Podcasts about Sufism

As a chiropractor, I want to help my patients heal their bodies, even if it occurs outside my specific field of practice. Healing your body and mind can occur is so many different ways. Because it works, spiritual healing has been integrated into medical practitioners, alternative healthcare practices and individual healers. Salima Adelstien has been practicing and teaching spiritual healing as a Sufi leader for over 35 years and is co-founder of the University of Sufism. She has helped thousands of healthcare practitioners integrate Sufism and spiritual healing to help people get and stay well. Let's find out how. Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/FyUVAXls4Wc Subscribe, Listen to this episode by searching  to your favorite podcast app, “Crooked Spine Show” Watch past episodes on our YouTube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL59D-oy3Ai9fIzpOo6Gx4pCat6gsr0j8D Questions for Salima: -how did you find a passion to be a spiritual healer?  And what was your journey. -how would you differentiate spiritual healing from medical, psychological or physical healing? -What is Sufism? How were you drawn to Sufism to practice your spiritual healing? -what wisdoms of Sufism and other training, along with your experience, do you use in assessing a person's spiritual health? -How have the thousands of medical and other health care practitioners you have trained complement their treatments with the Sufi teachings in their practices? And their results? -walk us through a healing session of a person in chronic pain. What are the steps? And what would they experience? -how can a person practice spiritual healing on their own, to stay well? -What are the Five C's of Inner Truth?  How do my audience get a video of these? Connect with Salima and the University of Sufism: The Five C's of Inner Truth Receive 5 free short Sufi wisdom videos re: Consciousness, Connection, Clarity, Cultivation, Commitment (It's FREE!)  https://sufi.net/5C https://www.facebook.com/SufiU?mibextid=wwXIfr https://www.instagram.com/sufi_university?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==  

Can poetry become a bridge between cultures, faiths, and generations?On this episode of This Week in America with Ric Bratton, acclaimed poet, translator, literary scholar, and Professor Emeritus Martin Bidney discusses three extraordinary books that explore the beauty, wisdom, and spiritual richness of Islamic tradition through poetry and intercultural dialogue.Featured works include:Beauty in Islam: Poems of Wholeness, Light, and ConcordGod the All-Imaginer: Wisdom of Sufi Master Ibn Arabi in 99 Modern SonnetsWest-East Divan: The Poems, with "Notes and Essays": Goethe's Intercultural DialoguesMartin Bidney has pioneered a unique literary form he calls Verse Translation with Interview (VTI), creating poetic conversations with some of history's greatest writers and spiritual thinkers, including Goethe, Shakespeare, Rumi, Hafiz, Virgil, and the renowned Sufi philosopher Ibn Arabi. Through these remarkable works, he demonstrates how poetry can transcend time, language, and culture while encouraging understanding between people of different traditions.Drawing on more than six decades of scholarship, over 60 published books, and a lifetime devoted to literature, Bidney shares why poetry remains one of humanity's most powerful tools for discovering beauty, wisdom, and common ground.In this episode you'll discover:• How poetry can foster dialogue across cultures and religions• Why Goethe was inspired by Islamic and Persian literature• The enduring wisdom of Sufi philosopher Ibn Arabi• How Verse Translation with Interview creates conversations across centuries• Why literature continues to inspire empathy, imagination, and spiritual reflectionThis Week in America with Ric Bratton is one of America's premier syndicated radio shows and podcasts, featuring engaging conversations with bestselling authors, business leaders, health experts, historians, innovators, and thought leaders. Heard on more than 100 radio stations and podcast platforms worldwide, each episode delivers practical advice, inspiring stories, expert insights, and thought-provoking discussions designed to inform, inspire, and entertain. Discover new episodes every week covering business, personal development, health, wellness, technology, history, education, literature, and the issues that matter most.Whether you're interested in world literature, poetry, Islamic studies, Sufism, Goethe, Rumi, comparative religion, intercultural dialogue, philosophy, or spiritual exploration, Ric Bratton's conversation with Martin Bidney offers a fascinating journey into the timeless power of poetry to connect cultures and deepen our understanding of the human experience. Don't miss this enlightening episode of This Week in America.Keywords: Martin Bidney, Beauty in Islam, God the All-Imaginer, West-East Divan, Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Ibn Arabi, Sufism, Sufi philosophy, Rumi, Hafiz, Islamic poetry, Islamic literature, comparative literature, world literature, poetry translation, Verse Translation with Interview, VTI, intercultural dialogue, spiritual poetry, philosophy, religion, comparative religion, English literature, poetry podcast, author interview, literary criticism, poetry translation, This Week in America, Ric Bratton, podcast interview, literary podcast, Islamic tradition, Persian poetry

This episode is a re-release; it originally aired September 2, 2012. Sufi author, teacher and mystic Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee defines Sufism and explains how it's all about love and the heart. Llewellyn reveals what he believes to be the source of true happiness, and he discusses why it's difficult for people to embrace the idea of oneness when the world feels so broken. Llewellyn also shares why he believes technology helps connect us and create oneness around the world. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

(0:00) Intro(0:02) Khutbah, Qurani AayaatMuharram se Mutaliq Bayan (1448 Hijri – June 2026)(0:56) Rasulullah ﷺ Ki Ita'at Ka Tariqa(1:27) Hasad ki Wajah Se Dunya ka Pehla Khaufnaak Qatal(Naiki ki Bunyad Rakhne Walay ka Abadi Sawab vs Gunah ki Bunyad Rakhne Walay ki Abadi Saza)(2:56) Hasad Se Bachne ka Tariqa(3:37) Khoobsurat Buildings Mein Rehne Walon ki Qabar(4:52) Dunya ki Zindagi Do Takay ki(5:20) Hubb-e-Jaah, Hubb-e-Maal aur Hubb-e-Baah: Dil ki 3 Khaufnaak Bemariyan(6:28) Izzat ke Bhookay Log(7:20) Paison ke Bhookay Log(8:17) Tariq Bhai ka 1995 ka Waqia – Aik Jhootay Aamil ka Eye-Opening Mesmerism(15:08) Yateemon ke Maal ki Hifazat ka Hukm(16:04) Maal ki Muhabbat Kya Hai?(17:04) Khud Pasandi (Ujub) ka Mohlik Marz(18:11) Shaitan ka Jurm(18:50) Naik Insan ka Dil In Bemariyon Se Pak Hota Hai(19:14) Hubb-e-Baah ka Marz(19:30) Tharak ka Bechain Mareez(21:15) Waqia: Hajiyon ki Bus(21:51) Gay(22:18) Peghambaron ki Taqat ki Misal – Hazrat Musa (AS) ka Kirdar(24:21) Angrezon ki Tharak(24:45) Hazrat Musa (AS) ne Nikah ki Offer Foran Qabool ki!(25:29) Sufism i.e. Worst(26:02) Jamia Tur Rasheed Mein Graduation, Masters aur 4 Saal Aalim Course Karne Walon ko Mufti Sahab ki Naseehat – Shadi, Bachay, Taleem aur Nokri Sath Sath(28:23) Aik Rangeen Mizaj Shakhs ki Shadi ka Waqia(30:08) Mufti Sahab ka Tajurba(30:34) Hubb-e-Jaah: Ilaj ke Lehaz Se Sab Se Mushkil Marz(31:15) Hubb-e-Baah ka Ilaj(32:17) Khud Pasandi ka Ilaj Sab Se Mushkil(32:47) Hubb-e-Maal: Ghatiya Tareen Bemari(33:39) Bawaseer ka Hakimi Ilaj(34:22) Paison Se Muhabbat Karne Walon ka Zauq-e-Nazar(35:38) Achanak Maut(37:43) Islamabad Mein Mufti Sahab ke Jawan Relative ki Cancer Se Wafat(38:19) Covid-19 Mein Jawan Logon ki Wafat(38:50) Nabi ﷺ ka Farman (Qabrustan Mein Ibrat)(39:21) Aik Isai ki Ajeeb Wasiyyat – Maut Se Kuch Der Pehle(40:42) Wahi ke Noor ke Baghair Aqal Gumrahi Hai(41:36) Technology Hub Countries Mein Gay Namunay(43:28) Youth Club Walon ke Paas Cases (GF, BF)(44:38) Karachi ki Aik Khatoon ki Call Mufti Sahab ko(46:30) Aik Khatoon ke 3 Betay Gay Kaisay Banay?(49:44) Islam ki Baharain(50:24) Drugs aur Suicide Legal in...(51:52) Bahir Mulkon Mein Jawanon Par Tablighi Jamaat ka Asar(52:40) Depression Patients(53:02) Psychologists(1:05:38) Islam ki Baharain aur Barkat(1:06:05) Molana Tariq Jameel Sahab ka Bayan – Bahir Mulkon Mein Aurat ki Izzat(1:07:04) Islam ka Ehsan(1:07:31) Muslims in Australia(1:08:04) Mufti Sahab ke Ghar Walon ka Tajziya – Bahir Mulk ki Taraqqi Par(1:09:38) Islami Ahkam ki Pakizgi vs Dusre Mazahib ki Gandagi(1:11:16) Quran Mein Nabi ﷺ ki Tareef(1:11:54) Deewaron aur Eenton Se Dil Lagane ki Burai(1:12:56) Muharram Mein Sunni Logon ka Shia Ban Jana?(1:13:03) Islam Mein Firqay(1:13:58) Jannati Firqay ki Alamat(1:16:02) Ghamdi aur Rajam ki Qurani Aayaat(1:16:32) Quran, Sunnat aur Sahaba par Amal(1:16:51) 10 Muharram Par Sahaba (RA) ka Amal(1:17:10) Hazrat Usman (RA) ki Shahadat Par Sahaba (RA) ka Amal(1:17:54) Muharram Mein Sunni Logon ke Liye Mufti Sahab ki Naseehat(1:19:24) Ibn-e-Ziyad ki Badbakhti(1:19:50) 9 aur 10 Muharram Mein Kya Karna Chahiye? Dua(1:21:10) Aalima Larki Se Shadi Karne Par Sawal(1:22:57) Collar Wali Shirt Mein Namaz?(1:23:09) Ghair Muslimon ka Quran Par Aitraz(1:25:03) Bank Job ke Liye Darhi Katna?(1:25:29) Logon Mein Ghulna Milna aur Job Karne Se Agar Taqwa Mutasir Ho To?(1:28:32) Aik Saal ki Tankhwah Jama Karein ya Umrah Karen?(1:29:04) Reply to Engineer(1:31:42) Hazrat Umar (RA) ke Jalali Mizaj ki Wajah Se Nikah Se Inkar Kyun?(1:33:43) Mufti Sahab ke Baray Mein Baray Ulama ki Rai(1:49:21) Sahaba (RA) ki Ghaltiyon Par Aitraz ka Jawab(1:51:11) Shia Hazrat Umar (RA) ko Bura Kyun Kehte Hain?(1:55:07) Berozgari ka Masla? (3 Shadiyan aur 8 Bachay Hon To)(1:58:14) Kundy ki Bijli ki Aamdani?(2:00:04) Biwi Se Udhar Liye Huay Gold ka Hukm?(2:01:11) Mufti Sahab ke Walid Sahab ki Qeemti Naseehat Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Daniel Foor returns to Sounds of SAND for a wide-ranging conversation that moves from his own winding spiritual path to the urgent question of why so many spiritual teachers stay silent in the face of injustice. A doctor of psychology, initiated priest in the Yoruba Ifá tradition, and practicing Muslim, Daniel makes the case that animism is the antidote to human supremacy, that Islam is fundamentally a relational and earth-honoring tradition, and that genuine spirituality cannot retreat from the political realities of our time. Along the way, he speaks candidly about ancestral healing, decolonization, the genocide in Gaza, and what it means to become "regular-sized" in a culture built on separation. Topics 00:00 — Welcome back & reconnecting with SAND 00:01 — Daniel's path: shamanism, psychology & many lineages 00:04 — Animism as the antidote to human supremacy 00:09 — Environmental problems are human behavior problems 00:10 — Is Islam animist? Sufism & the heart of the tradition 00:15 — Relationship is not worship: rethinking animism 00:20 — Giving the more-than-human a seat at the table 00:23 — "Blown-out" lineages & relearning relationship 00:26 — Spiritual responsibility & the silence around Gaza 00:31 — When silence becomes a moral failure 00:34 — The differential valuation of human life 00:38 — What Daniel is building: ancestral & earth ritual trainings 00:42 — Why pre-colonial ancestral connection matters 00:43 — Becoming "regular-sized": the antidote to extreme individualism 00:49 — Right relationship, humility & closing reflections Resources & Links Ancestral Medicine — Daniel Foor's website, courses, trainings & practitioner directory Ancestral & Lineage Healing Course Practitioner Directory — ancestral healing in 30+ languages, offered remotely with financial accessibility Ancestral Medicine: Rituals for Personal and Family Healing — book SAND Films Where Olive Trees Weep The Eternal Song (series of 12 films) Referenced Graham Harvey — scholar of the "new animism," referenced in the discussion of relational worldviews Surah Al-Tin (The Fig) and the animist verses of the Quran — referenced throughout the conversation on Islam as a relational tradition Contact SAND podcast@scienceandnonduality.com Support the mission of SAND and the production of this podcast by becoming a SAND Member

Toko-pa Turner is an author, dreamworker, and teacher whose work explores the profound relationship between dreams, belonging, and the human psyche. Drawing from the mystical tradition of Sufism and Jungian psychology, Toko-pa invites people to see dreams not as random events, but as living conversations with a deeper intelligence that guides us toward wholeness. Her award-winning books, Belonging: Remembering Ourselves Home and The Dreaming Way: Courting the Wisdom of Dreams, encourage readers to reconnect with the symbolic language of the soul and rediscover belonging as an inner, evolving experience rather than something to be found outside themselves. In this episode, host Shay Beider and Toko-pa explore how dreams can become trusted companions on the healing journey, offering insight into the parts of ourselves that long to be seen, understood, and integrated. Toko-pa shares how her own experiences growing up in a spiritual community marked by both beauty and abuse led her to the work of Carl Jung, where she discovered that much of our suffering stems from the divide between our public selves and our hidden inner lives. Together, they discuss the role of shadow work, the meaning behind recurring dreams and nightmares, and why approaching dreams with curiosity rather than fear allows them to become powerful allies in personal growth. Toko-pa explains that metaphors are the psyche's native language, serving as a bridge between the visible and invisible worlds, and that dreams often reveal our deepest potential long before we consciously recognize it. Rather than searching for belonging in external places, she invites listeners to see periods of exile, uncertainty, and even loneliness as essential parts of discovering who they truly are. Their conversation is a reminder that healing is not about becoming someone new, but about remembering the wholeness that has always existed within us—and allowing our dreams to gently lead us back home. Listen to the complete episode by clicking the player above. Transcripts for this episode are available at: https://www.integrativetouch.org/conversations-on-healing  Show Notes: Learn more about Toko-Pa here Read Toko-pa's book Belonging: Remembering Ourselves Home Read Toko-pa's book The Dreaming Way: Courting the Wisdom of Dreams Learn more about Sufism here Find out more about Carl Jung here  Read The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture by Gabor Mate, M.D. and Daniel Mate This podcast was created by Integrative Touch (InTouch), which is changing healthcare through human connectivity. A leader in the field of integrative medicine, InTouch exists to alleviate pain and isolation for anyone affected by illness, disability or trauma. This includes kids and adults with cancers, genetic conditions, autism, cerebral palsy, traumatic stress, and other serious health issues. The founder, Shay Beider, pioneered a new therapy called Integrative Touch™Therapy that supports healing from trauma and serious illness. The organization provides proven integrative medicine therapies, education and support that fill critical healthcare gaps. Their success is driven by deep compassion, community and integrity.  Each year, InTouch reaches thousands of people at the Integrative Touch Healing Center, both in person and through Telehealth. Thanks to the incredible support of volunteers and contributors, InTouch created a unique scholarship model called Heal it Forward that brings services to people in need at little or no cost to them. To learn more or donate to Heal it Forward®, please visit IntegrativeTouch.org  

Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee grew up in London with a Russian Sufi mystic living downstairs, seekers showing up at all hours and meditation happening constantly.  Then his family moved to a  coastal redwood forest in Northern California, where he learned to surf and fell in love with wilderness.  Today, Emmanuel is the founder, executive editor and podcast host of Emergence Magazine – for nearly a decade, one of the most important venues for spiritually-infused ecological writing.  His new book, Remembering Earth, is both a meditation on the sacred nature of the living world and a practical guide to re-entering it.  In this conversation,  we explore Sufism's radical vision of the divine as intimate and immanent, rather than distant and transcendent. We also talk about jazz — Emmanuel dropped out of school at age 16 to play acoustic bass — and the liminal space of creative improvisation.  Other stops along the way:  the epigenetic memory of birdsong, how breath and walking can become a form of prayer; what dreams are and where they come from; and the boundlessness of Earth's love. Note:  Wonder Cabinet is taking a summer break.  We'll be back in August with new episodes.— Emergence Magazine Emmanuel's new book, “Remembering Earth” "The Nightingale's Song," a film by Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee and Adam Loften Anne's conversation with Sam Lee —00:00:00 The Magic We've Forgotten00:02:15 Growing Up With a Guru00:06:55 One River, Many Names00:15:55 Spiritual Ecology and Practice00:29:05 Nightingales, Jazz, and Dreams Wonder Cabinet is hosted by Anne Strainchamps and Steve Paulson. Find out more about the show at https://wondercabinetproductions.com, where you can subscribe to the podcast and our newsletter.

Youssef J. Carter's The Vast Oceans: Remembering Allah and Self on the Mustafawiyya Sufi Path (UNC Press, 2026) is a stunning meditation on Black Atlantic Sufism, specifically as it travels between South Carolina and Senegal via the Mustafawiyya Sufi community and Shaykh Arona Faye. The book orbits around Sufi conceptual frameworks which are translated through the register of Black and Africana Studies. For example, bay'a is rendered as “solidarity” or khidma as “labour”; such attunement of Sufi concepts presents capacious possibilities for Sufi studies at the intersection of Black and Muslim studies. The book then uses deep ethnography to capture the flows of stories, rituals, and piety, and also Black radical labour, motherwork, and becoming to highlight how in spite of the ongoing violence of racial capitalism and plantation modernity, Black-Africana Sufi communities are vital spaces of worldmaking, one that is not merely metaphysical (such as through ritual piety) but also political, anti-racist, and anti-colonial and rooted in collective care. This book is necessary reading for scholars of Sufism, and those who work on Black and African Islam. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/african-american-studies

Youssef J. Carter's The Vast Oceans: Remembering Allah and Self on the Mustafawiyya Sufi Path (UNC Press, 2026) is a stunning meditation on Black Atlantic Sufism, specifically as it travels between South Carolina and Senegal via the Mustafawiyya Sufi community and Shaykh Arona Faye. The book orbits around Sufi conceptual frameworks which are translated through the register of Black and Africana Studies. For example, bay'a is rendered as “solidarity” or khidma as “labour”; such attunement of Sufi concepts presents capacious possibilities for Sufi studies at the intersection of Black and Muslim studies. The book then uses deep ethnography to capture the flows of stories, rituals, and piety, and also Black radical labour, motherwork, and becoming to highlight how in spite of the ongoing violence of racial capitalism and plantation modernity, Black-Africana Sufi communities are vital spaces of worldmaking, one that is not merely metaphysical (such as through ritual piety) but also political, anti-racist, and anti-colonial and rooted in collective care. This book is necessary reading for scholars of Sufism, and those who work on Black and African Islam. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Youssef J. Carter's The Vast Oceans: Remembering Allah and Self on the Mustafawiyya Sufi Path (UNC Press, 2026) is a stunning meditation on Black Atlantic Sufism, specifically as it travels between South Carolina and Senegal via the Mustafawiyya Sufi community and Shaykh Arona Faye. The book orbits around Sufi conceptual frameworks which are translated through the register of Black and Africana Studies. For example, bay'a is rendered as “solidarity” or khidma as “labour”; such attunement of Sufi concepts presents capacious possibilities for Sufi studies at the intersection of Black and Muslim studies. The book then uses deep ethnography to capture the flows of stories, rituals, and piety, and also Black radical labour, motherwork, and becoming to highlight how in spite of the ongoing violence of racial capitalism and plantation modernity, Black-Africana Sufi communities are vital spaces of worldmaking, one that is not merely metaphysical (such as through ritual piety) but also political, anti-racist, and anti-colonial and rooted in collective care. This book is necessary reading for scholars of Sufism, and those who work on Black and African Islam. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/islamic-studies

Youssef J. Carter's The Vast Oceans: Remembering Allah and Self on the Mustafawiyya Sufi Path (UNC Press, 2026) is a stunning meditation on Black Atlantic Sufism, specifically as it travels between South Carolina and Senegal via the Mustafawiyya Sufi community and Shaykh Arona Faye. The book orbits around Sufi conceptual frameworks which are translated through the register of Black and Africana Studies. For example, bay'a is rendered as “solidarity” or khidma as “labour”; such attunement of Sufi concepts presents capacious possibilities for Sufi studies at the intersection of Black and Muslim studies. The book then uses deep ethnography to capture the flows of stories, rituals, and piety, and also Black radical labour, motherwork, and becoming to highlight how in spite of the ongoing violence of racial capitalism and plantation modernity, Black-Africana Sufi communities are vital spaces of worldmaking, one that is not merely metaphysical (such as through ritual piety) but also political, anti-racist, and anti-colonial and rooted in collective care. This book is necessary reading for scholars of Sufism, and those who work on Black and African Islam. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/african-studies

Youssef J. Carter's The Vast Oceans: Remembering Allah and Self on the Mustafawiyya Sufi Path (UNC Press, 2026) is a stunning meditation on Black Atlantic Sufism, specifically as it travels between South Carolina and Senegal via the Mustafawiyya Sufi community and Shaykh Arona Faye. The book orbits around Sufi conceptual frameworks which are translated through the register of Black and Africana Studies. For example, bay'a is rendered as “solidarity” or khidma as “labour”; such attunement of Sufi concepts presents capacious possibilities for Sufi studies at the intersection of Black and Muslim studies. The book then uses deep ethnography to capture the flows of stories, rituals, and piety, and also Black radical labour, motherwork, and becoming to highlight how in spite of the ongoing violence of racial capitalism and plantation modernity, Black-Africana Sufi communities are vital spaces of worldmaking, one that is not merely metaphysical (such as through ritual piety) but also political, anti-racist, and anti-colonial and rooted in collective care. This book is necessary reading for scholars of Sufism, and those who work on Black and African Islam. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/religion

Youssef J. Carter's The Vast Oceans: Remembering Allah and Self on the Mustafawiyya Sufi Path (UNC Press, 2026) is a stunning meditation on Black Atlantic Sufism, specifically as it travels between South Carolina and Senegal via the Mustafawiyya Sufi community and Shaykh Arona Faye. The book orbits around Sufi conceptual frameworks which are translated through the register of Black and Africana Studies. For example, bay'a is rendered as “solidarity” or khidma as “labour”; such attunement of Sufi concepts presents capacious possibilities for Sufi studies at the intersection of Black and Muslim studies. The book then uses deep ethnography to capture the flows of stories, rituals, and piety, and also Black radical labour, motherwork, and becoming to highlight how in spite of the ongoing violence of racial capitalism and plantation modernity, Black-Africana Sufi communities are vital spaces of worldmaking, one that is not merely metaphysical (such as through ritual piety) but also political, anti-racist, and anti-colonial and rooted in collective care. This book is necessary reading for scholars of Sufism, and those who work on Black and African Islam.

Fundamental to Islamic thought is the idea that there is a way that human beings simply are, by nature or creation. This concept is called fiṭra. In The Politics of Islamic Ethics: Hierarchy and Human Nature in the Philosophical Tradition (Cambridge UP, 2025), rooting her investigation in two central passages in the Qur'an and hadith literature, where it is asserted that God created human beings in a certain way, the author moves beyond discussion of the usual figures who have commented on those texts to look instead at a group of classical Islamic philosophers rarely discussed in conjunction with ethical matters. Tracing the development of fiṭra through this overlooked strand of medieval thinking, von Doetinchem de Rande uses fiṭra as an entrée to wider topics in Islamic ethics. She shows that the notion of fiṭra articulated by al-Fārābī, Ibn Bājja, Ibn Ṭufayl, and Ibn Rushd highlights important issues about organizational hierarchies of human nature. This, she argues, has major implications for contemporary political and legal debates. Raissa von Doetinchem de Rande is Assistant Professor of Religious Ethics and Islamic Studies at the University of Chicago. Host Yaseen Christian Andrewsen is a DPhil candidate at the University of Oxford, specialising in Islamic intellectual history in West Africa focusing on issues in Sufism, theology, renewal, and authority. Yaseen is a co-host for the New Books in Islamic Studies podcast. He can be reached by email at: christian.andrewsen@pmb.ox.ac.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Fundamental to Islamic thought is the idea that there is a way that human beings simply are, by nature or creation. This concept is called fiṭra. In The Politics of Islamic Ethics: Hierarchy and Human Nature in the Philosophical Tradition (Cambridge UP, 2025), rooting her investigation in two central passages in the Qur'an and hadith literature, where it is asserted that God created human beings in a certain way, the author moves beyond discussion of the usual figures who have commented on those texts to look instead at a group of classical Islamic philosophers rarely discussed in conjunction with ethical matters. Tracing the development of fiṭra through this overlooked strand of medieval thinking, von Doetinchem de Rande uses fiṭra as an entrée to wider topics in Islamic ethics. She shows that the notion of fiṭra articulated by al-Fārābī, Ibn Bājja, Ibn Ṭufayl, and Ibn Rushd highlights important issues about organizational hierarchies of human nature. This, she argues, has major implications for contemporary political and legal debates. Raissa von Doetinchem de Rande is Assistant Professor of Religious Ethics and Islamic Studies at the University of Chicago. Host Yaseen Christian Andrewsen is a DPhil candidate at the University of Oxford, specialising in Islamic intellectual history in West Africa focusing on issues in Sufism, theology, renewal, and authority. Yaseen is a co-host for the New Books in Islamic Studies podcast. He can be reached by email at: christian.andrewsen@pmb.ox.ac.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/islamic-studies

Fundamental to Islamic thought is the idea that there is a way that human beings simply are, by nature or creation. This concept is called fiṭra. In The Politics of Islamic Ethics: Hierarchy and Human Nature in the Philosophical Tradition (Cambridge UP, 2025), rooting her investigation in two central passages in the Qur'an and hadith literature, where it is asserted that God created human beings in a certain way, the author moves beyond discussion of the usual figures who have commented on those texts to look instead at a group of classical Islamic philosophers rarely discussed in conjunction with ethical matters. Tracing the development of fiṭra through this overlooked strand of medieval thinking, von Doetinchem de Rande uses fiṭra as an entrée to wider topics in Islamic ethics. She shows that the notion of fiṭra articulated by al-Fārābī, Ibn Bājja, Ibn Ṭufayl, and Ibn Rushd highlights important issues about organizational hierarchies of human nature. This, she argues, has major implications for contemporary political and legal debates. Raissa von Doetinchem de Rande is Assistant Professor of Religious Ethics and Islamic Studies at the University of Chicago. Host Yaseen Christian Andrewsen is a DPhil candidate at the University of Oxford, specialising in Islamic intellectual history in West Africa focusing on issues in Sufism, theology, renewal, and authority. Yaseen is a co-host for the New Books in Islamic Studies podcast. He can be reached by email at: christian.andrewsen@pmb.ox.ac.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/critical-theory

Fundamental to Islamic thought is the idea that there is a way that human beings simply are, by nature or creation. This concept is called fiṭra. In The Politics of Islamic Ethics: Hierarchy and Human Nature in the Philosophical Tradition (Cambridge UP, 2025), rooting her investigation in two central passages in the Qur'an and hadith literature, where it is asserted that God created human beings in a certain way, the author moves beyond discussion of the usual figures who have commented on those texts to look instead at a group of classical Islamic philosophers rarely discussed in conjunction with ethical matters. Tracing the development of fiṭra through this overlooked strand of medieval thinking, von Doetinchem de Rande uses fiṭra as an entrée to wider topics in Islamic ethics. She shows that the notion of fiṭra articulated by al-Fārābī, Ibn Bājja, Ibn Ṭufayl, and Ibn Rushd highlights important issues about organizational hierarchies of human nature. This, she argues, has major implications for contemporary political and legal debates. Raissa von Doetinchem de Rande is Assistant Professor of Religious Ethics and Islamic Studies at the University of Chicago. Host Yaseen Christian Andrewsen is a DPhil candidate at the University of Oxford, specialising in Islamic intellectual history in West Africa focusing on issues in Sufism, theology, renewal, and authority. Yaseen is a co-host for the New Books in Islamic Studies podcast. He can be reached by email at: christian.andrewsen@pmb.ox.ac.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/religion

Fundamental to Islamic thought is the idea that there is a way that human beings simply are, by nature or creation. This concept is called fiṭra. In The Politics of Islamic Ethics: Hierarchy and Human Nature in the Philosophical Tradition (Cambridge UP, 2025), rooting her investigation in two central passages in the Qur'an and hadith literature, where it is asserted that God created human beings in a certain way, the author moves beyond discussion of the usual figures who have commented on those texts to look instead at a group of classical Islamic philosophers rarely discussed in conjunction with ethical matters. Tracing the development of fiṭra through this overlooked strand of medieval thinking, von Doetinchem de Rande uses fiṭra as an entrée to wider topics in Islamic ethics. She shows that the notion of fiṭra articulated by al-Fārābī, Ibn Bājja, Ibn Ṭufayl, and Ibn Rushd highlights important issues about organizational hierarchies of human nature. This, she argues, has major implications for contemporary political and legal debates. Raissa von Doetinchem de Rande is Assistant Professor of Religious Ethics and Islamic Studies at the University of Chicago. Host Yaseen Christian Andrewsen is a DPhil candidate at the University of Oxford, specialising in Islamic intellectual history in West Africa focusing on issues in Sufism, theology, renewal, and authority. Yaseen is a co-host for the New Books in Islamic Studies podcast. He can be reached by email at: christian.andrewsen@pmb.ox.ac.uk

Sufism explained without myths—Sahil Adeem challenges how Tasawwuf is misunderstood, asking where Sharia ends and purification begins, and why this path was inverted, leaving Muslims confused about growth and purpose. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you enjoy this episode, we're sure you will enjoy more content like this on The Occult Rejects.  In fact, we have curated playlists on occult topics like grimoires, esoteric concepts and phenomena, occult history, analyzing true crime and cults with an occult lens, Para politics, and occultism in music. Whether you enjoy consuming your content visually or via audio, we've got you covered - and it will always be provided free of charge.  So, if you enjoy what we do and want to support our work of providing accessible, free content on various platforms, please consider making a donation to the links provided below.  Thank you and enjoy the episode!Links For The Occult Rejectshttps://linktr.ee/theoccultrejectsOccult Research Institutehttps://www.occultresearchinstitute.org/Cash Apphttps://cash.app/$theoccultrejectsVenmo@TheOccultRejectsBuy Me A Coffeebuymeacoffee.com/TheOccultRejectsPatreonhttps://www.patreon.com/TheOccultRejectsMarkLinks:https://traditionalistblog.blogspot.com/https://www.amazon.com/Traditionalism-Mark-J-Sedgwick/dp/0241487935/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B001IXOEIWAlso want to remind people about the website, if you're into reading we have tons of information by multiple contributors, and we got t-shirts up on the site if you're interested. Fun fact, the art is all based on the eyeball. A

India's most loved storyteller. His most personal podcast yet.In this landmark episode of the Mashq Records Podcast, I sit down with filmmaker Imtiaz Ali for a rare conversation that goes far beyond cinema.For the first time, Imtiaz Ali opens up about his upcoming film with Diljit Dosanjh, "Main Vaapas Aaunga", and shares why Diljit reminds him of artists like Jordan from Rockstar and Amar Singh Chamkila.We dive deep into the worlds of Rockstar, Tamasha, Laila Majnu, Amar Singh Chamkila, love, heartbreak, spirituality, Bhagavad Gita, Kashmir, creativity, Gen Z, storytelling, and the search for meaning.He breaks down the iconic guitar burning scene in Rockstar, the emotional truth behind Jordan and Heer, the re release success of Laila Majnu, his love for Kashmir, his obsession with mountains, and why he believes God exists within us.From Bombay dreams to Sufism, from art and pain to hope and freedom, this is Imtiaz Ali at his most honest, philosophical, and reflective.This is not just a podcast.This is a masterclass on storytelling, life, love, spirituality, and cinema.Timestamps:00:00:00 Teaser 00:03:35 Introduction 00:05:40 Bombay and love story 00:08:40 Window seat 00:09:35 Pahadu Kai uss paar wali duniya 00:11:15 Imtiaz Ali's obsession with Mountains00:12:35 Story behind Rockstar?00:14:40 Pain in art?00:16:48 Guitar burning scene in Rockstar!00:21:28 Rockstar kissing scene!00:23:40 Rockstar 2?00:24:15 Reallife Rockstar?00:27:07 Diljit Dosanjh Rockstar or Amar singh Chamkila?00:28:07 Biopic on Diljit Dosanjh?00:28:45 Hope in Life?00:31:18 What is life?00:33:05 Love with Kashmir!00:36:00 WAZWAN (Kashmiri Food) 00:37:55 Laila Majnu ReRelease 00:40:00 Laila Majnu Music 00:41:00 Avinish Tiwari (Majnu) 00:42:55 Peer Baba in Tamasha 00:45:00 Nimaz Scene in Laila Majnu 00:46:52 Bhagwat Geeta Shaped my life?00:51:02 Agar duniya mai Kuch Nhi hota too Kya hota?00:53:32 Amar Singh Chamkila?00:54:40 Diljit Dosanjh in Amar Singh Chamkila!00:55:32 Upcoming film in Kashmir? 00:56:25 Genz?00:57:25 Imtiaz Ali's College Life?00:58:50 Boy to Man? 00:59:12 Dil Doodna? 01:00:30 Message for aspiring Storytellers! Copyright: Mashq Records – PodcastHost: RJ Umar Nisar | www.instagram.com/rj_umar_nisarFor Sales & Podcast Inquiries: umar@mashqrecords.in

Laura is joined by co-host Rina Malin and their guest, Dream Boat regular, Dr. Nigel Hamilton, founder of the DRI and a Sufi leader. He discusses the significance of dreams within the Sufi tradition, exploring their mystical nature and the journey of self-discovery that dreams can facilitate. He delves into the historical context of Sufism, the powerful role of visions in Sufism, and the connection with the dead through dreams. He  emphasises the transformative power of these experiences as a path that transcends psychological interpretations of dreams. This conversation delves into the intricate relationship between Sufi dreaming, personal experiences, and the spiritual journey, with the Sufi tradition holding that dreams provide guidance and wisdom. The speakers explore the significance of dreams in various cultures and that unity exists among different spiritual traditions with dreams seen as a gateway to the divine.   Your dreams are worth inquiring about too! Share a dream or a question via our website driccpe.org.uk or the social links below!   Let us know what you think and submit a dream for us to explore on the podcast!  Instagram @thedreamboatpodcast FaceBook @dreamboatpodcast Twitter @dreamboatpod DRI website: driccpe.org.uk/contact    This podcast is a project of the DRI, the centre for dream studies at CCPE, the psychotherapy college overlooking the canals at London's scenic Little Venice.   Remember you can join the DRI for just £30 a year currently to access discounted events, courses, newsletters and join in the conversation about dreams. Go to driccpe.org.uk/sign-up to join!   Keep dreaming and keep sharing your dreams!   Credits Recorded on Riverside.fm by Dave and Laura Edited by James Ede at Be Heard https://beheard.org.uk  Podcast Artwork Design by Kat Seager Design   Music: Adventures by A Himitsu https://soundcloud.com/a-himitsu  Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported— CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: http://bit.ly/2Pj0MtT Music released by Argofox https://youtu.be/8BXNwnxaVQE  Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/MkNeIUgNPQ8 #dream #dreams #recurringdream #nightmares #psychology #research #psychotherapy #trauma #treatment #sleep #transpersonal #science #alchemy #spirituality #jung #lucid #luciddreaming #podcast #dreamwork #technology #AI #artificialintelligence #gpt #individuation #art #surrealism #consciousness   Tags: Insta: @onefulness @dreamresearchinstitute @iasddream FB: @associationforstudyofdreams  @dreamresearchinstitute 

Had an AHA or Insight? Share it:Tarkan Salar on Living Inside an Unfinished TransformationTarkan Salar did not lose his business. He dismantled it. Deliberately, painfully, over eighteen months, canceling contracts, unwinding supplier relationships, letting go of nearly 2,000 employees, absorbing millions in losses, all while his marriage fell apart, his father died, and the people closest to him told him he was making a mistake.He had built a $50Mill dollar fashion company supplying H&M and major European retailers. Family members were on payroll. His identity, his relationships, his entire world was wrapped inside that company. He walked away from all of it because he could not do it anymore. He had no plan. He had a one-way ticket to Bali and left it all behind.The hustle part is done. What has not arrived yet is everything else.The people he thought were friends turned away the moment he stopped being useful. The family members he had carried for years are still angry. And Tarkan is in what he calls the void, no identity, no clear purpose, no confirmation that any of it is going to lead somewhere worth going. The next chapter is not here. He is living in the gap.In this conversation, Tarkan shares what it looks like to be inside that gap right now. The Sufism framework that helps him make sense of why everything was taken away. The 5am Club audiobook that cracked something open in Bali. The 12,000 hours of self-development that have compounded into something he is still learning how to bring into the world. And the honest admission that he does not know what comes next.Beate brings her own rawness to this one. Two people in the exact same spot, on different parts of the world, mapping the terrain of an unfinished transformation together.About Tarkan Salar.Tarkan Salar, is a consumer brand strategist, inventor, and operator with 26+ years building and scaling global fashion and consumer goods brands.Connect with Tarkan SalarWebsite| LinkedIn |Instagram_____________________We appreciate you, thank you for listening. Let us know in the comments what resonated in this episode, we want to hear from you. Leave a comment, like, share with one person who needs to hear the message our guest shared. Take our QUIZ and find out what your talent is worth in this market:  What's Your Talent Worth (http://WhatsYourTalentWorth.com)Follow us on Instagram:Check us out on Tik Tok: Work With Us

(00:00) Trailer (02:32) Why Sahil Adeem enters difficult debates (04:44) Podcast culture and humiliation for views (06:42) Youth confusion, reels, luxury lifestyle and comparison (09:22) Why real direction comes from the Qur'an (10:00) Teaching children purpose from the Qur'an (11:51) The right age to build a child's worldview (12:30) Tafseer, questions and understanding the Qur'an (14:20) Why early childhood seeds matter (16:17) Technology, AI and social media addiction (17:02) Has social media destroyed the home system? (18:34) “It is not the children's addiction” (20:00) Mothers, gadgets and parenting responsibility (21:00) What about the father's role? (23:00) Women empowerment vs responsibility (28:09) What should parents do now? (30:03) Instagram comparison, beauty pressure and insecurity (35:47) The Pakistani male discussion begins (37:42) Mother's rights and father's role in Islam (40:15) Bad parenting and future rebellion (45:00) Serving parents: dunya vs akhirah (50:00) Wrong duas, wealth obsession and Qaroon (51:31) Why Sahil Adeem says podcasts get edited (55:00) What should a real podcast achieve? (56:00) Father as boundary, policy and responsibility (1:05:00) Counting favors in marriage (1:10:00) Narcissism, divorce and changing marriage rules (1:15:00) Qur'an recitation, Tajweed and reflection (1:17:00) Can women interview religious scholars? (1:20:16) Sufism, miracles and confusion in youth (1:25:00) Superstition as a mask of fear (1:30:00) Soft hearts, accountability and gender psychology (1:35:00) Astrology, predictions and social media fear (1:40:00) Prophecy, patterns and unseen knowledge (1:45:00) Jinn, amulets, mental illness and common sense (1:49:33) Closing thoughts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We are resharing this episode in memory of Michael Harrison, who passed away on April 17, 2026. He was 67. In this episode, we discuss the life and work of musician and Sufi teacher Hazrat Inayat Khan with composer/pianist and Inayat Khan scholar Michael Harrison. Hazrat Inayat Khan ( July 1882 – 5 February 1927) was an Indian professor of musicology, singer, exponent of the saraswati vina, poet, philosopher, and pioneer of the transmission of Sufism to the West. At the urging of his students, and on the basis of his ancestral Sufi tradition and four-fold training and authorization at the hands of Sayyid Abu Hashim Madani (d. 1907) of Hyderabad, he established an order of Sufism (the Sufi Order) in London in 1914. By the time of his death in 1927, centers had been established throughout Europe and North America, and multiple volumes of his teachings had been published. Michael Harrison (October 24, 1958 - April 17, 2026) forged a new approach to composition through just intonation (the system of tuning based on pure harmonic proportions). His works blend classical music traditions of Europe and North India. He is a Guggenheim Fellowship and NYFA Artist Fellowship recipient. Michael created dedicated tuning systems for many of his works. He pioneered a structural approach to composition in which the proportions of harmonic relationships organically determine other musical elements such as pitch, duration, and dynamics. He also invented the “harmonic piano,” a grand piano that plays 24 notes per octave, documented in the Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. Harrison seeks expressions of universality via the physics of sound – music that brings one into a state of concentrated listening as a meditative and even mind-altering experience. At the time of his death he was working on “The Raga Cycle”, a series of albums charting the hours of the day through Hindustani raga. The first installment, Evening Light, was released in March 2026 on Cantaloupe Records. More albums in the series were recorded before he became too ill to continue. They will be released in the years ahead. Donations in his memory can be made to the Michael Harrison Foundation for Just Music at JustMusic.org. Topics 00:00 Podcast Welcome 00:22 Encore Tribute 02:28 Mysticism Book Intro 02:49 Spiritual Music Path 04:32 Conservatory And Tonality 06:37 Daily Raga Practice 12:55 Voice Breath And Wazifa 16:48 Creation As Vibration 20:14 Harmony East And West 24:07 Math Of Consonance 25:32 Temperament Versus Just 28:24 Tuning The Soul Quote 32:03 Piano Retuning Journey 35:54 432 Versus 440 39:56 Music As Universal Religion 46:02 Cage Oliveros Deep Listening 51:16 Commentary And Curriculum 53:08 Teaching Programs 55:26 Closing Thanks And Outro Links Michael Harrison — His Own Work Evening Light: Raga Cycle I — Cantaloupe Music (2026) Seven Sacred Names — Bandcamp (2021) Revelation: Music in Pure Intonation — Cantaloupe Music (2007) From Ancient Worlds — michaelharrison.com Time Loops with Maya Beiser — Cantaloupe Music (2012) Michael Harrison website Episode Music Michael Harrison — "Mureed" from Seven Sacred Names (2021, Cantaloupe Music) Michael Harrison — "Alim: Polyphonic Raga Malkauns" from Seven Sacred Names (2021, Cantaloupe Music) Michael Harrison — "Qadr: Etude in Raga Bhimpalasi" from Seven Sacred Names (2021, Cantaloupe Music) Hazrat Inayat Khan — "Purvi Khal: Kamli Wale Tope Sabkuchhvare" (2022, Primitiv) Michael Harrison – “Sami: The Acoustic Constellation” from Seven Sacred Names (2021, Cantaloupe Music) Hazrat Inayat Khan The Mysticism of Sound and Music — Goodreads Inayat Khan 1909 78rpm Recordings — YouTube Hazrat Inayat Khan — Wikipedia The Inayat Order — Pir Zia Inayat Khan Turning Toward the Heart — SAND Podcast with Pir Zia Inayat Khan Teachers & Lineage Pandit Pran Nath — Wikipedia La Monte Young — Wikipedia Terry Riley — Wikipedia Pir Vilayat Khan — Wikipedia Ustad Mashkoor Ali Khan — Wikipedia Other Composers & Artists Referenced Pauline Oliveros — Center for Deep Listening® — Michael Reiley's teacher; creator of Deep Listening practice Pauline Oliveros — paulineoliveros.us John Cage — Wikipedia — composer, Zen Buddhist, creator of 4'33" Arvo Pärt — Wikipedia Hildegard of Bingen — Wikipedia Ravi Shankar — Wikipedia George Harrison Concert for Bangladesh — YouTube Roomful of Teeth — website John Eliot Gardiner — Wikipedia Josquin des Prez — Wikipedia Claudio Monteverdi — Wikipedia J.S. Bach — Wikipedia Programs & Institutions Arts, Letters and Numbers — Creative Music Intensive Michael Harrison Foundation for Just Music — donations in his memory Manhattan School of Music — where the harmonic piano is now archived Contact SAND podcast@scienceandnonduality.com Support the mission of SAND and the production of this podcast by becoming a SAND Member

We've had meditation teachers, psychologists, nutritionists, and a psychic on this show trying to fix what's wrong with mortgage people. None of it worked. So this time we went deeper.In this episode of Laugh, Lend & Eat, Fobby and Justin sit down with a married couple who may be the most interesting pair in any industry — Dr. Saloumeh DeGood, licensed clinical psychologist and President of the Sufi Psychology Association, and Andrew DeGood, co-founder and CEO of Ask Bob AI, the mortgage industry's leading AI knowledge platform.One studies the soul. One builds AI for loan officers. They go home to the same house. The conversation that followed was one of the most unexpected, honest, and genuinely useful episodes we've ever recorded.

Samiha Rahman's Black Muslim Freedom Dreams: Islamic Education, Pan-Africanism, and Collective Care (New York University Press, 2026) follows three generations of Black American Muslims as they pursue education through the Tijani Sufi order in Medina Baye, Senegal, outside the anti-Black and anti-Muslim racism of the United States. This deeply rich ethnographic book captures the transatlantic flows of Black American religious life through the prism of Black mothers and othermothers (as conceptualized by Patricia Hill Collins “motherwork”) and the young people whose lives are transformed through the process. By focusing on the Islamic education offered by the Tijani Order, such as Qur'an education, we learn about the intricate networks of kin that step in to support the young Black Muslims who have migrated for schooling, highlighting the tangible realities of collective care and service that circulates within the Tijani Order. These registers of care and service are informed by Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse, the Senegalese Islamic scholar, Sufi Shaykh, and pan-Africanist, whose teachings define these networks of education, organizing, and care work. The book then offers critical insights into the flow of one particular Sufi community between the United States and Senegal, and how dreams of better futures for Black Muslim youth and the liberatory goals of Pan-Africanism intersect to co-constitute a significant economy of collective care, Sufi service, and Islamic piety. This book will be of interest to anyone who works on education, Sufism, Black and African Islam and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/african-american-studies

Samiha Rahman's Black Muslim Freedom Dreams: Islamic Education, Pan-Africanism, and Collective Care (New York University Press, 2026) follows three generations of Black American Muslims as they pursue education through the Tijani Sufi order in Medina Baye, Senegal, outside the anti-Black and anti-Muslim racism of the United States. This deeply rich ethnographic book captures the transatlantic flows of Black American religious life through the prism of Black mothers and othermothers (as conceptualized by Patricia Hill Collins “motherwork”) and the young people whose lives are transformed through the process. By focusing on the Islamic education offered by the Tijani Order, such as Qur'an education, we learn about the intricate networks of kin that step in to support the young Black Muslims who have migrated for schooling, highlighting the tangible realities of collective care and service that circulates within the Tijani Order. These registers of care and service are informed by Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse, the Senegalese Islamic scholar, Sufi Shaykh, and pan-Africanist, whose teachings define these networks of education, organizing, and care work. The book then offers critical insights into the flow of one particular Sufi community between the United States and Senegal, and how dreams of better futures for Black Muslim youth and the liberatory goals of Pan-Africanism intersect to co-constitute a significant economy of collective care, Sufi service, and Islamic piety. This book will be of interest to anyone who works on education, Sufism, Black and African Islam and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Samiha Rahman's Black Muslim Freedom Dreams: Islamic Education, Pan-Africanism, and Collective Care (New York University Press, 2026) follows three generations of Black American Muslims as they pursue education through the Tijani Sufi order in Medina Baye, Senegal, outside the anti-Black and anti-Muslim racism of the United States. This deeply rich ethnographic book captures the transatlantic flows of Black American religious life through the prism of Black mothers and othermothers (as conceptualized by Patricia Hill Collins “motherwork”) and the young people whose lives are transformed through the process. By focusing on the Islamic education offered by the Tijani Order, such as Qur'an education, we learn about the intricate networks of kin that step in to support the young Black Muslims who have migrated for schooling, highlighting the tangible realities of collective care and service that circulates within the Tijani Order. These registers of care and service are informed by Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse, the Senegalese Islamic scholar, Sufi Shaykh, and pan-Africanist, whose teachings define these networks of education, organizing, and care work. The book then offers critical insights into the flow of one particular Sufi community between the United States and Senegal, and how dreams of better futures for Black Muslim youth and the liberatory goals of Pan-Africanism intersect to co-constitute a significant economy of collective care, Sufi service, and Islamic piety. This book will be of interest to anyone who works on education, Sufism, Black and African Islam and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/islamic-studies

Samiha Rahman's Black Muslim Freedom Dreams: Islamic Education, Pan-Africanism, and Collective Care (New York University Press, 2026) follows three generations of Black American Muslims as they pursue education through the Tijani Sufi order in Medina Baye, Senegal, outside the anti-Black and anti-Muslim racism of the United States. This deeply rich ethnographic book captures the transatlantic flows of Black American religious life through the prism of Black mothers and othermothers (as conceptualized by Patricia Hill Collins “motherwork”) and the young people whose lives are transformed through the process. By focusing on the Islamic education offered by the Tijani Order, such as Qur'an education, we learn about the intricate networks of kin that step in to support the young Black Muslims who have migrated for schooling, highlighting the tangible realities of collective care and service that circulates within the Tijani Order. These registers of care and service are informed by Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse, the Senegalese Islamic scholar, Sufi Shaykh, and pan-Africanist, whose teachings define these networks of education, organizing, and care work. The book then offers critical insights into the flow of one particular Sufi community between the United States and Senegal, and how dreams of better futures for Black Muslim youth and the liberatory goals of Pan-Africanism intersect to co-constitute a significant economy of collective care, Sufi service, and Islamic piety. This book will be of interest to anyone who works on education, Sufism, Black and African Islam and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/african-studies

Samiha Rahman's Black Muslim Freedom Dreams: Islamic Education, Pan-Africanism, and Collective Care (New York University Press, 2026) follows three generations of Black American Muslims as they pursue education through the Tijani Sufi order in Medina Baye, Senegal, outside the anti-Black and anti-Muslim racism of the United States. This deeply rich ethnographic book captures the transatlantic flows of Black American religious life through the prism of Black mothers and othermothers (as conceptualized by Patricia Hill Collins “motherwork”) and the young people whose lives are transformed through the process. By focusing on the Islamic education offered by the Tijani Order, such as Qur'an education, we learn about the intricate networks of kin that step in to support the young Black Muslims who have migrated for schooling, highlighting the tangible realities of collective care and service that circulates within the Tijani Order. These registers of care and service are informed by Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse, the Senegalese Islamic scholar, Sufi Shaykh, and pan-Africanist, whose teachings define these networks of education, organizing, and care work. The book then offers critical insights into the flow of one particular Sufi community between the United States and Senegal, and how dreams of better futures for Black Muslim youth and the liberatory goals of Pan-Africanism intersect to co-constitute a significant economy of collective care, Sufi service, and Islamic piety. This book will be of interest to anyone who works on education, Sufism, Black and African Islam and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/religion

This episode of Alchemical Dialogues features host Henry Cretella in conversation with Micha-El (Alan Berkowitz) on the life and teachings of Paul Brunton, and the intersections of Sufism, Vedanta, and other contemplative traditions. The discussion begins with Henry describing how he first encountered Brunton's book The Short Path to Enlightenment, which he initially bought simply because of the title but left unread for years. Later, through engagement with Sufi practice and references to figures such as Ramana Maharshi and conversations within his spiritual circle, he returned to the book and found it deeply meaningful. Micha-El shares his background growing up in suburban New York in a non-religious Jewish family, where institutional religion felt empty and unengaging. During his time at Cornell University in 1969, amid political and social upheaval, he experienced an existential crisis. Feeling disillusioned with both activism and academic structures, he was directed to the American Brahmin Bookstore in Ithaca, associated with Anthony Damiani. There he encountered a comparative study of spiritual traditions, including Buddhism, Hinduism, Sufism, and Western mystical thought, all presented in a unified way. Through Damiani, Micha-El eventually encountered Paul Brunton and later met him personally several times in Switzerland and the United States. Brunton is described as someone who studied and synthesized many traditions and teachers, producing a body of work that includes A Search in Secret India and later The Notebooks of Paul Brunton, a large compilation of teachings organized into thematic categories. Micha-El emphasizes Brunton's approach as both experiential and investigative. Brunton did not present himself as a guru but as a researcher of consciousness. His work draws from direct encounters with teachers, texts, and his own inner experience. He was also interested in integrating scientific inquiry with mystical insight, emphasizing a “scientific attitude” toward spiritual experience. A central teaching discussed is Brunton's idea of “the quest,” which includes four aims: knowing the self, knowing the higher self (or Overself), knowing the universe, and understanding one's relation to the universe. This framework combines inner realization with understanding of the external world, including modern science, rather than rejecting it. The conversation also covers Brunton's distinctions between different levels of realization, including temporary “glimpses,” personal illumination, and what he called cosmic illumination. Micha-El explains that glimpses are often the initial experiences that draw people into spiritual seeking, but they are not the final stage. Meditation is described as a movement beyond thought into a deeper inner emptiness where thoughts cease. In this state, Brunton suggests, communication can occur at a subtler level than language or intellect. Henry connects this to contemplative practices in Sufism and Christianity, while Mikael relates it to similar ideas in Buddhism and Vedanta. A significant theme is the role of teachers. Brunton acknowledged that qualified teachers are rare but valuable, yet he did not require students to depend on one. Instead, he emphasized what he called an independent path, where individuals rely on inner guidance and serious study. Books, in this sense, can function as direct transmissions when deeply engaged. The discussion also addresses Brunton's skepticism toward spiritual organizations. He observed that many become entangled in ego, power, and institutional issues. While organizations may preserve teachings, he did not see them as essential for spiritual realization. Both Henry and Micha-El reflect on the difficulty of discerning authentic teachers, noting that seekers must rely on experience, patience, and discernment rather than idealized expectations. They also discuss Brunton's broader view of human development, moving from materialism to religion, then mysticism, and finally philosophy as a synthesis of intuition and intellect. The episode closes with reflections on Brunton's vision of a decentralized spiritual transmission: individuals working inwardly, often in isolation, yet forming a subtle collective of understanding through shared inquiry and practice.

In his debut work, Companionship and Virtue in Classical Sufism: The Contribution of al-Sulami (I.B. Tauris, 2024), Jason Welle sheds a new light on al-Sulami, an influential Sufi master during Sufism's formative era, by examine his work on suhba (companionship). Welle provides a historical reconstruction of Sufi companionship in Khurasan in the period, arguing that al-Sulami's concept of suhba, specifically among and between young disciples, envisioned the transformation of society as whole, not just the master-disciple relationship. Bringing debates in contemporary virtue ethics to bear on al-Sulami's spiritual method, the book offers an original analysis of the latter's thought that will be of interest to scholars of early Islam and classical Sufism as well as moral theologians interested in virtue ethics, character and friendship. Jason Welle is an Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Boston College, where he teach courses on Christian-Muslim Relations and Islamic Mysticism. Saman Nasser holds an MA in history from James Madison University, where he works as an educational staff. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

In his debut work, Companionship and Virtue in Classical Sufism: The Contribution of al-Sulami (I.B. Tauris, 2024), Jason Welle sheds a new light on al-Sulami, an influential Sufi master during Sufism's formative era, by examine his work on suhba (companionship). Welle provides a historical reconstruction of Sufi companionship in Khurasan in the period, arguing that al-Sulami's concept of suhba, specifically among and between young disciples, envisioned the transformation of society as whole, not just the master-disciple relationship. Bringing debates in contemporary virtue ethics to bear on al-Sulami's spiritual method, the book offers an original analysis of the latter's thought that will be of interest to scholars of early Islam and classical Sufism as well as moral theologians interested in virtue ethics, character and friendship. Jason Welle is an Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Boston College, where he teach courses on Christian-Muslim Relations and Islamic Mysticism. Saman Nasser holds an MA in history from James Madison University, where he works as an educational staff. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/islamic-studies

Ep. 229 (Part 2 of 2) | In part 2 of our What is Real Greatness Series podcast with Margaret Cullen, author of Quiet Strength, Margaret continues to enlighten us about equanimity: its power, its wisdom, and its practice. She relates some of the history of equanimity—first considered a supreme virtue in Stoicism, then passed on to Sufism and Judaism—and explains that throughout time, equanimity (and humility) have always been an integral part of people who have made a true difference in the world. Margaret talks about how humor can break the spell of our trance (“when we lose equanimity, we get caught in a trance, believing in something that has us prisoner—humor breaks the spell”), and, in the spirit of “The Serenity Prayer” (“Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference”), she encourages us to make peace with what we can realistically do and let the rest go.While Part 1 of this dialogue focuses on the power of equanimity in relation to the big picture and what is going on now politically, in Part 2 Margaret looks at practicing equanimity in personal relationships and in our individual lives. She marvels at Thoreau's equanimous approach to his own death, and shares that she has found forgiveness to be the most important equanimity tool in relationships. “We reclaim our wisdom when we say ‘I'm sorry,'” Margaret explains. Margaret's deep and nuanced understanding of the power and practice of equanimity is inspiring and illuminating, and bringing this virtue to our attention as a pragmatic tool we can use is also incredibly timely, leaving us with a sense of hope and empowerment. Recorded January 14, 2026.“What aids in my equanimity more than anything else is self-forgiveness.”Topics & Time Stamps – Part 2Welcome teacher, what am I supposed to be learning? (00:59)How humor can break the spell that holds us prisoner (03:03)The relationship between equanimity and peace (05:17)The praise and blame algorithm has exponentially increased our reactivity (08:14)Equanimity was a supreme virtue in Stoicism; the Stoics passed it on to the Sufis, who passed it on to Judaism (11:11)Thoreau's equanimous approach to death (12:24)Nature's effect on one's equanimity (13:29)Equanimity is an integral part of true change makers, also humility (14:27)What practice would Margaret most recommend to cultivate equanimity? (17:19)Making peace with what you can do and letting the rest go (21:03)Practicing equanimity in relationships (22:13)Using self-forgiveness as an equanimity tool (23:44)In relationships, softening where we're most triggered helps more than imposing ideals of how we should be (26:25)One key flavor of equanimity is non-defensiveness (28:51)Resources & References – Part 2Margaret Cullen, Quiet Strength: Find Peace, Feel Alive, and Love Boundlessly Through the Power of EquanimitySwami Beyondanda on the Deep Transformation podcast: Laugh Yourself Sane, Enlighten Up & Awaken to Cosmic Comic ConsciousnessMaimonides introduced the concept of equanimity to JudaismStoicism, a philosophical movement & practical guide to living originating in ancient GreeceWhen asked about facing death, Thoreau said, “One world at a time.” Henrietta Christian Wright, American Men of LettersSri Aurobindo, The Synthesis of YogaSufi teacher Habīb Boerger, “Rather than making the ego your boss, make it your personal assistant”The Serenity Prayer (Reinhold Niebuhr's original version)Richard Davidson & Daniel Goleman, Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain, and BodyPaul & Eve Ekman's Cultivating Emotional Balance training“We could not help contrasting the equanimity of Nature with the bustle and impatience of man. His words and actions presume always a crisis near at hand, but she is forever silent and unpretending.” – Henry David Thoreau---Margaret Cullen, a Licensed Psychotherapist (MFT), has been at the cutting edge of translating contemplative trainings into universal and accessible formats in mainstream settings ranging from elite military to maximum security prisons. She was one of the first certified Teachers of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR); is the founder of Mindfulness-Based Emotional Balance; and is co-developer of Compassion Cultivation Training at the Stanford School of Medicine (with Thupten Jinpa). Margaret also co-developed Mindfulness Based Attention Training for military spouses with neuroscientist Amishi Jha at the University of Miami, and is the founder of Compassion Corps, offering free compassion and mindfulness programs to under-resourced communities around the world. Margaret is a Fellow of the Mind & Life Institute.---Podcast produced by Vanessa Santos and Show Notes by Heidi Mitchell