seekers guidance

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. Like many Afghans, Imam Yama Niazi's family left Afghanistan during the Soviet invasion. By the '90s, he was an 18 year old aspiring rapper in Santa Barbara, California, a typical American teen who knew little about the religion but made a dua that changed the course of his life. One day, perhaps in answer to that dua, a mysterious visitor stopped by the family business. The visitor, a convert and former rapper, befriended him. He taught him how to pray, the basic tenets of the religion and mentored him. Imam Yama gave up rapping, began practicing Islam and eventually sought sacred knowledge. Through an ISNA catalogue, he learned about Shaykh Hamza Yusuf and started driving five hours weekly to the take classes with Shaykh Hamza in the Bay area. The classes introduced him to other scholars including Shaykh Salek ibn Siddina and Shaykh Muhammad Yaqoubi and a whole new world. In this episode, Imam Yama narrates an emotional story of how Allah SWT guided him. He gives important and nuanced advice about dawah, the limits of interfaith work and the challenges of being an American Imam. He now lives in Vancouver, B.C., teaches youth classes at SeekersGuidance: The Global Islamic Seminary and runs the The Blessed Tree Foundation, a non-profit that focuses on spreading the beauty of Islam. His story intersects with many familiar names: Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, Shaykh Salek ibn Siddina, Shaykh Shaykh Muhammad al-Yaqoubi الشيخ محمد اليعقوبي,,الحبيب عمر بن حفيظ - Habib Omar, Shaykh Yahya Rhodus, Shaykh Rami Nsour, Shaykh AbdulKarim Yahya, Ustadh Feraidoon Mojadedi, Shaykh Mufti Abdur-Rahman ibn Yusuf Mangera , Imam Zaid Shakir, Shaykh Faraz Rabbani, Shaykh Tameem Ahmadi

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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

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.

This special quarantine episode features my mom, my very first teacher and biggest inspiration. Those of you who know my mom and me, know that she's the cooler one. I knew when I started the podcast she would definitely be in one of the episodes, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity.

She takes us through the journey of her life as one of the first Muslims to attend a well-known prep school in Toronto, going on to Medill - Northwestern University's School of Journalism and eventually working for the Chicago Tribune for 15 years. She talks about this immense feeling of protection from Allah swt while her father was in and out of spinal surgery, as a foreign correspondent in Afghanistan and Pakistan, in reporting battles with the mayor of Chicago, and just throughout her everyday life.

She reflects on the powerful tafsir given by Shaykh Amin Kholwadia at Darul Qasim in Chicago and how it set her on a new phase in life, one without journalism. Now back in Toronto, she takes classes at SeekersGuidance: The Global Islamic Seminary and works as a senior advisor for a university.

Listen as she shares some mother-to-daughter wisdoms from her remarkable life.

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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

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.

Ustadh Tariq Ameer grew up in a family that was part of the Nation of Islam and then made the transition to Sunni Islam with WD Muhammed. His own journey began with the Muslim Student’s Association at Morehouse, a historically black men’s college, in Atlanta. Once he started on his path he was able to learn how to read Arabic in one week and began studying part time. He would eventually follow the path of his teacher Ustadh Jamal Hysaw to Tarim, Yemen.

He is currently a prison chaplain with the New Jersey Department of Corrections and a student at Bayan Islamic Graduate School. He also teaches at New Brunswick Islamic Center with Safina Society in NJ, the Muslim Education and Converts Center of America in NYC and his own institute based out of Newark, Al-Muwatta.

Listen as he gives a rich and detailed description about living and studying in Hadhramaut, Yemen and learning from teachers who exemplify Prophetic character. He also talks about his important work as a prison chaplain and giving dawah to those who are incarcerated a segment of society many of us rarely think about.

My sincere apologies for the poor sound quality for the first half hour.

Ustadh Tariq’s story intersects with many familiar names: Habib Omar, Habib Hashim bin Sahl, Habib Tahir Al Attas, Imam Zaid Shakir, Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, Imam Siraj Wahaj, Shaykh Suhaib Webb, Ustadh Jamal Hysaw, Imam Adeyinka 'Muhammad' Mendes, Shaykh Khalil Abdur-Rashid,

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