Divine Alchemy and Radical Self-Love: A Conversation with Noha Essop

In this podcast episode, Zaahida Mahomedy shares her spiritual awakening and personal growth journey. Beginning her spiritual exploration at 13, influenced by her grandmother's devotion to the Qur’an, Zaahida navigated the challenges of growing up in a conservative Indian Muslim community in apartheid South Africa. Her journey took a significant turn in her mid-20s when she was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease. This health crisis deepened her spiritual path and highlighted the connection between emotional well-being and physical health.

Zaahida emphasizes the importance of emotional processing, nervous system regulation, and setting boundaries in the healing process. She talks about redefining her identity as a Muslim woman and advocating a holistic and personal engagement with the Quran. Zaahida's story is an inspiring example of resilience and transformation, demonstrating the power of faith and inner work in overcoming life's challenges and embracing authentic living.

Visit Zaahida on Instagram: @liveinspiredza or her website: https://zaahidamahomedy.com/.

Find out more about Rose's work, including the Rahma Collective: https://lnk.bio/dr.rose.aslan
Website: https://compassionflow.com

Support Rahma with Rose so I can keep producing more episodes here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2197727/supporters/new

Music credits: Vocals: Zeynep Dilara Aslan; Ney/drum: Elif Önal; Tanbur: Katherine Hreib; Rebap: Hatice Gülbahar Hepsev

In this episode, Rose candidly converses with Shehla Faiza on her podcast, I'm a Muslim (And That's OK!), sharing her experiences as a "professional Muslim" in the U.S. and why she eventually left that role. Rose discussed the challenges and pressures she faced while representing Islam in academia and interfaith activism, particularly during the Trump era. She also discusses her decision to relocate to Istanbul and shift away from academia. This time, Rose is the guest being interviewed instead of the host, and she offers a deep dive into the complexities of public representation of Islam in the United States. Rose gives props to those continuing the hard but necessary work while also realizing that her time in that field had come to an end, at least in her former roles.

Watch this episode on Youtube on Shehla’s channel here.

Visit her website: https://www.imamuslimpodcast.com/

Follow her on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/imamuslimpodcast/

Find out more about Rose's work, including the Rahma Collective: https://lnk.bio/dr.rose.aslan
Website: https://compassionflow.com

Support Rahma with Rose so I can keep producing more episodes here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2197727/supporters/new

Music credits: Vocals: Zeynep Dilara Aslan; Ney/drum: Elif Önal; Tanbur: Katherine Hreib; Rebap: Hatice Gülbahar Hepsev

Listen to my chat with Dr. Rebecca Masterton as we explore her journey of finding spiritual meaning in secular British society. Rebecca talks honestly about feeling out of place in a society where deep spirituality isn't often a priority. She shares her story of how finding Islam brought her peace and a sense of fitting in.

In our conversation, Rebecca also gets real about balancing intuition with rationality and the dangers of blindly following spiritual teachers. From being a normal British teenager with a thirst for knowledge, to following a Hindu guru as a college student, later joining a Sufi order, and finally finding her path within Shi'ism, Rebecca's journey reveals her curiosity about the world and deep longing for connecting to the Divine.

Influenced by her deep understanding of Shi’i theology, she highlights why it's key to balancing our inner feelings with smart thinking – this isn't just about believing; it’s about understanding ourselves and the choices we make in our lives. Tune in for a real, down-to-earth discussion about navigating faith, questioning norms, and forging your own path.

Find out more about Dr. Rebecca Masterton at her website: https://onlineshiastudies.com.

Find out more about Rose's work, including the Rahma Collective: https://lnk.bio/dr.rose.aslan
Website: https://compassionflow.com

Support Rahma with Rose so I can keep producing more episodes here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2197727/supporters/new

Music credits: Vocals: Zeynep Dilara Aslan; Ney/drum: Elif Önal; Tanbur: Katherine Hreib; Rebap: Hatice Gülbahar Hepsev

In this episode, I speak with Amanda Quraishi, aka Q, about her life journey through numerous religious and spiritual communities. We walk through the sensitive territory of leaving a cult in her youth, exploring various spiritual paths, and becoming a Muslim interfaith activist in the post-9/11 United States.  

Q shares her candid struggles with mental health, the challenges of representing Islam for several decades, and how she endured and came out of intense burnout from community activism. Q discusses the complexities of navigating spirituality in a modern context, her struggles with spiritual identity, and how she now embraces sitting in peace with the ambiguity of life. We discuss ways in which Q found herself again after intense introspection and healing work and how she practices self-care and connection with others.

Amanda Quraishi, aka Q, is a writer from Austin, Texas.

Visit her website: amandaquraishi.com

Social Media Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AmandaTheQ
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amandaquraishi/
Fediverse: https://realsocial.life/@imtheq
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/imtheq.bsky.social
Threads: https://www.threads.net/@amandaquraishi

Find out more about Rose's work, including the Rahma Collective: https://lnk.bio/dr.rose.aslan
Website: https://compassionflow.com

Support Rahma with Rose so I can keep producing more episodes here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2197727/supporters/new

Music credits: Vocals: Zeynep Dilara Aslan; Ney/drum: Elif Önal; Tanbur: Katherine Hreib; Rebap: Hatice Gülbahar Hepsev

In this heartfelt conversation, I sit down with A. Helwa, whose writings have touched tens of thousands of people around the world, the celebrated author of Secrets of Divine Love: A Spiritual Journey into the Heart of Islam. We explore her personal journey through stages of spiritual awakening. Helwa opens up about her passionate belief that every person is profoundly loved by the Divine and shares her view that the spiritual path is a process of continuous discovery rather than a static destination. 

We hear how she started with an intense period of connection to Islam as a pre-teen to a young adult life marked by spiritual estrangement and then to a reawakening of her Islamic spirituality sparked by her travels and encounters with diverse religious communities. Helwa shares transformative life moments and unpacks how writing poetry and sitting with various spiritual teachers aided her path. Tune in to learn about the ebbs and flows of spiritual seeking and how to cultivate a lifelong thirst for the Divine. What does your spiritual journey look like, and how can Helwa’s experiences inspire your own continuous discovery?

Learn more about A. Helwa’s work and how to approach the Divine through love at Instagram: @a.helwa or her website: www.authorahelwa.com.

Find out more about Rose's work, including the Rahma Collective: https://lnk.bio/dr.rose.aslan
Website: https://compassionflow.com

Support Rahma with Rose so I can keep producing more episodes here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2197727/supporters/new

Music credits: Vocals: Zeynep Dilara Aslan; Ney/drum: Elif Önal; Tanbur: Katherine Hreib; Rebap: Hatice Gülbahar Hepsev

In this episode, I speak with Raja Ávila about her spiritual and healing journey that led her on a path to immersing herself in the Sufi path. Raja is a wife, mother of two boys, a feminine embodiment coach, and a Sufi spiritual healer. She is originally from Colombia, where she worked in a Fortune 100 company climbing the corporate ladder, which led to her move to Brazil. While in Brazil, Raja started her spiritual exploration on many different paths, eventually accepting Islam. Along the way, she became a yoga instructor and Ayurvedic practitioner. Her journey has inspired her to support women who seek to restore sacred femininity in their lives, helping them accept and embrace the beauty of being women, and aligning themselves with their Allah-given fitra.

Find out more about Rose's work, including the Rahma Collective: https://lnk.bio/dr.rose.aslan
Website: https://compassionflow.com

Support Rahma with Rose so I can keep producing more episodes here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2197727/supporters/new

Music credits: Vocals: Zeynep Dilara Aslan; Ney/drum: Elif Önal; Tanbur: Katherine Hreib; Rebap: Hatice Gülbahar Hepsev

In this episode, I am joined by Dr. amina wadud, aka the Lady Imam. She is well-known as one of the foremothers of Islamic feminism and has been a student of Islam for over 50 years. An outspoken activist and scholar with a focus on Islam, justice, gender, and sexuality, in this conversation, I ask Dr. amina questions beyond her public persona about her personal spiritual and healing journey. amina describes her spiritual life as one of different phases and how we need to follow an approach of gentleness and self-compassion to live a life of presence and connection to the Divine. 

Rather than teach an obligation-centered Islam, amina proposes that individuals practice spirituality according to their ability and capacity. She emphasizes that only by trusting oneself and focusing within can one begin to experience peace and stop focusing on the outside world's noise. Keep listening to hear many more gems on embodying spirituality and living a good life from Dr. amina wadud.

Find Dr. amina wadud at these websites and social media accounts: 
http://www.aminawadud.com/
https://www.youtube.com/c/TheLadyImam
https://www.patreon.com/TheLadyImam
https://twitter.com/TheLadyImam
https://qist1.com/

Find out more about Rose's work, including the Rahma Collective: https://lnk.bio/dr.rose.aslan
Website: https://compassionflow.com

Support Rahma with Rose so I can keep producing more episodes here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2197727/supporters/new

Music credits: Vocals: Zeynep Dilara Aslan; Ney/drum: Elif Önal; Tanbur: Katherine Hreib; Rebap: Hatice Gülbahar Hepsev

Ever felt an unquenchable thirst for understanding the greater purpose of existence? Ever wondered how to navigate life's challenging terrains with the compass of spirituality?

In this episode, we venture into the realm of embodied spirituality with the guidance of our esteemed guest, Dr. Rosina-Fawzia Al-Rawi. From her fascinating journey that meandered through Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt, the Emirates, and Palestine to Austria, Dr. Al-Rawi's insights are a refreshing look at the depth of Islamic spirituality from a women-centered lens. 

Come listen to a conversation about the mystical realms of Islam, the importance of honoring oneself as a Divine creation, and the potency of gratitude.

Find out more about Rose's work, including the Rahma Collective: https://lnk.bio/dr.rose.aslan
Website: https://compassionflow.com

Support Rahma with Rose so I can keep producing more episodes here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2197727/supporters/new

Music credits: Vocals: Zeynep Dilara Aslan; Ney/drum: Elif Önal; Tanbur: Katherine Hreib; Rebap: Hatice Gülbahar Hepsev

In this two-part episode, I'm joined by Edina Leković, a prominent spokesperson for Muslims in the post-9/11 United States. We explore her journey from defending Muslim rights to experiencing burnout and rediscovering herself.

With over two decades of expertise in storytelling and community-building, Edina shares her personal and professional evolution. This episode is a must-listen if you've ever felt overwhelmed while dedicating yourself to others' well-being, whether you're an activist, a professional supporter, or a community helper. Edina opens up about her toughest days and the healing journey that followed.

Edina is a community scholar at UCLA, narrating LA's Muslim history, and serves as the executive director of the Robert Ellis Simon Foundation, focusing on mental wellness services for underserved LA County residents.

Tune in for a candid conversation that delves deep into Edina's remarkable life story. Find her on Instagram: @lamuslimhistory & @EdLek.

Find out more about Rose's work, including the Rahma Collective: https://lnk.bio/dr.rose.aslan
Website: https://compassionflow.com

Support Rahma with Rose so I can keep producing more episodes here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2197727/supporters/new

Music credits: Vocals: Zeynep Dilara Aslan; Ney/drum: Elif Önal; Tanbur: Katherine Hreib; Rebap: Hatice Gülbahar Hepsev

In this two-part episode, I'm joined by Edina Leković, a prominent spokesperson for Muslims in the post-9/11 United States. We explore her journey from defending Muslim rights to experiencing burnout and rediscovering herself.

With over two decades of expertise in storytelling and community-building, Edina shares her personal and professional evolution. This episode is a must-listen if you've ever felt overwhelmed while dedicating yourself to others' well-being, whether you're an activist, a professional supporter, or a community helper. Edina opens up about her toughest days and the healing journey that followed.

Edina is a community scholar at UCLA, narrating LA's Muslim history, and serves as the executive director of the Robert Ellis Simon Foundation, focusing on mental wellness services for underserved LA County residents.

Tune in for a candid conversation that delves deep into Edina's remarkable life story. Find her on Instagram: @lamuslimhistory & @EdLek.

Find out more about Rose's work, including the Rahma Collective: https://lnk.bio/dr.rose.aslan
Website: https://compassionflow.com

Support Rahma with Rose so I can keep producing more episodes here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2197727/supporters/new

Music credits: Vocals: Zeynep Dilara Aslan; Ney/drum: Elif Önal; Tanbur: Katherine Hreib; Rebap: Hatice Gülbahar Hepsev