Path & Present W/baraka Blue

Leonard Lewisohn is an American author, translator and lecturer in the area of Islamic studies and a specialist in Persian language and Sufi literature. He is the editor of Mawlana Rumi Review. He is a member of the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies in University of Exeter. Mawlana Rumi Review: http://socialsciences.exeter.ac.uk/iais/research/centres/cpis/rumireview/ Some of Dr. Lewisohn's writings can be found here: https://exeter.academia.edu/LeonardLewisohn

Abdul-Rahman Malik is an award winning London-based journalist, educator and organiser. Toronto born, he is Programmes Manager for the Radical Middle Way, and Director of the Insight Film Festival. He is a regular contributor to BBC Radio, offering Pause for Thought - contemporary perspectives on spirituality - on Radio 2’s flagship breakfast show and presenting documentaries for Radio 4 and the World Service. His most recent radio documentaries include “The Muhammadan Bean: The Secret History of Islam and Coffee” and “Finding Allah at 33rpm: My Search for Sacred Music”. https://about.me/abdulrehmanmalik

Antar Hanif (iAMSHOOTER) is a veteran photographer who has worked for many clients, including Ikea and Nike. More recently he has been focusing his lens in the fields of fashion and travel photography. We spoke about how your art/craft/work transforms the way you see the world, how travel changes one's vantage point, learning to ride a scooter in Bali without killing oneself, and more. http://www.iamshooter.com

Adisa Banjoko aka The Bishop is an author and educator based in the SF Bay Area. In 2006 he founded the 501c3 non-profit Hip-Hop Chess Federation Inc. They fuse music, chess and martial arts to promote unity, strategy and nonviolence. He is also the chess and jiu-jitsu instructor at Zaytuna College. In 2016 he released the book Bobby, Bruce & the Bronx: The Secrets of Hip-Hop Chess. It was recently selected to be preserved at the Cornell Hip-Hop Collection. www.hiphopchess.com

Michael Vicente Pérez is a professor of Sociocultural Anthropology at the University of Washington. His research interests include migration and displacement, ethnicity and nationalism, memory, violence, human rights, Muslim societies and Islam. https://anthropology.washington.edu/people/michael-vicente-perez

Ali Hussain is a doctoral candidate in Islamic studies in the department of Near Eastern Studies, University of Michigan. His research focuses on Jesus in the thought and writings of the 12th/13th century Muslim mystic Muhyi al-Din Ibn al-ʿArabi (d. 1240). He's also interested in sacred bodies as tools for mythic storytelling in Sufism. https://www.facebook.com/AkbariAliZHussain

Syed Muhiyuddin bin Husein Al-Attas graduated with a B.A. in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from the University of Otago, New Zealand in 2011. Since 2012 he has been a student of contemporary Malaysian Philosopher Syed Naquib Al-Attas and his students, especially Prof Wan Mohd, at CASIS(Center for Advanced Studies on Islam, Science and Civilisation) concentrating his Master's thesis on Naquib Al-Attas' conception of the West. He has also taught introductory courses on Islamic philosophy, civilization and the worldview of Islam.

Professor Dr. Malik Badri was born in Rufa’a, Sudan in 1932. He obtained his B.A. (with distinction) and his Masters from the American University of Beirut, in 1956 and 1958 respectively. He further obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Leicester, England in 1961 and his Postgraduate Certificate of Clinical Psychology from the Academic Department of Psychiatry of the Middlesex Hospital Medical School of London University in 1966. He was elected Fellow of the British Psychological Society in 1977 and now he is the holder of the title of Chartered Psychologist C.Psychol from the same Society. In recognition to his contributions in his field he was awarded an honorary D.Sc. from the Ahfad University and was decorated by the President of Sudan in April of the year, 2003, with the medal of Shahid Zubair which is the highest award for academic excellence. Apart from being appointed as professor and dean in varies universities, such as Dean of the Faculties of Education in the University of Khartoum and Juba Un

Anse Tamara Gray is a scholar, translator, spiritual teacher, and publisher. She is the founder of Rabata, an organization dedicated to promoting positive cultural change through individual empowerment, spiritual upbringing of women by women, and the revival of the female voice in scholarship. Anse Tamara Grey lived in Syria for twenty years, studying sacred knowledge and traveling along the road of tarbiya (spiritual upbringing). She is a doctoral student in the Leadership, Policy and Administration program at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN. She holds a master’s degree in Curriculum Theory and Instruction, and works in the field of education, focusing on instruction, curriculum design and implementation, administration, and teacher training. www.rabata.org

Parvez and Zaki have a really cool podcast called 'Diffused Congruence: The American Muslim Experience', with a wide range of interesting guests. We are co-releasing this episode on both of our podcasts. Be sure to check out their podcast here: https://diffusedcongruence.podbean.com

Philip Goldberg is the author or co-author of numerous books; a public speaker and workshop leader; a spiritual counselor, meditation teacher and ordained Interfaith Minister. He lives in Los Angeles, cohosts the Spirit Matters podcast, leads American Veda Tours and blogs regularly on Huffington Post and Spirituality & Health. http://philipgoldberg.com For more about the book: http://americanveda.com

Tyson Amir is a rapper, poet, musician, author and activist. He has also taught within the prison system for many years. He recently published his first book, 'Black Boy Poems'. www.tysonamir.com Between Huey & Malcolm poem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDU-WtYcHfI&feature=share --- *We had some technical difficulties with this episode. Please forgive the audio distortion at certain points in the conversation.

Jamil Suleman is an artist, activist, and teacher. http://www.jamilsuleman.com He is also Seattle Jesus: http://www.seattleweekly.com/news/meet-jamil-suleman-a-k-a-jesus-the-muslim-man-bringing-a-message-of-peace-to-seattle/ http://www.thestranger.com/slog/2016/09/19/24568537/spotted-muslim-jesus-takes-the-link-train

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. The Threshold Society, rooted within the traditions of Sufism and inspired by the life and work of Mevlâna Jalâluddîn Rumi, is a non-profit educational foundation with the purpose of facilitating the experience of Divine Unity, Love, and Truth in the world. Sufism is a living tradition of human transformation through love and higher consciousness. Our fundamental framework is c

Virginia Aisha Gray Henry is the director of Fons Vitae, a publishing house devoted to world spirituality. She is a writer and film producer under contract with the Book Foundation, and co-founder and trustee of the Islamic Texts Society of Cambridge, England. She has served as a contributing editor for Parabola magazine for over a decade. She has taught filmmaking at Dalton and Fordham University and world religions and art history at the Cairo American College, Cambridge University, Centre College and the Abbey of Gethsemane. In 1994 she arranged for His Holiness the Dalai Lama to speak in Louisville, and has in April 2006 organized the Dalai Lama interfaith congress in San Francisco in which the his main focus was to meet with Muslim dignitaries from the world over. Fons Vitae is currently engaged in the monumental task of bringing out Ghazali’s Ihya in readable english for parents and teachers as well as adapting it for children with workbooks, school curricula and an instructional DVD. fonsvitae.com

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 Peter Sande

W. Rory Dickson is Assistant Professor of Islamic religion and culture at the University of Winnipeg. His interests are in Sufism, Contemporary Islam, and philosophy. He is the author of the new book Living Sufism in North America: Between Tradition and Transformation. In this book, William Rory Dickson explores Sufism as a developing tradition in North America, one that exists in diverse and beguiling forms. Sufism’s broad-minded traditions of philosophy, poetry, and spiritual practice infused Islamic civilization for centuries and drew the attention of interested Westerners. By the early twentieth century, Sufism was being practiced in North America. Today’s North American Sufism can appear either explicitly Islamic or seemingly devoid of Islamic religiosity. Dickson provides indispensable background on Sufism’s relation to Islamic orthodoxy and to Western esoteric traditions, and its historical development in North America. The book goes on to chart the directions that North American Sufism is currently

This podcast was recorded at America's Islamic History Museum, in Washington, D.C. with the founder and curator of the museum, Amir Muhammad a.k.a. "The People's Historian." http://www.aihmuseum.org/home.html **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 community support. You can give a donation of any amount via paypal to connect@barakablue.com. Thank you for the support** Special thanks to the Yaro Collective for organizing this event. Amir Muhammad is a researcher, historian, author, and poet whose works have gained him international recognition. He is the president, co-founder and curator of America’s Islamic Heritage Museum, a division of Collections & Stories of American Muslims, Inc. (Traveling Exhibit, Archives, & Museum), established in 1996. He is among the foremost historians and researchers of the Islamic experience in the United States

Greetings of Peace loved ones! Apologies for the time between podcasts. I have been on the road for the last 3 months and haven't been able to sit down for another episode. I just finished up a tour in Malaysia and, while there, had the opportunity to do an interview for Malaysia's BFM Radio Station. Unlike a lot of interviewers who simply ask stock questions, the host really did his research asked excellent questions and we had a good conversation. After it aired I asked him if we could share the interview on the Path and Present Podcast and he said, "of course." So this episode is a little bit different: Instead of me asking the questions, this time I was getting asked the questions. Enjoy! Love and Light! Baraka Blue --- From BFM's page: "The poet-musician is in the country promoting his kind of contemporary music--hip-hop, rap, urban music but shaped by his spiritual and contemplative nature. He tells about the obstacle that blocks people from embracing and accepting The Other--ignorance. This conver

Usama Canon is the Founding Director of Taleef Collective, a community based non-profit focused on creating healthy social and sacred spaces. He is also a spiritual advisor to the Inner-City Muslim Action Network (IMAN). http://taleefcollective.org Ali Sharrief is is a Bay Area hip hop artist, film director/editor, community activist and founder of The Hijabi Chronicles. http://aliasharrief.com One Be Lo is a hip hop artist from Pontiac, Michigan. He is well respected for being one half of the rap duo Binary Star, and has released a number of well-received solo albums. He is also a member of the World Champion B-boy crew, Massive Monkees. http://onebelo.com Brother Ali is a hip hop artist, speaker and activist. His resume includes six albums, mentorships with Iconic Hip Hop legends Chuck D and Rakim and performances on late night talk shows with Conan O Brien and Jimmy Fallon. He is a member of the Rhymesayers hip hop collective. http://brotherali.com --- This podcast is a live recording of a panel discu