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How do we conceptualise where we are, the international situation and what comes next. To help us understand ourselves and the world, we are happy to invite back onto the Thinking Muslim our friend Sami Hamdi.
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#thethinkingmuslimpodcast episode 155
Timestamps
00:00 Introduction
3:00 – Progress of his travels
3:22 – Does Gaza Expose US Decline
16:20 – Irreversible, can the US resuscitate?
28:44 – US Muslims in US Decline
36:30 – Giving Oxygen to a Corrupt System
47:53 – Muslim Rulers and Multipolarity
56:30 – China and Russia
1:02:28 – Iran and Agency
1:16:10 – Pursuing the News and Time Management
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Muslims worldwide have come to the realisation that the prevailing capitalist economic system does not serve us ethically. With its interest-based banking and casino-style financial instruments, a devout believer has no choice but to attempt to escape its haram, even if that hinders the progress and prosperity of our daily lives. In recent years, Islamic finance has been touted as an ethical alternative. A way to escape the haram riba based economy. Some have even presented it as an alternative to financial capitalism. The rationale behind these products is to accommodate the detailed Shariah rulings on trade and many Islamic scholars have endorsed products that Western financial institutes and governments have embraced.
Our guest this week was an Islamic finance industry insider. Harris Irfan is currently the CEO of Cordoba Capital Markets https://www.ccmkts.com. He has 29 years of investment banking and consulting experience. He was the former co-founder of Deutsche Bank's world-leading Islamic finance team and CEO of Deutsche's Islamic finance subsidiary. He is the Former Global Head of Islamic Finance at Barclays, and then Head of Investment Banking for the Rasmala group. He is also the author of "Heaven's Bankers: Inside the Hidden World of Islamic Finance", the critically acclaimed best-seller about the Islamic finance industry.
As always, you can comment your thoughts below.
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#TheThinkingMuslimPodcast
The Thinking Muslim Podcast Episode 107
00:00 Introduction
02:13 The Makkah Clocktower
07:36 Investment Banks Abuse
09:58 Fractional Reserve Banking
13:48 Halal Banks?
16:43 But Buying a House?
20:43 Regulatory Issues?
22:07 Risk Sharing ?
28:15 So How Do Muslims Invest?
31:10 Islamic Scholars Wrong?
36:23 Scholars Not Economists?
39:00 The Doomsday Fatwa
44:46 Makes Haram Halal
49:32 Governments Passing Laws
51:53 The Goals of the Shariah
57:50 Capitalism
1:01:54 What is Capitalism
1:07:05 Erdogan and the Riba Trap
1:13:07 Brics Currency & Dedolarisation?
Timestamps
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You can find Dr Azzam's book SALADIN: THE TRIUMPH OF THE SUNNI REVIVAL here: https://its.org.uk/catalogue/saladin/
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Do we need another Salahuddin to turn around our fortunes? Salahuddin Ayubi, the 12th-century general, statesman and sultan, is mythologised for his victory over the Crusaders in 1187 at Hattin and, ultimately, the reclamation of Islam’s third holiest place, Al Aqsa in Jerusalem. At a time when the Muslim ummah is undergoing what many suggest, with good evidence, to be the worst period in Muslim history – his name and mission remain an inspiration.
Yet many of us, have scant knowledge of the man behind the myth, the prevailing social and political climate that made him who he was and the geopolitical context within which he acquired his sense of mission. Like all historical heroes, there are periods of highs and lows in their lives and the deeper we dig, we find complexities that do not fit well into our idealistic rendering of history.
To help us understand the great Salahuddin, we invited Dr Abdul Rahman Azzam onto the show. Dr. Azzam has authored several books, including Saladin: The Triumph of the Sunni Revival. He is a scholar specialising in Islamic history, and we are grateful for his time.
If we are to recreate a Salahuddin, maybe his society the men with whom he surrounded himself, and the backdrop of a greater Sunni revival will aid us in understanding the chivalry with which he is famed and the mission of the man himself.
As always, you can comment your thoughts below.
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#TheThinkingMuslimPodcast
The Thinking Muslim Podcast Episode 111
Timestamps
00:00 – Introduction
02:55 – Salahuddin’s Context
10:00 – Zengi
15:29 – The Sunni Revival
24:00 – Abbasid Fragmentation
28:30 – Crusader Threat?
32:12 – Jerusalem’s Importance?
39:10 – The Fatimid’s
43:36 – Salahuddin’s Egypt Campaign
45:40 – Salahuddin’s Luck
48:00 – Salahuddin Becomes Wazir
52:45 – Reliance on Sunni Ulema
54:36 – Salahuddin as administrator
1:00:21 – Unifying Syria
1:05:47 – Salahuddin and Aleppo
1:08:26 – Salahuddin’s Brilliance
1:10:00 – King Baldwin
1:21:00 – July 1187
1:23:40 – Salahuddin’s Chivalry
1:31:50 – Richard the Lionheart
1:33:34 – The Last Fight
1:36:00 – The French General
1:42:00 – What made Salahuddin?
1:43:20 – Reproducing Salahuddin Today?
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It is said a people without a past are a lost soul. And in today’s turbulent world, the Muslim ummah has come to realise that we have, in many cases, been taught a version of history that fails to appreciate what the late Shabbir Akhtar called Islam as a imperial faith.
Dr Yakoob Ahmed is an academic specialising in late Ottoman history. He was until recently a lecturer in Islamic history at Istanbul University. He is a regular to this podcast and writes and lectures extensively on Ottoman history. He is the author of a soon to be published title, Does History Matter – history done islamically - the conversation of today.
Let me remind all viewers that to help us continue to engage critical thought at this time, Please consider becoming a Patron. https://www.patreon.com/TheThinkingMuslim
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Website Archive: https://www.thinkingmuslim.com
0:00 Introduction
2:00 Gaza at the crossed roads
8:08 History as a vocation
11:08 Islam as an Imperial Faith
14:40 Historians providing solutions
19:48 What are we doing wrong with history?
25:26 Idealism?
32:50 The Quran and History
37:32 Ibn Khuldun’s cyclical theory
43:22 Islam and the production of knowledge
50:40 Fiction and Ertrugul
55:20 Islamic method of history?
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At the time where our attention is fixed on Gaza, rightly, another conflict is taking place with horrendous cost to human life. Sadly As always, our ummah has become subject to the political ambitions of egotistical actors and their outside backers. Sudan is burning. There are 8 million people on the move, escaping the indiscriminate murder, rape and pillage of what can only be described as two warlords that thwarted a people’s revolution – aided by external powers.
Today we explore these two conflicts. In a way, they are one. They are recent episodes of a Muslim world in crisis. Our ummah today lives in a perpetual state of conflict, can we escape this dire situation. We are now 100 years since the formal demise of the Ottoman state, what does the next 100 years look like.
Listen to the audio version of the podcast:
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You can also support The Thinking Muslim through a one-time donation: https://www.thinkingmuslim.com/Donate
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Website Archive: https://www.thinkingmuslim.com
#thethinkingmuslimpodcast episode 140
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
1:10 The Two Warlords
19:25 US Motives
24:51 The UAE
31:00 Darfur
34:30 Our future – Sami’s call
I have been struck by the thoughtful and nuanced conversations that are being had across the US about the coming elections. But there remains confusion. One such community that probably has reason to be sceptical of mainstream Muslim organisations and their approach to politics, as relationships, is the all-important African American Muslim community – very often neglected in any conversation.
I have invited today to show someone who I deeply respect for how he thought through these essential topics long before Gaza came along to haunt us. Imam Dawud Walid is the author of Towards Sacred Activism and an Imam in Michigan.
Let me remind all viewers that to help us continue to engage in critical thought now, please consider becoming a Patron. https://www.patreon.com/TheThinkingMuslim
You can also support The Thinking Muslim through a one-time donation: https://www.thinkingmuslim.com/Donate
Listen to the audio version of the podcast:
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Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/....podcast/the-thinking
Sign up to Muhammad Jalal's newsletter: https://jalalayn.substack.com
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Find us on:
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Host: https://twitter.com/jalalayn
Website Archive: https://www.thinkingmuslim.com
Timestamps
0:00 - introduction
:25 – African Americans and Harris
5:32 – Divisions between black and immigrant Muslim
9:12 – His position
17:00 – Sacred activism and foreign thought
24:53 – Michigan and Trump
38:13 – The political left
49:32 – Practical activism
56:35 – Political Tarbiyyah
1:06:04 – Western ideology
1:08:10 – Gaza Anxiety
To help us unpick the relationship between Western foreign policy and media our guest this week is Hamza Yusuf is a British-Palestinian writer and journalist whose work focuses on Palestine. He has reported on daily life under occupation for Palestinians, including home demolitions and forced expulsion and the conditions for Palestinians in Israeli prisons. He is an investigative journalist at Declassified amongst other publications.
Let me remind all viewers that to help us continue to engage critical thought at this time, Please consider becoming a Patron. https://www.patreon.com/TheThinkingMuslim
You can also support The Thinking Muslim through a one-time donation: https://www.thinkingmuslim.com/Donate
Listen to the audio version of the podcast:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/....7vXiAjVFnhNI3T9Gkw63
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/....podcast/the-thinking
Sign up to Muhammad Jalal's newsletter: https://jalalayn.substack.com
Purchase our Thinking Muslim mug: https://www.thinkingmuslim.com/merch
Find us on:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinking_muslim
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-T....hinking-Muslim-Podca
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thinkingmuslimpodcast/
Telegram: https://t.me/thinkingmuslim
Host: https://twitter.com/jalalayn
Website Archive: https://www.thinkingmuslim.com
Timestamps
0:00 Introduction
3:00 – The narrative of genocide
5:10 – A Reckoning?
6:49 – Mainstream media
8:55 – Case studies
18:45 – Media coordination
24:25 – Some sympathetic voices
26:24 – A free press?
30:47 – Racism?
34:34 – Social media?
37:20 – Change in western perceptions?
39:33 – A pariah state?
41:27 – Hamza’s work
47:00 – Muslims in journalism
49:49 – Money for independent media
51:42 – Alternative media
For a conscientious Muslim, managing ones money in the West can be a difficult prospect. Islam has a series of rules to do with money, the prohibition of riba (interest) being the key one, and rules on trade that often places it at odds with a rather laissez faire Neo liberal model. Muslims feel a sense of unease when we place our money in banks or engage is investment opportunities that may contravene Islamic precepts.
Our guest today was an Islamic finance industry insider. Harris Irfan is currently the CEO of Cordoba Capital Markets. He has 29 years of investment banking and consulting experience. He was the former co-founder of Deutsche Bank's world-leading Islamic finance team and CEO of Deutsche's Islamic finance subsidiary. He is the Former Global Head of Islamic Finance at Barclays, then Head of Investment Banking for the Rasmala group. He is also the author of "Heaven's Bankers: Inside the Hidden World of Islamic Finance", the critically acclaimed best-seller about the Islamic finance industry.
Let me remind all viewers that to help us continue to engage critical thought at this time, please consider becoming a Patron. https://www.patreon.com/TheThinkingMuslim
You can also support The Thinking Muslim through a one-time donation: https://www.thinkingmuslim.com/Donate
FAQs from Harris:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse..../islamic-finance-faq
Investing My Savings in a Halal Way:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse..../investing-my-saving
Listen to the audio version of the podcast:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/....7vXiAjVFnhNI3T9Gkw63
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/....podcast/the-thinking
Sign up to Muhammad Jalal's newsletter: https://jalalayn.substack.com
Purchase our Thinking Muslim mug: https://www.thinkingmuslim.com/merch
Find us on:
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Host: https://twitter.com/jalalayn
Website Archive: https://www.thinkingmuslim.com
#thethinkingmuslimpodcast episode 162
Timestamps:
0:00 - Introduction
2:24 - His last show
4:03 – Alternative to Banks
8:17 – Participatory Model
9:15 – Why should we care?
11:50 – Is Islamic Economy Possible?
14:44 – The Spiritual Economy
16:05 – Rizq and how we engage
19:43 – Young Finance People
21:07 – Getting Lost in Capitalism
22:23 – The Halal Economy
26:05 – Risk Sharing
30:43 – All too difficult?
33:00 – How to invest 10K
35:48 – Common Pitfalls
38:12 – Business Mudaraba
43:13 – VC Model
44:13 – Fiat Money and Downturns
50:36 – Islamic Money
52:27 –Get Rich Quick
54:58 – Saving Money
1:04:15 – The Muslim Block
1:08:54 – Muslim Financial Weakness
The US elections are nearly upon us, and we have all be subject to the empty words and rhetoric of of the two main political parties. The Green Party has gained a lot of traction, especially amongst the countries small but very important Muslim community. I have already interviewed the leader of the Greens, Dr Jill Stein. But Today I have the pleasure to speak with Professor Butch Bilal Ware, its Vice Presidential nominee.
Professor Butch Ware is a lifelong activist and educator specializing in the history of empire, colonialism, genocide and revolution. For the past two decades, Ware has put scholarship in service of the people, especially in response to the ongoing genocide in Gaza, as well as the George Floyd murder in 2020.
Let me remind all viewers that to help us continue to engage critical thought at this time, Please consider becoming a Patron. https://www.patreon.com/TheThinkingMuslim
You can also support The Thinking Muslim through a one-time donation: https://www.thinkingmuslim.com/Donate
Listen to the audio version of the podcast:
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Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/....podcast/the-thinking
Sign up to Muhammad Jalal's newsletter: https://jalalayn.substack.com
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Find us on:
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Host: https://twitter.com/jalalayn
Website Archive: https://www.thinkingmuslim.com
Timestamps:
0:00 Introduction
2:00 Embrace Islam at 15
5:00 Malcolm X and radicalism
9:09 Sufis and being radical
13:21 Diluting radical tradition
19:40 Green Party and Liberals
23:25 Green’s and social issues
31:57 Uyghurs and foreign policy
40:06 His political leanings
45:55 Can Muslims work independently
52:44 Voting for Trump
58:31 George Floyd
1:03:32 Fascism in US
1:11:42 Dismantling Empire
