The Journey

Assalamu alaykum,

As I begin my own spiritual journey, I want to hear from those who have taken this path before me. This podcast focuses on them and listening to their stories — uninterrupted. My name is Hebah Masood and I invite you to reflect on the trajectories of their lives, and the guidance and blessings provided by Allah swt along that journey.

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch has a fascinating family history. He is part African American, British and Costa Rican, but he has Inca, Cherokee, Nicaraguan and Irish blood too.

His journey begins in Trenton, New Jersey where he was a young pianist and professional pool player before being introduced to Islam by his brother.

His pursuit of Islamic knowledge took him from the Darul Uloom madrassah in Queens, NY to Dar al-Mustafa in Tarim, Yemen and, finally, to Canada. I first met Shaykh Yusuf while he was teaching a summer intensive program at Seekers Guidance in Toronto. Who knew his journey would intersect with so many of my own teachers in New Jersey. It’s truly amazing to see how Allah swt weaves these journeys together.

In this episode, Shaykh Yusuf discusses the lack of community and classes as a new convert and how this struggle impacted him — something familiar for many of our new Muslim brothers and sisters. He also talks about teaching in Mexico and the need for Spanish speakers in dawaa work.

Listen in, to all the beautiful stories within his story.

His story intersects with many familiar names: Habib Omar, Shaykh Luqman Abdul Ghani, Shaykh Suhel Teli, Hazrat Maulana Ijaz Sahib, Shaykh Mikaeel Abdur Rahman, Shaykh Abdur Rahman Ahmad, Shaykh Umar bin Hussein al-Khatib, Habib Khadim al-Saqqaf, Habib Ali Abu Bakr, Habib Muhammad Aydarus, Habib Hashim bin Aqil bin Yahya, Habib Hussain al Haddad, Habib Abdullah Al-Mehdar, Abdul Qadir Wiswall, Shaykh Yahya Rhodus, Imam Tahir Anwar, Shaykh Jihad Hashim Brown, Imam Adeyinka 'Muhammad' Mendes, Shaykh Hasan Abunar, Shaykh Amin Buxton, Ustadh Hasan Petrus, Shaykh Musab Penfound, Ustadh Amjad Tarsin, Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

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Also available on most other major podcast streaming services including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox and Podbay.

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Do you enjoy this podcast? Support the Patreon to ensure the best podcast quality possible. All funds go to equipment and editing software. May Allah reward you. https://www.patreon.com/thejourneypodcast

★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Assalamu alaykum,

As I begin my own spiritual journey, I want to hear from those who have taken this path before me. This podcast focuses on them and listening to their stories — uninterrupted. My name is Hebah Masood and I invite you to reflect on the trajectories of their lives, and the guidance and blessings provided by Allah swt along that journey.

Granddaughter of a well-known community member in New Jersey, Mohammad Yousseff, Sr. Tammy Elmansoury knew from a young age that Islam would play a central role in her life.

After receiving two master’s degrees in Islamic and African Studies from SOAS University of London, she taught in post-secondary institutions along the East Coast, before joining Noor ul-Iman School as the high school division head. She also started HijabFest six years ago to encourage young women wearing hijab.

As the wife of Dr Shadee Elmasry, the founder of Safina Society, she also devotes much of her time to serving the community at New Brunswick Islamic Center. It’s no wonder that she acts as an incredible role model for young Muslim women in the area.

In this episode, she talks about the importance of seeking knowledge as a woman, having the correct intention when it comes to hijab and prioritizing deen within the family.

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Also available on most other major podcast streaming services including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox and Podbay.

-

Do you enjoy this podcast? Support the Patreon to ensure the best podcast quality possible. All funds go to equipment and editing software. May Allah reward you. https://www.patreon.com/thejourneypodcast

★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Assalamu alaykum,

As I begin my own spiritual journey, I want to hear from those who have taken this path before me. This podcast focuses on them and listening to their stories — uninterrupted. My name is Hebah Masood and I invite you to reflect on the trajectories of their lives, and the guidance and blessings provided by Allah swt along that journey.

Listening to Shaykh Amin Kholwadia’s voice takes me back to high school, when I used to attend his Sunday tafsir classes. His classes were not just for the average person.

Sometimes guests included other scholars like Dr. Umar Faruq Abdallah who would ask very deep questions and in that space became students as well.

Shaykh Amin with his dry British humor is known as a hidden gem of Chicago. He studied all across India and Pakistan for just under a decade including at the original Darul Uloom in Deoband, India, where his father had also studied.

Shaykh Amin’s journey includes growing up in the household of a scholar, leaving home at 16 to do hifz, studying tasawwuf, training as a mufti in Islamic law and eventually founding Darul Qasim — an institute that helps students gain Islamic knowledge that is authentic and relevant for Muslims in the West. Today Darul Qasim has over 40 students, 12 faculty, and an amazing new space— complete with an extensive library. Please listen to the visionary behind this beautiful institution.

His story intersects with many great luminaries: his father Hadrat Mawlana Musa ibn Ibrahim Kholwadia, Mawlana Abu Sawood, Qadi Mujahidul Islam al-Qasimi, Shaykh Muhammad Miran, Qari Muhammad Tayyib al-Qasimi (grandson of Mawlana Muhammad Qasim al Nanotwi, the founder of Darul Uloom Deoband), Qari Riyad al-Rahman, Dr. ‘Abd al Razzaq Iskandar, Mawlana Idris Mirathi, Mufti Rida al-Haqq, Mufti Sa’id Ahmad al-Palanpuri, Mawlana Mi’raj al-Haqq, Mawlana Muhammad Na’im, Mawlana Anzar Shah al-Kashmiri, Mawlana Nasir Ahmad Khan al-Barni, Mawlana Muhammad Salim al-Qasimi and Dr. Allama Khalid Mahmood.

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Also available on most other major podcast streaming services including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox and Podbay.

-

Do you enjoy this podcast? Support the Patreon to ensure the best podcast quality possible. All funds go to equipment and editing software. May Allah reward you. https://www.patreon.com/thejourneypodcast

★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Assalamu alaykum, As I begin my own spiritual journey, I want to hear from those who have taken this path before me. This podcast focuses on them and listening to their stories - uninterrupted. My name is Hebah Masood and I invite you to reflect on the trajectories of their lives, and the guidance and blessings provided by Allah swt along that journey. Every Sunday, Mufti Niaz Hannan patiently guides us through Hanafi fiqh for the Safina Society Uwaylim classes at NBIC. Beyond that, he is the full time imam at the Islamic Center of South Jersey (ICSJ), the chaplain at Drexel University, and he teaches at Imam Ghazali Institute in New York and Iqra institute in Philadelphia. Some of you may also know him as a regular on the Safina Society podcast. In this episode, he talks about growing up in a household influenced by his maternal grandfather who was a scholar. Mufti Niaz's journey began with... ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Assalamu alaykum, As I begin my own spiritual journey, I want to hear from those who have taken this path before me. This podcast focuses on them and listening to their stories - uninterrupted. My name is Hebah Masood and I invite you to reflect on the trajectories of their lives, and the guidance and blessings provided by Allah swt along that journey. Before moving to New Jersey, I looked into the Muslim community here and the Center for Islamic Life at Rutgers University (CILRU). Long story short -- my Javed Nana (grandma's brother) in Chicago knew of Imam Kaiser Aslam, the chaplain at CILRU, through Kaiser's father. Kaiser had also recently given a khutbah at my old local masjid, Islamic Foundation. I reached out to Imam Kaiser before the school-year, and even though he was just returning from Hajj, he responded right away. CILRU, which is literally a house, has been a cozy and welcoming home away from home this past year. Last winter, I went on an blessed trip with Imam Kaiser and other Rutgers students on my first umrah. This year, CILRU is planning a trip that I'm also hoping to go on, to Jerusalem. It's supposed to be the first of its kind organized for Muslim university students. In this episode, Imam Kaiser talks about his spiritual journey, the path to chaplaincy, and using vacations to squeeze in Islamic classes in amazing locales around the world. - Also available on most other major podcast streaming services including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox and Podbay. - Do you enjoy this podcast? Support the Patreon to ensure the best podcast quality possible. All funds go to equipment and editing software. May Allah reward you. https://www.patreon.com/thejourneypodcast ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Assalamu alaykum, As I begin my own spiritual journey, I want to hear from those who have taken this path before me. This podcast focuses on them and listening to their stories - uninterrupted. My name is Hebah Masood and I invite you to reflect on the trajectories of their lives, and the guidance and blessings provided by Allah swt along that journey. Where do I begin to describe the impact Ustadh Amjad Tarsin has had on my own journey? If this podcast had followed a chronological path, his interview would have been first. His weekly SoulFood classes at the University of Toronto and his beautiful podcast were my introduction to spiritual growth and tazkiyah. One of the books we read with Ustadh Amjad - Imam al-Haddad's "The Book of Assistance" - was a book he read in his own undergrad with Dr. Omar Mahmood. He also introduced me to group dhikr, talked about the importance of community and sparked my curiosity in Dar al-Mustafa in Yemen. And I wasn't alone. All of Ustadh Amjad's work spoke to the heart - which is so critical for students in the university setting. Outside of the chaplaincy, his weekly Coffee and Connections gathering at Seekers on Habib Omar's "Kingdom of the Hearts and Limbs" resonated across multiple generations. In this episode, Ustadh Amjad talks about the dramatic shifts in his life - from undergrad to spending a year in Tarim, from leaving law school to pursuing a masters in the Islamic Chaplaincy program at Hartford Seminary, and now after 7 years at U of T, he has moved to Allentown, Penn., to join Shaykh Yahya Rhodus to teach at Al-Maqasid. Please... ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Assalamu alaykum, As I begin my own spiritual journey, I want to hear from those who have taken this path before me. This podcast focuses on them and listening to their stories - uninterrupted. My name is Hebah Masood. I invite you to reflect on the trajectories of their lives, and the guidance and blessings provided by Allah swt, along that journey. Before I started at Rutgers last year, my teacher in Toronto, told me his friend taught at a nearby masjid, the New Brunswick Islamic Center. NBIC not only welcomed me with open arms, but that friend happened to be the mosque's scholar in residence, Dr Shadee Elmasry, known to many as the founder of Safina Society and one of the hosts of the Safina Society podcast. In this episode, Dr. Shadee talks about how a collection of Hamza Yusuf cassette tapes led him to seek knowledge in Fez and Tarim. Though he gives an important critique of Islamic Studies in Western academia, he wrote an incredible dissertation about Imam Al-Haddad's works on dawah for his PhD from SOAS University of London. He talks about many important role models in his life and his story intersects with many familiar names: Habib Omar,

Assalamu alaykum, As I begin my own spiritual journey, I want to hear from those who have taken this path before me. This podcast focuses on them and listening to their stories - uninterrupted. My name is Hebah Masood. I invite you to reflect on the trajectories of their lives, and the guidance and blessings provided by Allah swt, along that journey. In this episode, I'm joined by Ustadh Ryan Hilliard. Ustadh Ryan's journey is a unique one. He grew up in Chicago and learned about Islam at my childhood mosque, the Muslim Community Centre and Sr. Mary Ali's IIIE, which Chicago listeners will know well. He eventually went on to become one of the founding members of The Chicago Convert Connection, a support group for converts and a precursor to what we know today as Ta'leef Collective Chicago. He's now in Toronto where he serves as the youth and volunteer manager at the Islamic Society of North America-Canada. Reflect on his story and all the amazing and mysterious ways Allah swt brings people to faith. Spoiler alert: a Spanish major was involved. - Also available on most other major podcast streaming services including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox and Podbay. - Do you enjoy this podcast? Support the Patreon to ensure the best podcast quality possible. All funds go to equipment and editing software. May Allah reward you. https://www.patreon.com/thejourneypodcast ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Assalamu alaykum, As I begin my own spiritual journey, I want to hear from those who have taken this path before me. This podcast focuses on them and listening to their stories - uninterrupted. My name is Hebah Masood. I invite you to reflect on the trajectories of their lives, and the guidance and blessings provided by Allah swt, along that journey. In this episode, I'm joined by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani, the founder of Seekers Guidance Global Islamic Seminary. He gives a great contemporary history lesson into Islamic scholarship in North America today and how a group of University of Toronto MSA students were inspired to go and acquire sacred knowledge in the late 1990s. He travelled with his wife, Ustadha Shireen Ahmed, to Syria, Jordan and Pakistan to learn from some of the most renowned scholars of our time. He then returned to Canada to begin Seekers, where students of all levels - like me - have been able to access Islamic knowledge for free. His story is particularly inspiring for me because I too went to the University of Toronto and was involved in the MSA. His story intersects with many familiar names: Shaykh Nuh Keller and his wife Umm Sahl, Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad, Shaykh Talal Ahdab, Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, Shaykh Yahya Rhodus, Shaykh Jihad Hashim Brown,

Assalamu alaykum, As I begin my own spiritual journey, I want to hear from those who have taken this path before me. This podcast focuses on them and listening to their stories - uninterrupted. My name is Hebah Masood. I invite you to reflect on the trajectories of their lives, and the guidance and blessings provided by Allah swt, along that journey. In this episode, I am joined by Imam Yasin Dwyer. Imam Yasin is a well-known figure in the Canadian Muslim and the Black Muslim community. He comes with a long history of chaplaincy work - first with correctional services, and then in the post-secondary setting at Ryerson University and now at the University of Toronto. He is a chaplain with Muslim Chaplaincy of Toronto, an organization that is very near and dear to my heart. - Also available on most other major podcast streaming services including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox and Podbay. - Do you enjoy this podcast? Support the Patreon to ensure the best podcast quality possible. All funds go to equipment and editing software. May Allah reward you. https://www.patreon.com/thejourneypodcast ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★