Path & Present W/baraka Blue

Mohammed Rustom is Associate Professor of Islamic Studies at Carleton University. He obtained a PhD from the University of Toronto in 2009, specializing in Islamic thought, Quranic exegesis, and Persian literature. He is currently a Senior Fellow at the NYUAD Library of Arabic Literature. Website: https://www.mohammedrustom.com Articles: https://www.mohammedrustom.com/articles/

Shems Friedlander is the author of ten books, including a number of books about Rumi. He is a painter, photographer, designer, filmmaker, and educator. Friedlander was Emeritus Professor at the American University in Cairo. He was selected as one of the 500 Most Influential Muslims in the World, in the field of Art and Culture, by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center. Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLmlQrfNQE88PBuv36ltlrQ

Mithat Özçakıl is a third generation dervish in the Mevlevi Sufi order, the order founded by Rumi, known in the West as the Whirling Dervishes. He is a graduate student at Selcuk University in the Institute of Rumi Studies. He is also a part of the Sufi Music Ensemble in Konya and works at Irfan Civilization Research Center.

Youssef Kromah is an award-winning poet, best-selling author, dynamic speaker, community activist and international television host at Huda TV in Cairo, Egypt. He was first featured as a spoken-word poet on Russel Simmon’s HBO series Brave New Voices and later as a featured guest speaker on CNN’s Who’s Black in America, hosted by Soledad O’Brien. He is the founder of the Do It for The Deen initiative and an active youth leader in several Muslim communities. Youssef serves as a khatib for over 10 masjids in the Delaware Valley region, as well as assistant imam at Masjidullah in Philadelphia, Pa. Youssef is currently pursuing a degree in Islamic Studies at Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt, with hopes of following a career track in Islamic Scholarship, while continuing his art, da’wah work and youth development initiatives.

Rhamis Kent is a consultant with formal training in mechanical engineering (University of Delaware, B.S.M.E. ’95) and permaculture-based regenerative whole systems design serving as a registered certified Permaculture Design instructor with PRI Australia. He also serves as a co-director of the Permaculture Research Institute (PRI), a member of Permaculture Sustainable Consulting Pty Ltd (PSC), and on the Supervisory Board of The Netherlands-registered non-profit Ecosystem Restoration Camps. As of September 2017, he serves as founder & director of Agroecological Natural Technology Systems Ltd. – a Companies House (UK) registered business (#10962612). Rhamis has taught Permaculture Design (formal Certification and short Intensive courses) in Palestine/Occupied West Bank, Greece, Ethiopia, Yemen, Turkey, Thailand, Malaysia, Italy, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, Australia, and The United States (Michigan, California & Vermont). He has also performed additional consultancy work on projects in Spain, UAE, Saudi Arabia

You can link to the model that we discuss here: https://images.app.goo.gl/o9o5e1TqBHA26rEcA 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 Mode

Dr. Ali Hussain obtained his doctoral degree in Islamic Studies from the University of Michigan, Department of Middle Eastern Studies. His research focuses on the image of Jesus Christ in the writings of Sufi mystics, specifically Muhyi al-Din Ibn al-'Arabi (d. 1240). He is also the founder of Nostalgic Remembrance: Art in Memoirs, an initiative exploring the metaphysics of video games, film, music and many other aspects of contemporary culture through the lens of Islamic Mysticism (Sufism). ​NostalgicRemembrance.org

Hakim Archuletta has worked within the healing arts profession for over 30 years. He studied homeopathy and apprenticed with Dr. John Damonte in London in the early 70's. He continued these studies in Berkeley apprenticing with homeopathic doctors and working with the first Homeopathic Study group there. He continued his studies in the Middle East, England and North Africa in the mid 70's. In 1978, Hakim went to Pakistan at the invitation of Hakim Mohammad Said of the Hamdard Foundation and studied there with various Hakims (traditional Islamic doctors) supported by grants from the Bawani Trust. His main teacher was Hakim Taqiuddin Ahmad at the Nizami Dawakhana, where he also learned Pharmacy in the Unani tradition. There he earned the title of "Hakim". Returning to the Americas in 1980, he began teaching students privately and established a Family practice clinic in Santa Barbara California. He began extensive work as counselor, consultant and Hakim/Homeopath in Abiquiu, New Mexico and by traveling nationall

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: https://kingston.academia.edu/AbdallahRothman

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.

Cyrus Zargar is the Endowed Al-Ghazali Distinguished Professor in Islamic Studies at the University of Central Florida. He earned his PhD from the University of California, Berkeley in Near Eastern Studies in 2008. Zargar’s research interests include Classical Sufism, Islamic Philosophy, Arabic and Persian Sufi Literature, and Ethics in Literature and Film. He is the author of: The Polished Mirror: Storytelling and the Pursuit of Virtue in Islamic Philosophy and Sufism. London: Oneworld. Sufi Aesthetics: Beauty, Love, and the Human Form in the Writings of Ibn ʿArabi and ʿIraqi. Columbia, South Carolina: University of South Carolina Press.

Dr. Xavier is a professor of Religious Studies at Queens University in Ontario Canada. She works on contemporary global Islam and Sufism, with particular regional interests in North America (United States and Canada) and South Asia(Sri Lanka). She broadly examines how Sufism transforms and/or maintains continuity as it is transmitted to new regions, such as through migration, diaspora, literature, and popular culture (i.e., Rumi). In doing so, she engages sacred spaces (Sufi shrines), rituals, practices, and memory, in addition to gender dynamics. She is the author of Sacred Spaces and Transnational Networks in American Sufism: Bawa Muhaiyaddeen and Contemporary Shrine Cultures (2018), and the co-author of Contemporary Sufism: Piety, Politics and Popular Culture (2017). She is currently work on two book projects. The first is a case study on the development of Sufism in Toronto. For her second project, she is documenting Sufi shrines in Sri Lanka and its contemporary legacy, amidst growing anti-Sufism on t

Kabir Helminski is a Shaikh of the Mevlevi Order of Sufis, which traces its inspiration to Mevlana Rumi. He began his Mevlevi training as a student of the late Shaikh Suleyman Loras. In 1990 he was subsequently appointed a Shaikh. Under Kabir’s direction, the Mevlevi Order is working to apply traditional Sufi principles to the conditions of contemporary life. Kabir and his wife, Camille, founded and now direct The Threshold Society, a nonprofit educational foundation that has developed programs for practice and study within Sufism and spiritual psychology. He leads workshops and retreats for Sufis and the broader multifaith community. sufism.org

Zachary Markwith is the Executive Director of the Hub Foundation. He is also a doctoral candidate in Islamic Studies at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. He earned an MA (cum laude) in Comparative Religious Studies at the George Washington University and a BA in Islamic and Near Eastern Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His research and teaching interests include Muslim sacred texts (Quran, Hadith, and ahadith qudsiyyah) and spiritual traditions (ihsan, 'irfan, and tasawwuf), intrafaith and interfaith relations and dialogue, just war and nonviolence. Prior to joining Hub Foundation, Markwith worked for several non-profit organizations, including the Covenants Initiative, Council on American-Islamic Relations, the International Peace Project, and Food Not Bombs. https://hub-foundation.org "Hub Foundation is a non-profit organization located in San Ramon, California. We strive to empower and inspire individuals and communities through providing greater access to edu

Rory Dickson is Assistant Professor of Islamic Religion and Culture at the University of Winnipeg, Canada. He researches Sufism (Contemporary Sufism, Sufism and Islam, Sufism in North America). You can find his books here: https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=dp_byline_sr_book_2?ie=UTF8&text=William+Rory+Dickson&search-alias=books&field-author=William+Rory+Dickson&sort=relevancerank And other writings here: https://uwinnipeg.academia.edu/RoryDickson

Farooq Maseehuddin is the Founder of Tarjuma in Edmonton, Canada and has worked closely with Taleef Collective. His graduate research is a comparative study of Christian and Muslim communities in North America. https://tarjuma.ca Topics discussed include: History of Muslim community in North America - Unmosqued vs. Demosqued - Third Spaces - Social Media Culture - Internet Disruptions - Muslim, Evangelical, Hindu, Buddhist communities in North America - Virality as Authority - Religious Economies - Counter-publics

Omid Safi is an American Professor of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at Duke University, where he is the Director of Duke Islamic Studies Center, and a columnist for On Being. Dr. Safi specializes in Islamic mysticism (Sufism), contemporary Islamic thought and medieval Islamic history. He has served on the board of the Pluralism project at Harvard University and is the co-chair of the steering committee for the Study of Islam and the Islamic Mysticism Group at the American Academy of Religion. Before joining Duke University, Dr. Safi was a professor at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. Website: https://onbeing.org/author/omid-safi/ Radical Love Book: https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300225815/radical-love

Azhar is a standup comedian, actor, writer, playwright, and producer. He is one of Chicago's top standup comics; CNN called him "America's Funniest Muslim," and Georgetown University identified him as "one of the 500 Most Influential Muslims in the World." In 2010, standup icon Dave Chappelle–for whom Azhar has opened over 50 times–commented "Azhar is untouchable. He's like a comedian from the future." He is a paid regular at the prestigious Comedy Cellar in New York City, and hosts a monthly standup show at his home club, Laugh Factory Chicago. As the co-founder of the international comedy showcase "Allah Made Me Funny–The Official Muslim Comedy Tour," he toured over 20 countries, on five continents.

Hunter Brown studied Art History and Physics at UC Berkeley. His core areas of research are early Buddhist art and ancient Asian art more generally. He is currently living in Bali and studying traditional Balinese Gamelan music. You can support Path & Present here: https://www.patreon.com/pathandpresent

Michael Sugich is a native of Santa Barbara, California and studied at UCLA and the California Institute of the Arts. He was initiated into a traditional Sufi order in 1972. Since that time he has studied Sufi doctrine and practice with spiritual masters across the Arab and Islamic world. He lived for 23 years in the precincts of the sacred city of Makkah Al Mukaramah where he kept company with many men of knowledge and illumination. He has written Palaces of India (Pavilion Books), a travel book, and Living in Makkah (Macdonald Publishers), a children's book, and, most recently a feature documentary film on the life of King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, Faisal: Legacy of a King. Michael Sugich is author of 'Signs on the Horizons: Meetings with Men of Knowledge and Illumination', a memoir of 40 years with Sufi saints of the 20th and 21st centuries. https://www.amazon.com/Signs-Horizons-Meetings-Knowledge-Illumination/dp/0989364011/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1481132772&sr=8-1&keywords=signs+on+the+horizons