Mawlana Kamil Uddin is an instructor at Darul Qasim College with a focus on the sciences of the Qu'ran. He obtained his Alimiyyah degree from the Institute of Islamic Education in Elgin, Illinois. In this episode, we discuss the importance the importance that Darul Qasim College has in the Islamic intellectual landscape and one of Darul Qasim's lat…

On this episode of the podcast, I am joined by Shaykh Mohammad ElShinawy to discuss the various scenarios Muslim men encounter when talking about religion with non-Muslims. We talk about what it means to be an atheist, what Christians really believe, and the internal struggles people go through that may hinder their acceptance of Islam. Shaykh Moha…

In this short episode, Shaykh Saad Tasleem and I banter about our sneaker collecting hobby. We share fun stories about how we acquire our shoes and how we deal with wives who may not understand why we buy so many sneakers. Sneaker photo in thumbnail credited to: Joel Muniz from Unsplash (https://unsplash.com/@jmuniz?utm_content=creditCopyText&utm_m…

Shaykh Saad Tasleem is a graduate of the Islamic University of Madinah Faculty of Shariah and is an instructor with AlMaghrib Institute. He also is the founder of a clothing brand, the Saad Tasleem Collection which can be found online at https://www.saadtasleem.com/ Losing parents is something we all have to come to grips with and its inevitability…

Shaykh Abdullah Oduro is a Ghanian-American convert to Islam who graduated from the Faculty of Shariah at the Islamic University of Madinah. He is also a Senior Fellow at Yaqeen Institute and hosts the Iman Cave YouTube series for Yaqeen. In this episode of the podcast, we talked about how men should utilize fitness to overcome the distress of divo…

Imam Tom Facchine of Yaqeen Institute returns to the podcast to break down the concept of innovation in Islam. Tom talks about his studies at the Islamic University of Madinah and how his understanding evolved over the years. We specifically cover the issue of the Mawlid (the celebration of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him)'s birth) and disc…

For the second time on the podcast, I was joined by Dr. Yasir Qadhi. Shaykh Yasir is someone who needs little introduction as he is one of the leading Muslim public intellectuals in the world. We discussed topics such as: -His motivations in studying Islam -His mindset when juggling secular studies with his aspirations for higher Islamic studies -H…

Shaykh Hasib Noor is the Founder and Director of The Legacy Institute. He is also among the founders of Faith. Global, which is a global platform for creating faith-based community spaces. He studied Islam formally at the Islamic University of Madinah College of Islamic Law. He has a special interest in the archaelogical sites and historical landma…

Shaykh Mustafa Umar is a returning guest to the podcast; he is an Islamic scholar from Southern California who is the youngest executive member of the Fiqh Council of North America. He studied Islam in India, Egypt, France, and the UK. In this episode, we talk about the first annual Men's Conference he is helping to organize in Southern California.…

Dr. Haroon Sidat is a student of knowledge in the Islamic sciences. After completing the memorization of the Qu'ran, he completed the traditional Darsi-i Nizami curriculum and then pursued his secular education in Economics and Finance along with an MA in Education. He also has a PhD in Religion and Theology. He is a Research Associate at Cardiff U…

Shaykh Hamzah Maqbul is the resident scholar for Ribat, a center of Islamic education and dhikr based out of the greater Chicagoland area. He did his formal education at the University of Washington and pursued traditional Islamic studies across the Muslim world; in Syria, Egypt, Morocco, Mauritania, U.A.E., and Pakistan. He is also currently colla…

Shaykh Ismail Kamdar is the founder of Islamic Self Help and Izzah Academy. He completed the Alimiyyah Program in 2006, and a BA in Islamic Studies in 2014, specializing in Fiqh, Tafsir, and History. Currently his full time day job is as Research Operations Manager at Yaqeen Institute. He is the author of over a dozen books in the fields of Islamic…

Back on the episode for a second time is Dr. Mohamed Ghilan. He is someone who has managed to excel in both the Islamic sciences and his professional career and exemplifies a model of the "Deep Life". Mohamed has had a unique spiritual journey and is familiar with various methodologies of spirituality within Islam. For this reason, I wanted to have…

My family and I attended the Al-Maqasid Summer Retreat from August 7, 2023 to August 13, 2023. It was one of the best experiences we have ever done together as a family. In this rare solo episode of the podcast, I share my full review. *One slight edit: In the episode I refer to Imam Ahmad Mashur Al-Haddad. The proper title he is referred to is: Ha…

Habeeb Quadri is the superintendent of MCCA (Muslim Community Center Academy) schools, one of the largest and long-standing Islamic schools in the country. He also serves as part-time staff at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. In this episode, we discuss how he got into his field, issues surrounding modern-day education, how Islamic schools…

In this episode of the podcast, I had the privilege of chatting with Dr. Salah Sharief, who is an entrepreneur, academic, and student of the Islamic sciences. He is the Founder and CEO of Kalaam Halal Audio and the Founder of Wordsmiths Editing. Currently, he is residing in Cairo, Egypt where he is continuing his pursuit of Islamic studies. We disc…

Shaykh Ismail Alqadi is a Qari (professional reciter of the Qu'ran) from Amman, Jordan. He learned the various sciences related to the recitation of the Qu'ran from several teachers and has an ijazah and sanad in the ten different narrations of the Qu'ran. He also has a degree in Islamic studies majoring in Fiqh and Usul. In this podcast, Shaykh Is…

Mawlana Saaleh Baseer is a brilliant young scholar of Hanafi law and Mughal history from the Bay Area. After completing his memorization of the Qu'ran, he received his Alim degree from Darul Uloom Azaadville in South Africa. Afterwards he went on to pursue a Bachelor's degree from Columbia University where he majored in History. Most recently he ha…

On this episode of the podcast, I bring back Shaykh Umair Haseeb to talk all things Ramadan. What do we do if we don't prep at all? How do we navigate Ramadan when we're struggling with sins? How do sages of today approach Ramadan? Shaykh Umair is a graduate of Al-Qayrawayin University in Fes, Morocco and is currently serving as Director of Religio…

Dr. Yakoob Ahmed is an Ottoman historian with a specialization in late Ottomon history. He received his Ph.D. from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London and he currently teaches at Istanbul University in Turkiye. I had a chance to sit down with Dr. Yakoob after I attended a weekend seminar he did in Chicago o…

In this episode, I bring back my good friend Nabeel Azeez who's a Dubai based copywriter to talk about his latest project, "40 Hadith on Masculinity: How to be a Good Man". We discuss how he went about commissioning the project and tackled a few examples of things related to masculinity that content creators struggle with. We also discussed his for…

Jumha Aburezeq is an active entrepreneur, philanthropist, and founder of StoopidFit. To date, he's helped over 1000 people across the world gain freedom with their body, mind and food with his trademark 3 Phase Fat Loss System. To connect with Jumha and learn more about his programming, go to: https://stoopidfit.com/ Resources for "Sultans and Snea…

John Kiser is a former international technology broker and author. He wrote "Commander of the Faithful: The Life and Times of Emir Abd el-Kader, A Story of True Jihad". I had the chance to discuss the character of Emir Abd el-Kader with John and we talked about the lessons that people today can take away from his life. Currently, John enjoys raisin…

Shaykh Umer Khan is a rare individual who has excelled in both corporate America as well as Islamic studies. Up until recently, he was the VP of Information Technology and Security at SpaceX, where he reported directly to Elon Musk. He recently left to become Chief Information and Security Officer at another firm. While progressing through his corp…

Andrew Tate's conversion to Islam has sparked a discourse in the Muslim community regarding the conversion of individuals who are coming to Islam from a past life that seems antithetical to Islamic teachings. In this panel, we discuss Tate's conversion from various angles with Dr. Abdullah bin Hamid Ali, Shaykh Mustafa Umar and Nabeel Azeez. All th…

Subhi Saadeh is a quality engineer, triathlete/marathoner, podcaster and coffee aficionado. He works in the pharmaceutical industry and is the host of the Combinate Podcast, a show that's focused on Quality in BioTech and MedTech. In this episode, we discuss Subhi's approach to work and learning. He shares how his discipline spreads out to other as…

Paul Williams is a blogger and bibliophile based out of London and the South of France. He hosts the popular YouTube channel Blogging Theology, which has reached over 170,000 subscribers at the time of this recording. In this episode we talk about why Blogging Theology has been so popular in the day and age of clickbait videos. We also explore how …

After listening to Cal Newport's "Digital Minimalism" on Audible, I went on a 30 day plan to reduce my social media intake. In this short episode, I talk about what I did and what the results were. You can learn more about the book here: https://www.calnewport.com/books/digital-minimalism/

Shaykh Mustafa Umar is the founder and president of California Islamic University, the Director of Education and Outreach at the Islamic Institute of Orange County, an executive member of the Fiqh council of North America, and most recently a Research Fellow at Yaqeen Institute. He began his Islamic studies overseas in India and Egypt before obtain…

This episode discusses the overall shift of the Sultans and Sneakers podcast platform as I attempt to have more conversations around what author and professor Cal Newport refers to as the "Deep Life". In summary, it's defined as "living a life that has radical alignment with your core values". Getting into that, it's also a life that is very intent…

In this shorter segment recorded after a main podcast, Hassan Shibly talks about his experience of praying at the janazah of Shaykh Muhammad AlShareef (rahimahullah) and how his last minute trip to Hajj materialized this year.

Ahmed Khan is the host of "The Creative Minority" podcast, which seeks to engage with contemporary intellectual issues ranging from but not included to politics, philosophy, theology, sociology, metaphysics, ethics, history, medicine and others. I recently learned about Ahmed's channel after speaking to Dr. Mohamed Ghilan and he recommended I check…

Today's atmosphere amongst Muslims who consider themselves practicing has become a divided landscape. One of the main factors in that is how American Muslim leaders have engaged with media, Muslim politicians and other entities in an increasingly left-leaning climate. I am joined on this episode with three noteworthy leaders in the American Muslim …

On this livestream episode (originally done on YouTube), I talk about my personal story with AlMaghrib Institute and my interactions with Shaykh Muhammad AlShareef (May God have mercy upon him) who recently passed away suddenly at the age of 47. I am joined as well by Mort from "MuzzyBuzz" and "The Mad Mamluks". To support this channel you can beco…

Tom Facchine accepted Islam in his early twenties. He holds a BA in Political Science from Vassar College (2011) and a BA in Islamic Law from the Islamic University of Madinah (2020). He also holds a chaplaincy certificate from The Chaplaincy Program conducted by the Prophet's Mosque (2019). Tom is currently the Imam and Program Director of Utica M…

Imam Dawood Yasin is the Director of Student Life and Center for Ethical Living and Learning at Zaytuna College. He studied the Islamic sciences at the Abu Nour Institute in Damascus, Syria while also holding a BA in Community Studies from UMass-Boston and an MA in Liberal Studies and Globalization Studies from Dartmouth College. He's well known fo…

In light of the recent overturning of Roe vs. Wade, many Muslims have found themselves thrown into the middle of the abortion debate. For this episode, I brought in two individuals who are respected in the North American community for their knowledge and leadership to help navigate the issue. Shaykh Joe Bradford is an entrepreneur and American scho…

Hassan Shibly is a Civil Rights Attorney based out of Tampa, Florida. He is best known in his role as the former Executive Director for CAIR-Florida. As a victim of defamation himself, he provides a unique perspective on the recent Johnny Depp - Amber Heard trial. He specifically highlights what Muslims in this day and age need to learn from such e…

Tricia Pethic is a chaplain based out of upstate New York. Raised in a blue-collar Democratic family and having campaigned for Senator Bernie Sanders, Tricia finds herself leaning more right on several critical issues of our day namely with regards to sexual ethics and abortion. She also has a unique 'pro-life' stance on the gun issue. We discuss t…

Arthur Richards is a Jamaican-American convert to Islam who resides in Abu Dhabi, UAE. He currently is the Chief Marketing Officer for Mecca Books and is also a teacher for Markaz Imam Malik. In this episode, we talk about Arthur's upbringing, conversion to Islam, the importance of Hijrah, and the methodology of studying Islam.…

For this show, I sat down with Darrick, a brother I met on Twitter who goes by the handle @redpillmuslim We talk about his upbringing in foster homes, the search for his biological parents, joining the military, conversion to Islam and how he formulates his political positions. He walks us through his thought process in explaining the current Russi…

Taken from an IG Live done in February 2022 where I chopped it with my good friend, Umair Haseeb on the relationship between sartorialism and spirituality, specifically from the Islamic context. Umair is a young student of knowledge who graduated from the Qayrawayin University in Fes, Morocco and is continuing studies at Al-Azhar University in Cair…

Gareth Bryant is a writer, poet, chaplain, and part-time model based out of New York City. For this live stream, we discussed the passing of Kevin Samuels and waht the appropriate response should be for his passing. We also discussed the recent leak of Roe v. Wade and the Islamic position on abortion.…

This episode is from a YouTube live stream I hosted right after hitting 1,000 subscribers! Did a quick Ramadan recap, discussed the direction of the podcast amongst other things. To support the channel as a Patreon go to: https://www.patreon.com/sultansandsneakers

Back from a holiday and COVID hiatus...I had the opportunity to facilitate a conversation between Umar Lee and Ubaydullah Evans on the state of American Muslims. Ubaydullah Evans is the Scholar-in-Residence at ALIM (American Learning Initiative for Muslims). He converted to Islam in high school and went on to obtain his degree in Shariah from Al-Az…

Dr. Abdullah bin Hamid Ali is a scholar of Islamic law with field specialties in Islamic Theology as well as Race and Blackness Studies in Muslim History. His research interests include the interconnection between law and identity formation, comparative Islamic law, and Islam’s role in the modern world. He is an associate professor at Zaytuna Colle…

Omar Durrani is a chess coach based out of South Florida. He cut his teeth in the chess world growing up in Columbus, Ohio before picking up on teaching chess during his undergraduate years as a way to pay the bills. He found himself teaching chess to kids in a small town in Ohio where he came across the children of comedian Dave Chappelle, who in …

Estela Rodriguez-Jebril is a sex coach and licensed therapist. In this episode, we discussed how various religious traditions and cultures approach sex, the issues men and women have with regards to intimacy and why polygamy is a solution that should be normalized and utilized in our society. You can check out her YouTube channel at: https://www.yo…

Claire Khaw believes Western governments should adopt their legal system from the Qu'ran...and she's not even a Muslim. We discuss how she came to this belief and its proposed implementation on Episode 54. If you are enjoying the channel, please consider becoming a Patron at https://www.patreon.com/sultansandsneakers Video Podcasts are available at…

Is there a viable future for people of European descent in Islam? For this discussion, I bring on Robert Dufour and Umar Lee; two converts of European descent. Robert is the North American head of Islam4Europeans, an organization that seeks to support a positive identity for Muslims of European descent. Robert will argue from the point of view that…