SWISSCAST with Suhaib Webb

Locating yourself and Qur'an on the map of life is a challenge. What are the virtues of the Qur'an and how do you envision your relationship with it?

Adversity is an outcome of faith. What are some important qualities we can take from the earliest chapters of the Qur'an sent to the Prophet (sa) that will carry us through success and challenges?

Umma is a word we say often without consideration for its components and investment. While financial donations are still robust in communities, the numbers of trained, disciplined and organized volunteers are not. I address that, as well as a number of contemporary concerns around religious freedom in light of Sura Yasin

In this, live lecture, I discuss verses 13 -17, challenging myself and the listener to engage and think about them in our context.

God created the earth and the heavens as a home for us, filling it with infinite resources and talents. How can that serve us as we frame our attitude towards life, our talents and service to others?

In this podcast, I share an important poem by one of the greatest Arab poets of the modern age, a short intro to his life and impact, as well as some lesson we can take from one of his poems.

In the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries Senegambian Muslims were led by their sheikhs to revolt across the Western Hemisphere against Spanish slavery. In their efforts rests the earliest liberation theology put to work: An approach that refused to accept bondage as anything but antithetical to faith; and saw faith synonymous with freedom. What followed was a legal logic that justified mass-murdering those Muslim slaves, banning them from those lands, sending many back to Africa and mass incarceration. As those policies morphed, and the world changed, we are facing a different type of slavery under a system that has graduated from mass incarceration to what Vincent Lloyd called ”hyper-incarceration” and still focuses on black people. As Muslims, we have a religious duty to stand against this modern-day slavery as our ancestors did three hundred years ago, working for justice and a fair system. In this episode, I sit down with Margarita Rosa to discuss those revolts and how faithful people must push for prison abolition and justice people of colour here and abroad. Did you know that even though they we in bondage, those brothers and sisters paid zakat to free other slaves? In this episode, I sit down with Margarita Rosa to discuss those revolts and how faithful people must push for prison abolition and justice for all people.

On June 1st Razan al-Najjar sat off, as she had done before, to serve her land and her people. She was a self-educated, first responder in one of the most dangerous places in the world She was exhausted. The day before she came home covered in blood, and it was Ramadan, so she was fasting. But her bravery and passion could not be extinguished. She was resilient, brave Sadly, as many of you know, she was murdered that day. Shot by an Israeli sniper, who until now remains free and uncharged. Razzan was only twenty-one years old. As soon as it happened, I knew that it was essential to share Razan’s story. She stood for female empowerment, education, peace and an end to occupation and genocide, so I reached out to her family In this week’s episode of SwissCast, I talk with Dalia al-Najjar, Razan’s cousin. In an emotional interview, we discussed life under Israeli occupation, what it feels like to be Gazan, Razan’s life and legacy and how we can support her foundation for empowering and educating young girls in Gaza @launchgood She was exhausted; the day before she came home covered in blood; it was Ramadan; she was fasting, but her drive and passion could not be extinguished. She was resilient, strong and she loved life Sadly, as many of you know, she was murdered that day. Shot by an Israeli sniper, who until now remains free and uncharged. She was only twenty-one years old As soon as it happened, I knew that it was essential to share Razzan’s story. She stood for female empowerment, education, peace and an end to occupation and genocide. I was worried that her legacy would be manipulated, retold and reconstructed to justify her death. So I reached out to her family to get her story In this week’s episode of SwissCast, I talk with Dalia al-Najjar, Razzan’s cousin. In an emotional interview, we discussed life under Israeli occupation, what it feels like to be Gazan, Razan’s life and legacy and how we can support her foundation for empowering and educating young girls in Gaza @launchgood

"Who are your people?" is an important question because it forces us to think, not only about "our people," but ourselves; if we don't know who we are, then we cannot identify our folk; and if we can't do that, then we are not living up to our responsibility as a Prophetic community. That relationship locates us as spiritual and social agitators, empowered by faith to call to the truth. The opening verses of Sura Yasin compel us to think about that and other important concepts.

LIterature is an important ingredient of religious literacy. It animates it, aligning our lives on the earth with transcendent teachings from the heavens. In this series, I share with you my love of Arabic literature by choosing excerpts from poetry, prose and much more. I hope this will open a window to great works of literature and philosophy, inspiring you to delve deeper into the Arabic language, improving your love and life.

Confronting injustice is a topic that continues to come up amongst Muslims, especially after the Arab Spring, recent changes in Turkey and Malaysia as well as the disasters of pseudo jihadist groups Some contend that politics and religion don’t mix; communities should wait until God gives them a way out, while others believe that violence against anyone justifies establishing “their” political order that is based on justice Resting in the middle are the masses; the vital center who feel compelled by their nature to stand for truth, by being cautious how because of loyalty to religion. What do to? In tomorrow’s podcast I address some of those concerns as well as standing for justice as a historical backdrop to Islam, is there a difference between legitimate confrontation of injustice and sedition and how do we contextualize classical religious concerns with contemporary demands and much more If you haven’t listened to the first two episodes of Being Woke, I encourage you to do so You can find my podcast: SwissCast on apple podcast, the google store, and Spotify. If you don’t have any of those, you can listen at suhaibwebb.com

As we exit the month of fasting, we are commanded to perform one last act; one more sacrifice: Zakat al-Fitr. What is Zakat al-Fitr, how do we pay it and what are some of the issues around it that are important to American Muslim Communities?

In this short reflection, I share three powerful lessons we can take from the twentieth chapter of the Qur'an.

Religious Hubris, American Democracy, This Fall and Supporting CAIR

It is dangerous to reduce spirituality to fashionable styles of dress and talk or an abstraction, where a seeker lives his faith vicariously through concepts, a group or holy men. Spirituality is work; hard work and discipline. In this episode, I chat with Monna Bennani about an act of spiritual resistance that is important: living a zero waste lifestyle