Wider reading recommended by Sr Alex Thurston on The Sahel

Notes on Episode 60 - US Liberalism and Islamic Exceptionalism

In this episode, we talk to Dr Yaqoob Ahmed, an Ottoman specialist on decline and what he calls a collective Muslim amnesia as Ottoman history is erased from our lives

Farhat Amin speaks to Zara Choudhary founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sacred Footsteps. Zara talks about her recent article "Unveiling the Algerienne, French colonial photography", which looks at the central obsession of French colonialism to unveil Muslim women.

For Muslims, Ramadan’s routine of prayer, reflection and dua was interrupted by the horrific acts of savagery perpetrated by the Israelis against Palestinians. It started with the Sheikh Jarrah land grab, the latest episode in the ongoing project of settler colonialism, and then the sanctity of Al-Aqsa was defiled by police officers hell-bent on provoking the sentiments of worshippers. The savagery by which the occupying power acted was caught on smart phones and communicated to the world. Until now the state has acted with impunity, probably cognisant that the Arab leaders have abandoned the Palestinian cause and worse still have enabled it through pacts and treaties to curry favour with America.

Ustadh Iyad Hilal talks through all the evidences on the matter of moon sighting and discusses issues of using calculations, local vs global sighting, what is a witness and following countries such as Saudi Arabia exclusively.

In 2001, Mohamedou Ould Slahi was falsely accused of links to Al-Qaeda. Without recourse to due process, international treaties and the so-called cherished principles of the US constitution, he ended up spending 14 long years in Camp X-Ray. Yet the power of the human spirit and his Islamic convictions prevailed and he returned to his home country of Mauritania, exonerated of any wrongdoing.

Economists in the new era have convinced us that they have unearthed the universal truth of human economic activity and the markets are infallible. We often hear newsreaders speak of ‘the markets’ as if they were a natural law, a deity that cannot be questioned. Dr Zaman has a unique view of modern economics and argues that capitalism is a house of cards masquerading as objective truths.

Dr Shadee Elmasry shares his understanding of what it means for someone to occupy the position of a mujtahid. He explores the prerequisites, the process and responsibilities of someone with this title whilst outlining the various other positions a scholar can occupy.

The contrast with Trump's "America First" could not be clearer. In his first month, Biden has issued a raft of executive orders and foreign policy shifts to reverse his predecessor’s foreign policy. Biden is sending the message that America wants to reengage with her allies.

By now most of us have heard the great underdog story that is the Gamestop short squeeze. But do we know how as Muslims we should approach this event, and stock market investing as a whole? Riaz Hassan breaks down the context and consequences of the Gamestop saga in a concise 30 minute presentation.

In the annals of the republic’s short history, the storming of the Capitol would probably rank as one of its most egregious episodes. In his inaugural address President Joe Biden promised to heal the country and defeat ‘white supremacy,’ yet nativism remains a potent force that can still destabilize the republic.

The ‘separatism’ Bill announced by Emmanuel Macron on the 2nd October is currently working its way through the institutions of the French executive. The proposed law is called the “Bill to Reinforce Secularism and Republican Principles”, the term ‘separatism’, once considered, has been removed. The Bill looks to update the 1905 law that officially separated church from state.

Liberalism, as Douglas Murray rightly points out in his Spectator piece, is in the dock and subject to a new “cultural revolution.” Murray’s piece reflects an ever-growing pessimism across western societies that the edifice upon which liberalism was built is giving way to a “woke” progressivism concerned with curtailing free speech and toppling statues. In this new world, young people exhibit an illiberalism that would, in Murray’s mind, not be out of place in a “Talibanised” society.

Al-Ghazali’s central recommendation in his chapter on knowledge, to discipline the soul, is one of the most important personal duties of any Muslim that seek to engender a social or political change. Like the public debaters al-Ghazali encountered at his time and whose number he once belonged, those that gain prominence through public activism are trialled by a host of negative traits, which if not recognised and addressed, can lead one to troubling places.

The British government is careering into a coronavirus catastrophe, on the scale and intensity Italians are experiencing today. It is a tragedy entirely of its own making. Over the past two months, the government has failed to plan appropriately for the crisis, has failed to follow sound universally accepted scientific advice and has failed to respond to the clear indicators that a disaster is looming.

A collection of ahadith that have been related about Ramadan.

“Whoever fasts Ramadhan with Imaan and Ihtisaab (expecting reward from Allah) then all of his previous sins will be forgiven”.

Modi’s surprise actions in Kashmir after repealing Article 370 was influenced by a worldview that has seized India, Hindutva, a rabid form of nationalism that is built upon a grand conceit. For Hindu nationalists, Islam is the problem and its place in any future India is for it to be subdued, depoliticised and chastened by the power of the state and the braying of the mob.