Justin Parrot holds an MRes in Islamic Studies from the University of Wales and is currently Research Librarian for Middle East Studies at NYU in Abu Dhabi, where he is also a volunteer Imam for the Muslim Students Association. He runs an amazing website with a unique, accessible hadith repository, available at www.abuaminaelias.com

Joining us this week are: Dilly Hussain, the editor of the online independent news platform 5Pillars, and Imran Muneer (A.K.A. Sim), host of the popular Mad Mamluks podcast. We discuss the show’s central themes, the popularity of Dirilis Ertugrul in the Muslim world, and how it fits into Turkey’s geopolitical aims.

Joining us this week is Kamal Abu Zahra, a lecturer in Islamic Studies, currently completing his PhD in looking at minority fiqh and its compatibility with classical notions of scholarship. I ask Kamal some searching questions about death and how we should view it, how we should confront it’s claims upon us, and how we should react when death falls on someone close to us.

This week we speak to the esteemed author of ‘Studies in Usul Ul Fiqh’, Ustadh Iyad Hilal, of the Al Arqam Institute of California. We discuss the ahadith related to plagues and quarantines, the prophetic medicines, the value of conventional medicine and the current public health advice that runs contrary to our religious instincts and ceremonies, most notably the cessation of Salahtul Jumuah and regular prayers in the masjids.

This week I speak to Fadl Hejazi, a Muslim academic from India, about the crisis facing the Muslims of India. To cover its obvious failures, key Indian politicians and its RSS supporters opted to turn the country on its Muslim citizens, blaming the mounting cases of COVID-19 on the Tablighi Jamat Ijtima (gathering) in Nizamuddin. We discuss this and the maliciously false idea of ‘Corona Jihad’.

Joining us this week are Dr Naveed Syed, senior public health specialist at Public Health England, and Dr Imran Waheed, psychiatrist and medical doctor. We discuss the origins of COVID-19, transmission, herd immunity, flu statistics, verification of news, Facebook 'experts', annual death rates, government failures, mental health implications, 5G conspiracies and prophetic treatments.

Writer and community organiser Riaz Hasan joins us this week to discuss the political and economic ramifications of the COVID-19 crisis. We look at the economic impact, the decline of the liberal democratic world, the move to embrace the Chinese model of capitalism and whether a realistic and well-thought through Islamic model currently exists to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

As we hunker down and wait in anticipation for a COVID-19 breakthrough, we inevitably begin to think about our mortality and whether we have within us the ability to deal with this crisis. In the coming weeks we are going to explore the COVID-19 crisis and its implications. Scholar, public speaker, founder of Safina Society Dr. Shadee Elmasry joins us again to discuss 10 important questions facing the Muslim community.

My guest this week, Dr Ovamir Anjum, calls for a new wave of thinking on the subject of the caliphate, grounded in revelation and aimed at showing both Muslims and non-Muslims how Islam’s thought should be considered as an alternative to the contemporary decaying world order.

Scholar, public speaker, founder of Safina Society Dr. Shadee Elmasry joins us again to discuss toxic masculinity and Islam's response. Dr Shadee stands out for his dedication to a nuanced and intelligent look at how revelation informs the Muslim conception of masculinity. How did the Allah and His Messenger's (saw) practice nurture an Islamic vision of masculinity?

This week I speak to Dr Asher Siddiqui, a scientist from Delhi who has been at the epicentre of the protests at Delhi’s Jamia Millia University. India has been rocked by countrywide demonstrations driven by young Muslims energised by their opposition to a new citizenship law designed to relegate Muslims to second class citizens.

This week I speak to consultant anaesthetist Dr Yousif Haj Yousif. Dr Yousif has seen death and its impacts close up, and I ask him to help us to contextualise grief, how do we grieve as Muslims? And what are the ideas from the revelation of Allah (swt) that help to console our hearts?

My guest this week has been working in the field of mental health for over twenty years. Dr Imran Waheed is a consultant psychiatrist, and answers the questions: What is Mental Illness and Why is it on the Increase? How does Islam help us to deal with our mental health and build resilience to deal with the travails of life? And why has the liberal west failed to enhance the human mind?

Professor and expert in comparative economics from Jerusalem, Dr Abul Izz Abdul Salam joins us this week to continue our Islamic Economics series. In this episode we discuss how Islam deals with the creation of wealth and at the same time addresses the problem of stagnant money that remains the prize of the 1%.

Professor and expert in comparative economics from Jerusalem, Dr Abul Izz Abdul Salam joins us this week in the first episode of our Islamic Economics series. In this episode we discuss how Islamic Economics differs from the dominant liberal economic order that creates enormous wealth inequalities and perpetuates poverty.

A short explainer podcast and accompanying article breaking down the role of Turkey and the USA in the endless Syrian Civil War. A must-listen/read.

This week I ask Uthman Badar, an Islamic academic, speaker and writer from Sidney, Australia to discuss the idea of secularism. Uthman is a PhD candidate, researching secularism and its foundational assumptions and we take a deep-dive into understanding its roots and development in Europe.

Activist, author and Research Director at CAGE Asim Qureshi joins us this week to discuss the government’s Prevent policy, which is less about de-radicalisation and more about sowing fear. Asim speaks with knowledge, precision and eloquence as he explains how the Muslim community is viewed by the state as a ‘suspect community’.

Public Interest Law Scholar and co-founder of the Black Dawah Network Hakeem Muhammad joins us this week. He argues that narratives about the slave trade barely mention the Muslim origin of many Africans that were enslaved, their courageous attempts to remain Muslim despite severe repression and the role Islam played as a basis of defiance and the driver behind many of the slave rebellions on plantations.

Academic, speaker, writer and founder of the Alasna institute, Daniel Haqiqatjou joins us this week to discuss Islamophobia and the Muslim response to it, as well as the challenge of Liberalism. He argues his study of philosophy has enabled him to get an insight into the liberal mindset and consolidated his view that Liberalism is at odds with Islam, and that liberal society looks to challenge and change Islam.