#352 – Omar Suleiman: Islam
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What is discussed at the start of this section?
The following is a conversation with Imam Dr. Omar Suleiman. He's a Muslim scholar, civil rights leader, founder and president of the Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research, and he's a professor of Islamic studies at Southern Methodist University. He's one of the most influential Muslims in the world and is a fearless, kind-hearted human being who I'm now proud to call a friend. As a side note, allow me to say a few words about Israel and Palestine. While this conversation with Omar Suleiman was mostly exploring the history and beauty of Islam and the Muslim community, we did delve briefly into the topic of Israel and Palestine. This topic is an extremely challenging one and an extremely important one.
It has deep roots and implications in US politics, in global geopolitics, in military and religious conflicts, wars, and atrocities. and basic struggle of all human beings to survive, to protect their loved ones, and to flourish as individuals and as communities. I did not want to cover this topic in a solely scholarly fashion. Much like with the war in Ukraine, it is not simply a story of history, politics, religion, and national identity. It is also a deeply human story. To cover this topic in the way that my gut and my heart says to do it, I have to talk to everyone, to leaders and people on all sides, Muslim and Jewish, Israeli and Palestinian, from refugees to soldiers, from scholars to extremists.
I'm not sure if that's possible or wise, but like Forrest Gump said, I'm not a smart man. And maybe you know how the rest of that goes. I just like to follow my heart to whatever place it leads. I ask the Muslim and the Jewish communities for your patience and support as I explore this topic. I will make many mistakes and I'll be listening to all voices so I can learn and do better. I've become distinctly aware that my approach of talking to people from all walks of life with empathy and compassion, but with backbone, can create enemies on all sides. I don't quite yet understand why this is, but I'm learning to accept it as the reality of the world. Hopefully, in the end, whatever happens, whatever silly thing I do has a chance of adding a bit of love to the world.
Thanks for going along with me on this journey. And now a quick few second mention of each sponsor. Check them out in the description. It's the best way to support this podcast. We got NetSuite for business management, House of Macadamias for satiating delicious snack, and ExpressVPN for privacy and security.
How does the conversation address the Israel and Palestine conflict?
Choose wisely, my friends. And now onto the full ad reads. As always, no ads in the middle. I try to make these interesting, but if you skip them, please still check out our sponsors. I enjoy their stuff. Maybe you will too. This show is brought to you by NetSuite, an all-in-one cloud business management system. They manage financials, human resources, inventory, e-commerce, and many business-related details. There's so much stuff involved in running a business. This is something I think a lot about. because of me wanting to work for a company or me wanting to start a business, like a legit tech company that builds products, that delivers products into the hands of people and hopefully brings joy to their life, hopefully adds a bit of love to the world.
To do that, it's not just about the design and the engineering and the scaling of the computer infrastructure and even the hiring, the hiring decisions, all that kind of stuff. There's a bunch of stuff in the middle that's just very difficult to take care of, and so you should use the best tools for the job. And I have to be honest, there's a bunch of aspects of that that I don't understand as deeply as I should. I think a lot of that you can catch up by reading books, but there's just no replacement for experience. Like I said, you should work with the best people, but you should also use the best tools for the job. You could do that if you go to netsuite.com to access their one-of-a-kind financing program.
This show is also brought to you by a sponsor that brings a smile to my face every time I think about them.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is discussed at the start of this section?
0:00–2:50
2
How does the conversation address the Israel and Palestine conflict?
2:50–6:46
3
What are the challenges of discussing the topic of God?
6:46–11:26
4
What insights does Omar Suleiman share about personal struggles with faith?
11:26–1:34:25
5
What is the significance of Mecca in Islam?
1:34:25–1:35:00
6
How does prayer unify Muslims worldwide?
1:35:00–1:38:56
7
What role did Malcolm X play in changing perceptions of Islam?
1:38:56–1:43:38
8
How does Omar Suleiman view the future of Islam and interfaith relations?
1:43:38–3:07:26
Speakers
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