Prophet Part 1: https://youtu.be/WlO4nZUGVf4 YouTube version of this episode: https://youtu.be/ZI16w6Sl3DE Support the show at https://abdullahsameer.com/two-abdullahs Follow Abdullah Gondal on FB at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100006615126777 Timestamps: 0:00 Introduction 1:42 A quick recap of part 1 5:07 Post Ictal psychosis of Muhammad 12:48 Pyschosis and behavioral changes - Dr. Dede 17:33 Delusions and how they are directly linked to trauma genies Mairaj - Dr. Abbas. 21:10 Muslim scholars' opinion on the causes of epilepsy - Jinns causing epilepsy? 26:43 Responding to Farid - The black woman was possessed by jins. 33:07 The Shaman healer - Meccans offered medical help 35:00 Did people around Muhammad notice any seizures? - Responding to Farid's claims. 44:16 Ringing bells aura - an explanation by Dr. Abbas. 46:25 Channel announcements 46:45 Ringing, buzzing auditory hallucinations. 50:21 Epilepsy patient describing her personal experiences with ringing bells aura 52:52 Hearing bells and seeing humanoid figures - Dr. Dede 56:35 Farid and ringing bells - secondary generalizations 1:01:46 Islamic Scholar's explanation of Muhammad's symptoms after hallucinations 1:03:25 Dr. Matthew Wood's take on the epilepsy of Muhammad. 1:08:31 Comments from the live chat. 1:13:24 Dr. Abbas explaining seizures 1:16:18 ‘BURAHAA' of revelation 1:17:40  Generalized seizures. 1:22:43 Where are the secondary generalization? - Responding to Farid. 1:31:18 Comments from the live chat 1:35:13 Introducing Ali Rizvi  1:37:28 Dr. Ali Rizvi - symptoms of epilepsy  1:42:00 Is it possible to do a posthumous diagnosis for epilepsy? 1:47:30 Is it possible that trauma contributed immensely to Muhammad's possible epilepsy? 1:52:22 Feverish trembling - Seerah Ibn Kathir. Anxiety and anxiety disorder. 1:57:36 Muhammad's psychosis during the first revelation 1:58:42 Muhammad trembling and red face 2:00:28 Kitab Al Maghazi - Muhammad having convulsions before revelations 2:02:27 Muhammad's condition during revelations - Trembling,

For this episode, I was joined by Juli Jalaluddin who was gracious enough to share her life story with us. Juli was born in 1972 and grew up in Malaysia. In this interview, we covered Juli's religious background in Malaysia and the role that religion played both in her personal life and that of her family. Juli also recounted how she started having small doubts about Islam that she kept pushing aside until she went to Colorado for further studies.  The conversation then moved to how Juli's small pilgrimage to Mecca as an agnostic person. We discussed how underwhelming Meccah is and Juli's experiences in Meccah. We also talked about the safety concerns that a lot of women who have visited Meccah have raised. Juli also shared how this experience further solidified her doubts about Islam and pushed her to become an atheist.  We also talked about how Muslims tried using online doxxing campaigns to force Juli back into Islam and the fallout of those campaigns. Juli also recounted the pressure campaign from her family to try to silence her and how she ended up cutting them off for a while. We also discussed the impact of Islam in politics and the day-to-day lives of people, especially in Juli's home state. This was such a laid-back interview with one of the pioneering activists in the ex-Muslim community and I invite you to take a listen! Her story: https://cattastrophenomenon.wordpress.com/ Her Twitter: https://twitter.com/EmiliedeStrange Her Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/emilie.destrange YouTube version of this podcast: https://youtu.be/HVdKKP2gvBA Timestamps: 0:00 Introductions 1:47 Juli's religious background and what sparked her skepticism 7:46 Juli's journey out of Islam and her encounter with other religions 14:44 How Juli's home state which is under Islamic rule forced her and her family into conformity. 19:06 Juli's journey to Meccah as an agnostic and how her experiences there further fueled her questioning of Islam. 25:50 Channel announcements. 26:36 Julie's experiences in Meccah (continued) 32:50 How ultra-conservative / ultra-religious societies breed sexual frustrations and foster a system of sexual harassment 36:30 Islamic rituals borrowed from ancient Pagan cultures. 39:08 Julie's thoughts on the Kaaba. Do people from other religions feel the same sense  44:04 Classsismand racism in Meccah during religious pilgrimages 48:00 Is Malay special rights similar to the apartheid system? 51:00 Malcolm X's opinion and experience at the Hajj in Meccah 54:12 Did Muhammad teach racism? 54:12 Did Muhammad teach racism? 55:27 Julie's life after the trip to Mecca 56:28 Joining online communities for ex-Muslims and being doxxed and how Julie's family responded to this incident. 1:09:05 How Julie cut off her family to give herself space to deal with her personal issues. 1:13:26 How Julie left Malaysia and moving to Norway. 1:15:02 The campaign to expose mutards in Malaysia. 1:16:38 Julie's second instance of being doxxed by a tabloid reporter in Norway and the fallout it caused in her hometown. 1:23:50 How big is the underground ex-Muslim community in Malaysia? 1:25:44 The impact of the internet on making information and supportive community more readily available. 1:28:43 Would Juli envision herself setting up an organization to help ex-Muslims? The importance of community 1:36:20 Did Juli get any online threats? 1:42:43 Does Aceh practice Hudood? 1:43:56 How Abdullah and Juli came across each other 1:46:01 The impact of Islam on Malaysian politics and day-to-day life. 1:49:33 Final remarks

For this exclusive series, Abdullah Gondal and I tackle the question of whether Muhammad had epilepsy. Since this is the introductory episode of this series, we started off this discussion by defining the term epilepsy and highlighting the different types of epilepsy and their general symptoms. We then moved on to discuss the scholars/medical practitioners and sources that we will be using to inform this discussion and this series going forward. The focus of the discussion then moved to Muhammad's life before receiving the revelation of the Quran. We discussed the possible risk factors that Muhammad was exposed to as a child that would have sparked epilepsy. Another area we discussed was Muhammad's experiences pre-receiving revelation and how they match up with the symptoms of frontal lobe epilepsy. Additionally,  we presented interviews and opinions from various experienced psychotherapists and neuroscientists on how all of Muhammad's experiences point towards him suffering from epilepsy. Lastly, we delved into Muhammad's experiences during and after receiving the revelation. We compared Muhammad's seizures to those of contemporary epilepsy patients who exhibit the same symptoms. We also drew parallels between what the contemporary patients report after the seizures and what is reported about Muhammad in the hadith and other Islamic literature.  This was such a well-researched and heavily detailed yet still funny and enjoyable episode. I invite you to take a listen and to keep an eye for the next episode of this series! https://abdullahsameer.com/two-abdullahs Follow Abdullah Gondal on FB at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100006615126777 YouTube version of this podcast: https://youtu.be/WlO4nZUGVf4 Timestamps: 0:00 Introductions 6:50 A quick overview of the presentation 8:10 What if epilepsy was Allah's chosen method of communicating with humans? 9:36 Disclaimer: Epilepsy is idiopathic 12:05 Authenticity - How to affirm the authenticity of narrations and standards that are used 16:15 A quick overview of the brain and functions of each region 18:09 What is epilepsy? Dr. Abbas's explanation of epilepsy 23:22 Types of seizures and symptoms 29:20 Psychosis of epilepsy 32:01 Farid's clip - Did Gondal diagnose Muhammad? 33:50 Experts who diagnosed Muhammad 40:54 Did Muhammad have any epilepsy risk factors 51:27 Muhammad's traumatic birth - how authentic is this hadith? 56:02 Umbilical cord severed during labor and born circumcised? 1:00:20 Muhammad's early years - a quick summary 1:03:40 Dr. Ali Sina explains the effects of traumatic childhood experiences 1:10:24 Chest splitting - Haleema incident #1  1:14:02 Chest splitting - Haleema incident # 2 1:16:10  Epigastric rising - A seizure: symptoms and multiple case studies. 1:22:30 How many times was Muhammad's belly split? 1:25: 25 Muhammad slapped unconscious by an Angel? - Hadith 1:28:00 Muhammad exorcised for the evil eye before the revelation 1:31:14 Muhammad's daily Dejavu and Deja Reve experiences for 6 months-  Dr. Yasir Qadhi's explanation 1:35:01 Muhammad hears trees and stones talking to him. 1:39:00 Hadith - Muhammad questioning his own sanity. 1:44:05 Hallucinations in the cave before the first revelation. 1:48:20 A quick overview of the section on the first revelation 1:50:49 Temporal lobe epilepsy and how it affects a patient's religiosity  by Dr. V.S Ramachandran 2:02:14 Dr. V.S Ramachandran's interview with patients with temporal lobe seizures. 2:17:45 Dr. Dede Korkut's case studies of patients with symptoms similar to Muhammad's. 2:22:03 How did the angel reveal the Quran? - Dr. Yasir Qadhi 2:26:06 Interview with a patient with Grand Mal seizures - The choking/squeezing and the parallels of his experiences and those of Muhammad during the first revelation. 2:31:54 Dr. Abbas Sadeghian on the first revelation

For this episode, I was joined by Khadija Khan, a journalist, and commentator based in the UK. She writes for different publications focusing on human rights, women's rights, as well as minorities, and extremism.  This was an incredibly hard-hitting interview sharing the authentic experience of a woman growing up in a male-dominated society.  You get to hear what it's like to be sexually assaulted and can do nothing about it. You get to hear about the limited options given to women growing up in Pakistan and Afghanistan.  You feel sad that these women never got to know what real freedom feels like. We started off the conversation by getting a quick introduction to Khadija's work in Pakistan and how society received her criticisms of Islam and the patriarchal hierarchy particularly when it comes to the treatment of women and other minorities. Khadija then went on to clarify who the minorities are in Pakistan and why their plight needs to be amplified by people with platforms. She powerfully recounts her experiences of living in Pakistan as a working woman and paints the harsh reality of what this means. The conversations then moved onto the topic of Islamic law and how it is applied to rape victims. We also discussed the societal attitudes towards rape victims and divorcees and how this perpetuates the rape culture while shielding the culprits from facing any consequences for their heinous acts. We also discussed the move by the Taliban to replace the ministry of women's affairs with the morality police and what this means for women's rights in Afghanistan and the Middle East. Khadija then closed off this conversation by recounting her experience being introduced to the hijab at a much younger age.  This was such a great episode, I hope you enjoy listening! YouTube version of this conversation: https://youtu.be/2NLidtNCwpE Follow Khadija on twitter: https://twitter.com/KhadijaKhan__ Timestamps: 0:00 Introductions 0:48 Khadija Khan's professional background. 3:52 Which are the minority groups in Pakistan? The importance of secularism. 11:03 The importance of allowing diversity of opinion and access to outside information to people 15:23 Humanism and enlightenment values 18:29 Khadija's work in Pakistan and how the people reacted to her work 21:18 Moving from Pakistan to the UK and her work in the West. 24:00 Why is it Muslim minorities e.g women want to move to the west? Life of a woman in conservative Muslim societies 28:12 What is a modern woman? What is the dress code for women in Pakistan? 34:44 #Do not touch my clothes campaign. 36:50 Channel announcements 37:00 Divorce and rape laws and the societal attitude towards rape victims Pakistan and Afghanistan 48:53 How do families usually treat victims of rape? 52:20 Does the restrictions placed on dating and sexuality accessing sex help combat rape? The under-reporting of rape cases in Muslim majority countries. 1:01:17 Feminism in Islam. How Nominal Muslims and Muslims in the West shut down important discussions on human rights conditions in Muslim majority countries. 1:25:33 What is the role of women in Muslim majority countries when it comes to marriage? 1:31:12 Channel announcements 1:32:11 The Morality police.  1:40:37 Is the Taliban Islamic? How the Taliban interprets the Islamic texts 1:48:25 Toxic modesty culture. 1:53:05 Superchats and final remarks 1:54:46 Khadija's experience being introduced to the hijab  .

In part two of the interview with former Muslim convert and ex-Muslim agnostic humanist Aboo Imraan, we continue with the discussion on his life as a Salafi Muslim and his journey out of faith. We start off with Aboo's life in Atlanta Georgia and how he learned Arabic and became a translator for various publishers as well as some of the books he translated. We also touched on his second marriage, his hijrah to Egypt, and how his experiences in Muslim majority countries (Egypt and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) sparked his doubts on the concept of hijrah. Aboo recounts the infighting between various Muslim sects, being exposed to tafsir that give views that are different from the standard Salafi narratives, and attending teachings by Sheikh Saleh Al-Fawzan. Aboo was gracious enough to open up about how Islam affected different facets of his life as a Salafi Muslim. He discusses his marriages and dating life and his experiences of being rejected by his wife and losing his daughter because he was no longer a Muslim. He also discusses how strenuous his relationship with his mother became as he delved deep into Salafism and his efforts to repair this relationship once he left Islam. This conversation finally turned to how Aboo first learned about ex-Muslims and the ex-Muslim movement. He also details what made him quit faith altogether, his life after faith, and what drives his activism. You don't want to miss this riveting 2 part interview, now available on the Friendly Exmuslim YouTube channel. YouTube version of this conversation: https://youtu.be/v9zsclrMA_k YouTube version of part 1 of this conversation: https://youtu.be/5gXBxjxa1wg Letter to his daughter: http://www.sedaa.org/2021/01/will-my-daughter-still-love-me-tomorrow-a-reflection-on-leaving-salafism/ Aboo's YT: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQjn0RJKdHvEQkPPKcj6hJg Aboo's IG: https://www.instagram.com/AbooImraan/ Aboo's blog: https://offdamanhaj.blogspot.com/ Timestamps: 0:00 Introductions.1:30 A quick recap of part 1 of this interview.4:20 How Aboo Imraan ventured into translating books into Arabic.10:30 Marrying a second wife and moving to Egypt.14:19 Doubts about the concept of hijrah.15:13 Abdullah's experience in Egypt.18:51 The infighting between Muslims of different sects. Aboo's first experience of Muslims from different sects arguing about Islam.23:38 What makes one country special over the others?24:46 Moving to Saudi Arabia for a teaching gig.25:54 Attending lectures with Sheik Saleh Al-Fawzan as well as joining other study circles.30:08 Marital problems and work-related problems33:50 The beginning of doubts because of stuff Aboo was learning at the study circles and also because of the culture shock.36:40 Moving back to the USA. Aboo's efforts to repair his relationship with his mother.39:13 How Aboo's mother planted more seeds of doubts into him and pushed him to change his beliefs.41:37 Cognitive dissonance that was caused by the scientific and philosophical issues that Aboo was learning for his bachelor's degree and what he was learning in Islam.44:46 Memorizing the Quran and the pressures that come with being a hifz.51:32 Parallels between hifz and hijabi women52:40 Aboo's third relationship with an East African woman.1:00:10 How Aboo's relationship changed his views on sex and misogyny.1:02:32 Moving to Minnesota for Masters's education and his third marriage.1:07:46 Teaching his third wife Arabic and how it led him down the path of researching and doubting Islam.1:14:58 The warring mosques in Minnesota and how it moved Aboo more towards disbelief.1:16:02 What made Aboo to really start moving out of faith?1:18:05 The description of heaven and hell in the Quran and how humanly it sounds.1:21:04 Channel announcements - Aboo Imran's channel, blog, and content.1:22:12 How Aboo's master's research in Linguistics impacted his view on Islam and the Quran.1:23:56 Is the Quran created? Does this contradict the hadith?

Jon was born into and baptized at 15 in Jehovah's Witnesses. His last meeting was in 2012 and he's been a vocal opponent to the JW leadership for a couple of years now. We are going to discuss his journey out of the Jehova's Witnesses. His merch: https://apostatecoalition.creator-spring.comHis YT: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_4wulQ53g05BBD2cXpEWaAHis TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@exwitnessawake?lang=enHis IG: https://instagram.com/exwitnessawake YouTube version of this interview: https://youtu.be/1I5qP61Vz8w

In this podcast, I am discussing sexual shame and purity culture enforced by religion with Ex-Catholic Susanna of the Atheist Republic! She also discusses how it affected her as a young Catholic and her journey out of faith as well as her activism with the Atheist Republic. Blasphemous Art: https://www.blasphemousart.com/Atheist Republic: https://www.youtube.com/c/AtheistRepublic YouTube version of this podcast: https://youtu.be/RU8ibF5ZPkk Timestamps: 0:00 Introductions1:54 Susanna's connections with the Atheist Republic and her current role at the organization5:04 Susanna's religious background and what made her leave religion10:26 Why was it a good decision for Susanna to go to an all-girls middle school despite her parents not taking her opinion into consideration?15:26 The freedom to make decisions based on facts and logic that comes with being a free thinker19:00 Religious reasoning for gender-based segregation of people and the laws regarding premarital sex.22:48 Sussana's mental health issues and attempted suicide at the age of 15 and how it changed her life26:55 Dealing with some of the remnants of religious beliefs and shame.33:40 The importance of seeking out criticism to improve on critical thinking.34:42 Channel announcements35:26 Responding to comments in the chat - The parallels between Islam and Christianity in regards to the concept of original sin and purity culture.46:19 How do Christians reconcile the concept of original sin and forgiveness upon acceptance of Christ as your savior. The hierarchy of sin51:26 After the Prophet - Epic story of Sunni Shia split by Lesley Hazleton53:03 What drives Susanna's activism? The importance of a support system59:56 The importance of planting seeds of doubts in fundamentalists and equipping them with better critical thinking tools.1:05:15 Improving epistemological tools that we use when thinking about religion. Why there is no God - Armin Navabi1:08:12 Blasphemous art by the Atheist Republic.1:13:40 The Atheist Republic's social media bans and potential blocking of their site in India.1:17:39 The Atheist Republic newsletter1:21:00 Wayward by Alice Greezyn. Content by the Atheist Republic1:23:04 Final remarks. .

In this podcast, Armin Navabi of the Atheist Republic and I discuss the utility of studying Islam and other religions from a secular perspective. We also discuss reforming VS secularizing Islam.

Aboo Imraan is a Latino, Secular Humanist, who practiced Salafi Islam for approximately twenty-eight years. During that time he translated and published over eight Islamic works from prominent Salafi scholars that are still widely read around the world. Aboo's YT: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQjn0RJKdHvEQkPPKcj6hJgAboo's IG: https://www.instagram.com/AbooImraan/Aboo's blog: https://offdamanhaj.blogspot.com/ YouTube version of this podcast: https://youtu.be/5gXBxjxa1wg Here are the timestamps for the podcast: 0:00 Introductions.1:40 Aboo's religious background starting off as a Catholic and how he got introduced to Islam.6:33 How Surah Maidah impacted Aboo and helped him with the problem of the trinity in Catholicism.8:05 Why are Islam and the Quran more appealing to Christians especially when they are facing hardships?12:33 Aboo's first interaction with Salafi Muslims and his first visit to the Masjid.20:00 Some background on the Masjid where Aboo was attending and the sectarianism that was at play at this Mosque.24:40 Aboo's take on whether Islam solves the problem of racism and classism.29:04 Aboo's first marriage to another Muslim convert35:14 Why is there a stronger emphasis on early marriage in Salafi Islam?40:50 Moving back to El Paso.43:50 Aboo's first experience with someone leaving Islam and how it pushed him into being more devout.45:30 Muhammad in the bible and Aboo's introduction to the Islamic Dawah mission48:34 Aboo's first encounter with the book Iranian Christian by Nasir Lotfi. Receiving a package from Ahmed Deedat51:00 The Quran's erroneous characterization of Christianity.55:20 Moving back to Dallas. How Aboo was told to throw out all the books he had received from Ahmed Deedat and start reading Bilal Phillips books instead.1:00:15 What is Salafia? Sheik Albani and his anti-Madhhab stance.1:05:47 Channel announcements1:06:07 The literal interpretation of Islamic texts by Salafis1:07:30 Dr. Mohammad Jabali and how he tapped into his vast network and connections to bring prominent Sheiks to the local Masjid1:14:52 The 1998 bombing of the US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya and how some of the key players were from Centre Street Masjid.1:21:02 The ‘US versus Them' mentality in the Salafi community.1:23:15 The funny dynamics of Salafis being against terrorism and yet most terrorists come from the Salafi community.1:25:47 What are Kawarij? How is it different from Jihad?1:30:30 Aboo's divorce from his first wife and his second marriage.1:32:50 The rift in the Salafi community in the East Coast and the cancel culture that sprung out of it.1:44:10 Breaking off from Center Street Masjid and setting up a new Dawa center.1:51:08 Aboo's blog. A critique of Sheik Albani.1:53:00 Aboo's channel.1:53:52 Final remarks.

I am discussing with Derek Lambert of  @MythVision Podcast on YouTube and Dr. Josh Bowen of  @Digital Hammurabi. Derek Lambert has an amazing YouTube channel with many high-profile interviews of academics discussing the Bible and history. Dr. Joshua graduated from Johns Hopkins University with a Ph.D. in Assyriology in 2016 and has authored many books. MythVision: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWVCimOe67LOfyi9PjUeGgA Digital Hammurabi: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBQo27DbqeB-xG17-kekrdQ NEW! The Atheist Handbook to the Old TestamentJoshua Bowen (2021)(https://tinyurl.com/4jj2tcny) YouTube version of this podcast: https://youtu.be/EKDscqP-SHE Timestamps for the podcast: 0:00 Introductions1:52 Derek's religious background6:53 Dr. Josh's academic and religious background9:35 What does the phrase ‘heavens and earth' mean as used in the Bible and Quran12:52 Genesis 1 and the creation story.18:35 Why do apologists try to reinterpret the religious text to make them fit the current scientific understanding of the universe?20:01 Quranic verses that speak to the creation of heaven and the earth. Parallels between these stories and the creation stories in the Christian worldview.23:24 How the Scientific method builds on previously known information from previous generations27:30 The impact of reading religious text in a more literalistic way.29:22 Dr. Josh's channel - Digital Hammurabi30:44 The epic of Gilgamish (continued)32:02 The problem of taking the religious text as infallible.34:57 Responding to comment in the chat on whether the Bible contains any good things.36:32 The problem of child sacrifices46:43 How does the child sacrifice make sense - The atheist's handbook to the Old Testament by Dr. Josh52:40 Channel announcements.53:10 The problems of the God in the Old Testament - First Samuel 1555:13 What are Nephilim?59:34 Responding to comments from the chat1:00:36 God's evolvement in some of the atrocities in the Bible.1:08:55 Does the Bible endorse slavery or just describe the way of life in the old times?1:15:34 God commanding people to commit atrocities.1:17:18 Legalistic portions of the bible on slavery. Did chattel slavery exist in Israel?1:22:18 Slavery in the New Testament. 1st Timothy 1:10. Ways for acquiring slaves1:32:18 Treatment of slaves according to the Bible.1:37:15 Super chats. Parallels between slavery in Islam and slavery in Christianity1:40:33 Galatians 3:281:42:25 Exodus 21 - Rules for freeing debt slaves.1:44:00 Differences between the rules on the treatment of slaves in Christianity and Islam.1:48:34 The role of the church in the abolishment of slavery - Gregory NyssaAnd other religious leaders1:50:41 What is humanism all about?1:52:15 Why did Dr. Josh name his channel Digital Hammurabi1:55:45 Abdullah's final remarks.1:56:26 Derek's final remarks.1:58:40 If Jesus absolved us of our sins, why is homosexuality forbidden?2:01:28 Dr. Josh's final remarks