Path & Present W/baraka Blue

For this season finale, we are joined by our dear sister and fellow poet Medina Tenour Whiteman. Medina is a writer, poet, translator and musician. She is the author of a collection of poetry, Love is a Traveller and We Are its Path, and Huma's Travel Guide to Islamic Spain. She lives near Granada, Spain, with her husband and three children. Path & Present is a long form conversation hosted by poet, emcee, and teaching-artist Baraka Blue with friends and guests including artists, musicians, authors, and scholars to collectively explore what it means to walk a path of awakening and spiritual discernment in the modern world. Topics covered include spirituality/religion/metaphysics, community, art/music, psychology, social justice, Islam and Muslims in the West, and earth stewardship. Path & Present Is a community endeavor produced for the sake of sharing the stories of our communities and amplifying the forces of positivity and goodness in the universe. It is made possible through the support of our sponsors

For this episode, we speak with Ibrahim Tahir from Warda Books. Primarily selling Islamic books in English, Wardah Books is a bookstore in Singapore founded and run by Ibrahim Tahir, who recognises that Bussorah Street is a place steeped in the history of Kampong Gelam as a Malay literary hub. His passion lies in the promotion of Islamic culture and books. Path & Present is a long form conversation hosted by poet, emcee, and teaching-artist Baraka Blue with friends and guests including artists, musicians, authors, and scholars to collectively explore what it means to walk a path of awakening and spiritual discernment in the modern world. Topics covered include spirituality/religion/metaphysics, community, art/music, psychology, social justice, Islam and Muslims in the West, and earth stewardship. Path & Present Is a community endeavor produced for the sake of sharing the stories of our communities and amplifying the forces of positivity and goodness in the universe. It is made possible through the support o

In this episode we speak with our dear friend Oludamini Ogunnaike about poetry; not so much as a way of expressing oneself, but as a way of perceiving. The first half of this episode is a discussion and in the second half Oludamini gives a presentation with examples of poetry from the Islamic tradition. Oludamini Ogunnaike is an Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Virginia and the author of “Deep Knowledge: Ways of Knowing in Tijani Sufism and Ifa”, and “Poetry in Praise of Prophetic Perfection: West African Madih Poetry and its Precedents”. His first published book of original poetry “Book of Clouds” is published by Fons Vitae. Path & Present is a long form conversation hosted by poet, emcee, and teaching-artist Baraka Blue with friends and guests including artists, musicians, authors, and scholars to collectively explore what it means to walk a path of awakening and spiritual discernment in the modern world. Topics covered include spirituality/religion/metaphysics, community, art

In this episode we speak to world renowned photographer Peter Sanders about his new book HEAVEN, EARTH and THE TEN THOUSAND THINGS: The Lives of the Muslims in China Over a period of twelve years, internationally acclaimed photographer Peter Sanders travelled throughout China to capture images of Chinese Muslims and their unique spiritual culture, which began only sixty years after Hijra, when Saad ibn Abi Waqqas and other Companions of the Messenger of God settled in this majestic land at the invitation of the Tang Emperor. Path & Present is a long form conversation hosted by poet, emcee, and teaching-artist Baraka Blue with friends and guests including artists, musicians, authors, and scholars to collectively explore what it means to walk a path of awakening and spiritual discernment in the modern world. Topics covered include spirituality/religion/metaphysics, community, art/music, psychology, social justice, Islam and Muslims in the West, and earth stewardship. Path & Present Is a community endeavor pr

This week's episode of Path & Present podcast features a conversation with Faris Abdel-hadi about Ibn ‘Arabi’s ideas of religious pluralism. Dr. Faris Abdel-hadi is an author and specialist researcher in the field of Ibn Arabi studies, metaphysics, Sufism and philosophy. Path & Present is a long form conversation hosted by poet, emcee, and teaching-artist Baraka Blue with friends and guests including artists, musicians, authors, and scholars to collectively explore what it means to walk a path of awakening and spiritual discernment in the modern world. Topics covered include spirituality/religion/metaphysics, community, art/music, psychology, social justice, Islam and Muslims in the West, and earth stewardship. Path & Present Is a community endeavor produced for the sake of sharing the stories of our communities and amplifying the forces of positivity and goodness in the universe. It is made possible through the support of our sponsors such as SufiCorner as well as from our community. Support Our Podcast:

Enjoy this conversation with our dear friend Sukina Noor as we dive into the topic of "The Soul as a Work of Art" + creativity and the spiritual path. Sukina Noor is a poet, spoken-word artist, playwright, workshop facilitator and educator, artistic curator, writer and public speaker who has toured extensively across UK, Europe, America and Africa. She is the author of the debut poetry collection of poetry, Love and Longing: Yearning for the Face of God. Path & Present is a long form conversation hosted by poet, emcee, and teaching-artist Baraka Blue with friends and guests including artists, musicians, authors, and scholars to collectively explore what it means to walk a path of awakening and spiritual discernment in the modern world. Topics covered include spirituality/religion/metaphysics, community, art/music, psychology, social justice, Islam and Muslims in the West, and earth stewardship. Path & Present Is a community endeavor produced for the sake of sharing the stories of our communities and amplif

In this episode, we discuss the Islamic meditation practice of Murāqaba with our long-time friend and teacher Adeyinka Mendes. Path & Present is a long form conversation hosted by poet, emcee, and teaching-artist Baraka Blue with friends and guests including artists, musicians, authors, and scholars to collectively explore what it means to walk a path of awakening and spiritual discernment in the modern world. Topics covered include spirituality/religion/metaphysics, community, art/music, psychology, social justice, Islam and Muslims in the West, and earth stewardship. Path & Present Is a community endeavor produced for the sake of sharing the stories of our communities and amplifying the forces of positivity and goodness in the universe. It is made possible through the support of our sponsors such as SufiCorner as well as from our community. Support Our Podcast: Help us keep these conversations going by becoming a patron. Enjoy exclusive content and behind-the-scenes access while supporting our mission.

In this episode, we discuss Mohammad Rustom's new book, Inrushes of the Heart, which delves into the life and thought of the Muslim philosopher and Sufi master 'Ayn al-Quḍāt Hamadānī. The conversation explores the book's insights into 'Ayn al-Quḍāt's original teachings on topics such as God, human agency, and spiritual practice. Path & Present is a long form conversation hosted by poet, emcee, and teaching-artist Baraka Blue with friends and guests including artists, musicians, authors, and scholars to collectively explore what it means to walk a path of awakening and spiritual discernment in the modern world. Topics covered include spirituality/religion/metaphysics, community, art/music, psychology, social justice, Islam and Muslims in the West, and earth stewardship. Path & Present Is a community endeavor produced for the sake of sharing the stories of our communities and amplifying the forces of positivity and goodness in the universe. It is made possible through the support of our sponsors such as SufiC

A. Helwa believes that every single person on Earth is deeply loved by the Divine. She is a writer who has inspired hundreds of thousands of readers through her passionate, poetic, and love-based approach to spirituality. Her popular blog @quranquotesdaily, was established while obtaining her Masters in Divinity, as a means of helping others overcome personal and spiritual struggles on their journey of experiencing divine love. With over 15 years of experience writing and speaking on Islam and spiritual development, A. Helwa draws from her personal experiences and traditional sources to help her readers access 'Divine love in everyday life.'

Dr. Carter is Assistant Professor and Kenan Rifai Fellow in Islamic Studies at the Department of Religious Studies at UNC-Chapel Hill. Dr. Carter has a special interest in Sufism, a passion that has been sparked by years of research and involvement amongst Black Muslim communities in the United States as well as Senegal. When it comes to the classroom, Dr. Carter loves to see his students engaged, especially when the conversation turns towards African-American Muslims in the Black Freedom Struggle to more recent events, such as the influence of Black Muslims in hip-hop music. As well as working towards the publication of his first book, “The Vast Oceans: Remembering God and Self on the Mustafawi Sufi Path,” Dr. Carter currently serves on the editorial team for the Journal of Africana Religions.

Dr. Abdallah Rothman is Professor of Islamic Psychology and Principal at Cambridge Muslim College, founder of Shifaa Integrative Counseling and co-founder and Executive Director of the International Association of Islamic Psychology. He was previously Visiting Professor of Psychology at George Washington University, Zaim University Istanbul, International Islamic University Islamabad, and Al-Neelain University Khartoum.

Time Magazine: The Many Lives of H. Rap Brown https://time.com/6111614/h-rap-brown-jamil-al-amin/ JAMIL AL-AMIN, IMAM (1943– ) A gifted rhetorician and civil rights activist, the American Muslim leader Jamil al-Amin (formerly H. Rap Brown, born in 1943) came to national prominence in the 1960s as an outspoken advocate of black power. In 1967, Brown succeeded Stokely Carmichael as leader of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), a prominent African-American civil rights organization. Brown also became known for his advocacy of black self-defense and his saying that "violence is as American as cherry pie." In 1969, he published his most famous work, Die Nigger Die, a blistering critique of American racism. Because of Brown's radical rhetoric, he became a target of the FBI's Counter Intelligence Program (COINTELPRO), which harassed many black leaders during this period. In 1972, Brown was apprehended on federal weapons charges, tried, convicted, and sentenced to four years in prison. During his

#056: Hafez & The Persian Sufi Poetic Tradition w/ Nicholas Boylston by Baraka Blue

We speak about the course Wisdom Crystallized: Sufi Metaphysics in 21 Verses. https://www.rumicenter.love/wisdom https://www.mohammedrustom.com Mohammed Rustom is Associate Professor of Islamic Philosophy and Islamic Studies in the College of the Humanities at Carleton University. He obtained a PhD from the University of Toronto in 2009, specializing in Islamic philosophy and literature. Professor Rustom has been the recipient of a number of academic distinctions and prizes, which include the Ibn ‘Arabi Society Latina’s Tarjuman Prize, The Institute of Ismaili Studies’ Annemarie Schimmel Fellowship, Iran’s World Prize for the Book of the Year, and Senior Fellowships courtesy of the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute’s Library of Arabic Literature and Humanities Research Fellowship programs. An internationally recognized scholar whose works have been translated into over ten languages, Professor Rustom’s research focuses on non-Western philosophy in general, and post-Avicennian Islamic philosophy in particular. He is

Oludamini Ogunnaike holds a PhD in African Studies and the Study of Religion from Harvard University, and is Assistant Professor of African Religious Thought at the University of Virginia. Oludamini Ogunnaike is a scholar of African, Islamic, and Religious Studies, with a focus on the intellectual and artistic dimensions of West African Sufism and Ifa, an indigenous Yoruba religious tradition. His work examines the postcolonial, colonial, and precolonial Islamic and indigenous religious traditions of West Africa, seeking to understand the philosophical dimensions of these traditions by approaching them and their proponents not merely as sources of ethnographic or historical data, but rather as distinct intellectual traditions and thinkers, and even as sources of theory and possible inspirations for methods of scholarship in the humanities and social sciences. Oludamini is also working on an online database of West African Sufi Poetry and, along with Ayodeji Ogunnaike, is working on a similar database for t

Dr. Sherman Jackson is the King Faisal Chair of Islamic Thought and Culture, and Professor of Religion and American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California (USC). In this conversation, recorded February 2020, Dr. Jackson reflects on his seminal work, "Islam and the Blackamerican" nearly 20 years after it was written. He gives an overview of the central thesis in the book and then reflects on developments in the subsequent decades. We discuss changing demographics in the American Muslim community, immigration, 9/11, the backdrop of white supremacy, and Islamic tradition in context. We also touch on similarities and differences between Black and White trajectories to Islam, Hip-Hop, counter culture, and the dimension of social critique inherent in the phenomenon of conversion.

Dr. Abdallah Rothman is an Islamic Psychology researcher and practitioner. He is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and a Board Certified Registered Art Therapist (ATR-BC). In addition to his academic and clinical training in Western psychology, Abdallah studies and practices Islamic Psychology and is currently doing doctoral research in this area. His clinical practice as well as his academic research focus on approaching counseling from within an Islamic paradigm; and establishing an indigenous Islamic theoretical orientation to human psychology that is grounded in the knowledge of the soul from the Islamic tradition. He is the founder of Shifaa Integrative Counseling and the Executive Director of the International Association of Islamic Psychology. www.islamicpsychology.org www.shifaacounseling.com Academic Writings: kingston.academia.edu/AbdallahRothman Additional Resources from Dr. Rothman An Islamic Model of the Soul (Video) www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLVpQAxksnY Toward an Islamic Framework of the

Ieasha Prime converted to Islam more than 20 years ago, after being an International Youth Ambassador to Morocco and Senegal. It was during this time in her youth that she officially began studying Islam. The year she returned from the youth ambassador’s program, she took an Islamic Studies course at the Islamic Center in Washington D.C. from the professor and scholar Mohammad Arafat. It was during this course, that Ms. Prime formally took Shahadah (profession of the Islamic faith). Since that time, she has spent her life as an educator, artist, activist and entrepreneur committed to the goal of empowering Muslim women to rise above their challenges to maximize their full potential of being female servants of Allah and vicegerents on this earth. After having participated in several circles of knowledge in the US, Ieasha decided to pursue religious studies abroad. She studied Arabic, Quran at the Fajr Institute and general Islamic studies in other institutes in Cairo, Egypt. After two years in Egypt, sh

Amir Sulaiman is a poet, recording artist, Harvard Fellow, actor, screen writer and producer born in Rochester, New York. His poems cross subjects of love, tragedy as well as what it means to reconcile humanity with the unprecedented trials of modernity. He has performed his works across the US as well as many other countries including England, Belgium, Senegal, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Australia, Iran and the Netherlands, and continues to tour world-wide. His recently published book of poetry, Love, Gnosis & Other Suicide Attempts met with critical acclaim, in addition to his latest album "The Opening," the third in a unique trilogy project, following "The Meccan Openings" (2011) and "The Medinan Openings" (2012). Amir was first introduced to a National audience in 2005 when he was featured for two seasons on Russell Simmons' groundbreaking series Def Poetry Jam on HBO.

Dr. Bilal Ware is a historian of Africa and Islam. He is professor at UC Santa Barbara. He earned his Ph.D. in 2004 at the University of Pennsylvania where he trained in African History, African-American History, and Islamic Intellectual History. His research spans the last thousand years, centering on West Africa, while reaching into the Mediterranean lands of Islam and the Atlantic worlds of the African Diaspora. Walking Quran: https://uncpress.org/book/9781469614311/the-walking-quran/ Jihad of the Pen: The Sufi Literature of West Africa: https://www.amazon.com/Jihad-Pen-Sufi-Literature-Africa/dp/9774168631