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Episode 26: Soul Food

Halal, Zabihah, Kosher, Vegetarian, Grassfed, Organic – there is a diet for everything and everyone, but what’s the point of it all? Farmer and interfaith activist Amira AbuLughod joins us to discuss how to build a stronger relationship with nature and how food and farming are connected to our spiritual practice.

Guest: Amirah AbuLughod is a Wisconsin native, farmer and activist currently based at Stony Point Center in upstate New York. She uses farming as a tool for interfaith collaboration and spiritual practice. She recently returned from a trip to Palestine and Israel with Interfaith Peace-Builders where she partook in the annual olive harvest. You can find her on Instagram @Ameermah and you can learn more about her work at stonypointcenter.org.

(00:00:55) Ikhlas and Makkah catch up on their respective Thanksgivings and explain to listeners why this episode is being released so late…
(00:10:25) #FlashbackFriday to when we sat down to talk about how much we were looking forward to Thanksgiving and reflecting on our relationship to our food.
(00:27:19) Amirah AbuLughod joins us to talk about her relationship with nature and her journey to growing food.
(00:45:45) Okay…what does “halal food” really mean?
(01:01:13) Amirah drops some wisdom about how some of us city folk can better connect to our planet.

Music:
Intro and Outro Music: RSPN by Blank and Kytt, CC-licensed

Also, here is the song Ikhlas passionately sang in the intro of this episode. You can thank us for it later: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9yznF92EZI

Episode 25: New Bae, Who Dis? (Bonus Episode)

We’ve talked about searching for bae, but what happens once you find them? On this special bonus episode, Ikhlas and Makkah ask their husbands, Joshua Wilkerson and Rizwaan Akhtar, what life has been like since exchanging vows, how marriage has helped them be better men and what lessons they’ve learned from their partners (that’s us!).

Guests: Our husbands, Joshua Wilkerson and Rizwaan Akhtar.

Music:
Intro and Outro Music: RSPN by Blank and Kytt, CC-licensed

Episode 24: Bae Watch (ft. YasGuru)

Turn on the lights, I’m lookin’ for her too. That’s right, it’s cuffin’ season and time to start scouting for bae. If you’re really about that life, you’re always looking for a permanent bae all year long. Ikhlas and Makkah bring on relationship consultant YasGuru to deliver all the goods on how to find bae, creating healthy relationships and why we should beware of “the spark” that can burn the whole house down.

Guest: Yasmin a.k.a. YasGuru is a relationship consultant and successful matchmaker of over 10 years. Her innovative program helps identify incompatibilities in relationships while building towards a brighter, more fulfilling future. You can find her on all social media platforms as @YasGuru. Check out her video series #LoveNotes and #SupportiveSaturdays: http://www.yasguru.com.

Episode Details:

(00:03:20) Makkah and Ikhlas discuss how and whether married women should give advice to single ladies.
(00:15:00) We bring on YasGuru and learn about her path to becoming a relationship consultant.
(00:31:49) YasGuru gives us 8 tips on preparing for marriage and also to live a happier life. Yeah fellas, this is for you too.
(00:39:54) Why we should beware of “the spark” that can burn the whole house down.
(00:44:35) How do you tell the difference between a “red flag” and the hard work that relationships require?

Music:
Intro and Outro Music: RSPN by Blank and Kytt, CC-licensed

Episode 23: Ask a Shaykh (ft. Shaykh Muhammad Mendes)

Ikhlas and Makkah bring on their first shaykh! And literally ask him a million questions. In this episode, we sit down with Shaykh Muhammad Mendes and talk everything from student-teacher relationships to Islamic scholarship in Africa to what he does when he’s not serving as a spiritual guide.

Guest:
Adeyinka Muhammad Mendes is the imam and scholar in residence at the Institute of Islamic Studies in Princeton, New Jersey. He is also founding director of SacredService for Human Liberation.

Episode Details:
(00:04:40) Ikhlas rants about how no one respects knowledge and the people that seek it (Makkah is one of them).
(00:16:30) Shaykh Mendes is basically a child of the entire African diaspora.
(00:23:42) We define a few terms: shaykh, imam, scholar… what do these words really mean?
(00:33:33) Shaykh Mendes talks why he studied Islam in “Black Africa” and why Black people are so extra when connecting with the divine.
(00:44:40) Makkah gets real and asks how women can balance their pursuit of knowledge with protecting themselves from shady men.
(01:01:04) That time Shaykh Mendes almost got stung by a scorpion…

Music:
Intro and Outro Music: RSPN by Blank and Kytt, CC-licensed

Episode 22: We’re Fed Up

With more allegations of abuse, harassment and sexual misconduct emerging every day, Ikhlas and Makkah are fed up. This week, we open up about our personal experiences with sexual harassment, how we’ve coped and what gives us hope for the future.

Episode Details

(00:00:55) Content Warning: This episode includes discussion of sexual harassment, sexual assault and abuse by people in positions of power.
(00:08:30) We go back in time to recall some of our earliest encounters with sexual assault and what those experiences taught us.
(00:18:01) We share the (healthy and unhealthy) coping mechanisms we have developed to survive as women in this world.
(00:28:54) We discuss how these issues have played themselves out for us on college campuses and in the workplace.
(00:48:22) We share our hopes for the future and give shoutouts to those no longer willing to accept things the way they are.

Music
Intro and Outro Music: RSPN by Blank and Kytt, CC-licensed

Episode 21: Coming to America (ft. Dr. Ifrah Magan)

What does home look like, feel like? This week, we’re thinking about the temporary and the permanent, the spiritual and the physical. We delve into what it’s like to come to America as a Muslim immigrant or refugee.

Guests

Maryam Adamu, @maroadamu, is a law student and former podcast guest (Episode 5 and Episode 9). Maryam interviews her mother, Khairi Adamu.

Dr. Ifrah Magan is a storyteller, social worker, and scholar. Her research focuses on the migration paths of Somali refugees in Chicago, and how ethnic and religious identities impact their resettlement and integration. Dr. Magan has over 10 years of experience working in diverse refugee communities, and is the co-founder of the first Rohingya Cultural Center in Chicago. She is currently working on her first poetry collection.

Episode Details

(00:1:05) Ikhlas and Makkah discuss how they are processing so much news about death.
(00:15:20) Maryam Adamu interviews her mom Khairi Adamu about moving from Nigeria to the United States and trying to make a home for herself and for her children.
(00:34:58) Dr. Ifrah Magan shares her story of coming to America as a Somali refugee.
(01:01:15) We talk about race, ethnicity, religion and some unique aspects of the Somali refugee experience.

Sign up for your first (or your hundredth) 5K. On October 15, Muslimahs Endure (Ikhlas is a member!) is hosting WOW Run 5K. You can run, walk or jog it in Atlanta or virtually from anywhere in the world! Register now at wowrun5k.com with our promo code: IP15 and get 15% off.

Music
Intro and Outro Music: RSPN by Blank and Kytt, CC-licensed

Episode 20: School Daze (ft. Nina Daoud)

It’s back-to-school season so we’re reflecting on our college days — the good, the bad and the formative experiences that helped shape who we are and how we understand the world today.

Guests

Nina Daoud, @shebatherapy, is a Ph.D. candidate in the Higher Education, Student Affairs, and International Education Policy program at the University of Maryland and a Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellow. She pursues research related to the overlapping spheres of race and equity in higher education, focusing on the experiences of historically underserved students.

Monet Spells, @OhMonet, is an Interaction Designer at Huge, a digital agency in Atlanta, GA.

Boafoa Darko, @boafoa_mood, is a writer in Hollywood.

Naim Fareed is Ikhlas’ little brother.

Episode Details

(00:01:40) Nina Daoud shares her experiences and her research on #BeingBlackAndMuslim on a college campus.
(00:19:30) Our college besties, Boafoa and Monet, and share their first impressions of us and how we became friends.
(00:36:09) We talk about what we don’t miss about college and the long road to healing from the racism we experienced on campus.
(01:04:05) Monet and Boafoa reflect on what it’s been like to watch Ikhlas and Makkah’s relationship to their Muslimness evolve over the years.
(01:20:15) Ikhlas’s little brother Naim shares his experience as a Black Muslim male student and makes a compelling argument as to why we should all start wearing Allah chains.

Music

Intro and Outro Music: RSPN by Blank and Kytt, CC-licensed

Episode 19: The Things We Do for Kids (ft. Dr. Jamillah Karim)

Parents just might understand? It’s Eid al-Adha, and we want to talk about the sacrifices parents make for their kids—the joys, the challenges and why they put up with us in the first place.

Guests
Tawfiq Farraj and Yasmin Ali are a Chicago-based duo with a passion for the arts and pop culture. Yasmin is a singer and graphic artist. Tawfiq is the founder of the Facebook group “Gilmore Girls Should Be On Netflix” and “Bob Dylan Should Win the Nobel Prize,” two things that happened in 2016.

Lauren Schreiber @food4theory is an artist, activist, and event curator with a background in youth development, arts education, and community organizing. She is currently the Executive Director of Center DC. 

Dr. Jamillah Karim @jamillahkarim an award-winning author and scholar specializing in race, gender, and Islam in America. She is a former professor of Religious Studies at Spelman College. Karim blogs for Sapelo Square, Hagar Lives and Huffington Post Religion and has written two books, American Muslim Women and Women of the Nation: Between Black Protest and Sunni Islam.

Episode Details
(00:05:19) Ikhlas reflects on the hilarious parenting lessons she learned from her own upbringing.
(00:11:08) Makkah obsesses over her favorite parent/child duo: DJ Khaled and Asahd Khaled.
(00:19:31) Expecting parents Tawfiq Farraj and Yasmin Ali discuss how they’re preparing.
(00:37:35) New mom Lauren Schreiber about what her life’s been since baby Najia arrived.
(00:49:08) Dr. Jamillah Karim joins us for a wide-ranging discussion on Hajar, climbing the professional ladder and how parenting can be the most challenging but rewarding job of all.

Music
Intro and Outro Music: RSPN by Blank and Kytt, CC-licensed

Episode 18: How to Start a Podcast

What have we been up to? What do we have planned for this season? Ikhlas and Makkah are back at it and kicking off Season 3 by answering your questions about how we make a podcast! We talk equipment, story development and what makes it all worth it.

We have a new website! Check it out at identitypoliticspod.com

Episode Details

(00:01:41) We talk about what we’ve been up to this summer.
(00:10:33) We answer your questions about us and what you need to know to start a podcast.
(00:14:30) Ikhlas talks about why she started the podcast and what was missing in the media before we hit the scene.
(00:22:16) We discuss the time consuming process of coming up with stories and getting the content to your ears.
(00:27:15) We recommend recording equipment for both the #BrokeBoys and the ballers.
(00:28:53) Why do we keep telling you to rate us on iTunes? We know it’s annoying, but don’t hate the player, hate the game.
(00:43:50) At long last, we give you a preview into what we’re going to be talking about in Season 3. Spoiler Alert: It’s lit.

Music

Intro and Outro Music: RSPN by Blank and Kytt, CC-licensed

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