How to leave this Earth
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Who is Dalia Mogahed and what is the purpose of this Heart & Soul episode?
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I'm in a lecture theatre at one of London's universities watching an unassuming woman in a headscarf take to the stage.
How do we live when we cannot guarantee that what we love will last?
This is Dahlia Mogahed, the American researcher, author and public speaker. She's here, a long way from her home in Virginia in the USA, to speak to Muslim women about finding peace in an anxious world.
It's learning how to be fully human while surrendering to Allah.
But, as I'm going to discuss with her, she is carrying an almost unimaginable anxiety herself that she's about to reveal in public for the first time. This year, Dali was diagnosed with cancer.
Discover and dua, know your Lord and call upon Him.
Welcome to the documentary from the BBC World Service. I'm John Offord and in this episode of Heart and Soul, where we bring you stories of faith and spirituality, I'm spending the day with Dalia Mogahed in London. I'm hearing about this campaigner who spent her life offering support to other Muslim women, who's now turning her thoughts to what her diagnosis means for her life and her faith. Hi, nice to meet you. How are you doing? Good to see you. It's morning in London and I'm meeting Dahlia Mogahed for the first time in a hotel. Despite the long journey and everything she's been through, there's a big smile on her face. Shall we take a seat somewhere? What does it feel like to be travelling and speaking at this particular point in your life?
It's an incredible, incredible blessing. It's exhausting to travel like anyone who's ever traveled. And tours are especially exhausting because you're doing one after the other in different cities. But I see myself as having the best job in the world. I literally get paid to... talk about spirituality, to brag about God, to help people find hope when things look dark. I mean, I can't imagine more meaningful work. I feel very, very blessed.
How does Dalia describe the moment she learned she had cancer?
I want to ask Dahlia about her diagnosis, but it's a difficult question. So I ask her about her life. So what is life like for you when you're not Dahlia Megahead, the public figure?
I have two adult children who live with me. And so I spend a lot of time with them, two boys, two men now. And they are the most important human beings in my life. I spend a lot of time in nature. It's where I am nourished. I feel like When I'm in nature, when I go for long hikes, I'm among a chorus of beings in praise of God. And so it gives me incredible peace to be among the trees and the birds and the rivers. And I spend a lot of time on projects I care about. I'm just getting to do work that excites me and feeds my soul. And this is especially important to me because about eight months ago, shortly after I turned 50, I was diagnosed with cancer.
If you can, can you take me back to the moment you were told you had cancer? What do you remember?
I was in the car and we were heading to the halal store. I think I needed cumin. And I get a phone notification. My phone buzzes. And I pick it up. It says new lab results. And I think, oh, good. I just had a biopsy after a mammogram. So many of my friends have had that happen, and it's benign and it's nothing, but it's a hassle when you're going through it and you just kind of want to put it behind you and file it away. So I was relieved, you know, the fact that the lab results were ready. You know, I'm in good shape. I work out regularly. I'm obsessive about my nutrition. My blood work's always really healthy. So I didn't I didn't worry about it. It was just something to get past and move on. And so I opened the lab result.
And I'm looking for where benign is. And I see invasive carcinoma. And I'm like, what?
What impact did the loss of her father, friend and mother have on her outlook?
What is that?
And I was so in disbelief that I put the lab result, which is like pages long, into ChatGPT.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
Who is Dalia Mogahed and what is the purpose of this Heart & Soul episode?
0:00–3:34
2
How does Dalia describe the moment she learned she had cancer?
3:34–6:15
3
What impact did the loss of her father, friend and mother have on her outlook?
6:15–10:06
4
How does Dalia’s faith help her cope with grief and illness?
10:06–12:49
5
What does the visit to the East London Mosque reveal about community and prayer?
12:49–16:48
6
How does Dalia define ‘legacy’ after confronting mortality?
16:48–20:07
7
What does Dalia say is the one thing she wants to leave behind for future generations?
20:07–23:59
8
What final question does the host ask about living a meaningful life?
23:59–29:06