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 prison term, he converted to Islam under the auspices of Darul Islam, a predominately African-American Islamic group organized in the 1960s. He also adopted a new name, Jamil Abdullah al-Amin. Paroled in 1976, al-Amin moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where he became the owner of a community store and an imam (leader) at a local mosque. Over the next two decades, he emerged as a Sunni Muslim leader with followers throughout the United States. Over thirty mosques recognized Imam Jamil as leader of a group called the National Islamic Community. Focusing on economic and social, as well as religious, empowerment, he also became known for his role in attempting to revitalize the West End of Atlanta. In March 2000, Imam al-Jamil was accused of murder in connection with the death of a police officer. But many American Muslims of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds defended Imam al-Jamil's innocence and offered him financial and moral support as he prepared for his trial. In March, 2002, he was convicted of murder and was sentenced to life in prison without parole despite the fact that another individual has admitted to committing the crime. The trial ultimately lasts for just three weeks, and despite contradictory factual and circumstantial evidence, the jury took less than 10 hours to reach a guilty verdict on all 13 counts. District Attorney Paul Howard calls for the death penalty. In Depth Biography:https://www.imamjamilactionnetwork.org/biography/chronology_of_life_and_work

#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 author of The Triumph of Mercy: Philosophy and Scripture in Mulla Sadra (SUNY Press, 2012), co-editor of The Study Quran: A New Translation and Commentary (HarperOne, 2015), and translator of Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, The Condemnation of Pride and Self-Admiration (Islamic Texts Society, 2018). Dr. Rustom’s forthcoming books include a complete study of the worldview of the Sufi philosopher ‘Ayn al-Qudat Hamadani entitled, Inrushes of the Heart: The Sufi Philosophy of ‘Ayn al-Qudat (SUNY Press, 2021), and The Quintessence of Reality (NYU Press, 2022), which is a translation and Arabic edition of ‘Ayn al-Qudat’s robust defence of metaphysics, the Zubdat al-haqa’iq Dr. Rustom is also Associate Editor of the Journal of Sufi Studies (Brill), Commissioning Editor of the Journal of the Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi Society (JMIAS), and Editorial Board member of the Library of Arabic Literature (NYU Press).

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 the Odu Ifa (the sacred orature of Ifa). He recently published Poetry in Praise of Prophetic Perfection: A Study of West African Arabic Madih Poetry and its Precedents

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 Soul (Paper): link.springer.com/article/10.1007/…10943-018-0651-x A uniquely Islamic theoretical framework for an Islamic psychology has yet to be established. To do so requires that we understand how human beings are conceptualized within the cosmology that characterizes the Islamic tradition. This paper presents a model of the soul from within an Islamic paradigm, generated through a grounded theory analysis of interviews with 18 key informants with relevant academic or religious expertise. The model elaborates aspects of a mechanism for the development of the soul that constitutes a potential foundation for an Islamic theory of human psychology and has particular relevance for Islamic approaches to psychotherapy.

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, she moved to Hadramaut, Yemen and enrolled in Dar al Zahra, an Islamic University for Women. There she studied Aqeedah, Quran, Hadith, Arabic, Jurisprudence (Fiqh), Islamic law, Purification of the Heart and other religious related learning. Her lineage of scholarship from whom she received direct education can be traced directly back to the Prophet Muhammad (Salla Allahu alaihi wa Salaam) from Husseini lineage. Under the tutelage of her professors, she has established several circles of knowledge and continues to teach and lecture across the United States and abroad. In 1994, her passion to educate and empower Muslim women to be leaders in America led her to the creation of the non profit organization, Sisterhood In Action. SIA is an international women’s organization devoted to helping women rise above social challenges to actualize their full potential in life and society. The expansion of SIA gave Ieasha Prime access to a worldwide network of women and like minded organizations. Thus, her work and studies began to expand internationally. She has lectured and facilitated workshops for Muslim women, youth, and interfaith groups in high schools, universities, college campuses, churches, community centers and Masaajids around the country and the world. She served as the director of Islamic Studies at El- Iman Learning Center and Khadijah Academy, is the former Vice Principal at Al-Qalam Academy in Springfield, VA. and is now the Executive Director of Barakah, Inc. empowering women and youth with a foundation of Islam.

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.