It’s our 50th episode! Anees and Foz discuss the journey from being complete giggling novices to interviewing high-profile and inspirational guests. The conversation is open and honest. They talk about the incredible growth of the podcast, the

#49. Zahra Shah: A Woman In Tech

Sep 29th, 2019 54m 6s

Zahra Shah is from the UK and is on a mission to grow Iraq’s tech ecosystem and build talent among youth, so that they can solve local issues using technology. She is a Program Manager for Re:Coded, whose purpose is to provide opportunities for

#48. Tez Ilyas: Funny, Thought Provoking and Muslim

Sep 15th, 2019 48m 46s

Tez Ilyas is an award winning British comedian and actor who started comedy in 2010 as a hobby. He is regarded as one of most celebrated rising stars in British comedy. After studying biochemistry at university, Tez went on to work as a civil s

#47. Nazia Nasreen: How a Toy Guided Someone to Islam

Sep 2nd, 2019 52m 52s

Original broadcast date: 11th June 2018 Nazia Nasreen is the founder of Ibraheem Toy House, the world’s leading online Islamic toy store. She’s also a mum of 2 children, a wife and an audiologist. In 2014, Nazia founded Ibraheem Toy House whils

#46. Peter Gould: Hajj Reflections

Aug 19th, 2019 41m 54s

Original broadcast date: 1st October 2018 Peter Gould returns to share his reflections from his recent journey to Hajj in 2018 (1439). Peter provides a powerful reflection based on his experiences , encounters with diverse pilgrims, looking at

#45. Zara Choudhary: Sacred Footsteps

Aug 4th, 2019 42m 33s

Zara Choudhary is a travel blogger and the founder & editor of Sacred Footsteps. Sacred Footsteps is an online publication dedicated to spiritual & alternative travel, history and culture from a Muslim perspective. Sacred Footsteps provides art

#44. Shabbir Hassan: Part 2 - Branching out from Imam duties

Jul 21st, 2019 40m 8s

In part 2 of our episode with Shabbir, we talk about his other endeavours outside of being an Imam such as starting the Nikkah Co., his love for poetry, embarking on a UK-wide tour with other notable artists and on how to deal with conflict bet

#43. Shabbir Hassan: Part 1 - Young Imam, New Approach

Jul 8th, 2019 46m 24s

Shabbir Hassan is an Imam, a spoken word poet and a presenter At the age of 15, Shabbir completed the memorisation of the Qur’an. He eventually went on to graduate from the Ebrahim College in London as an Alim (Islamic Scholar). Shabbir is a yo

#42. Zain Bhikha: How It All Started & My Motivation

Jun 24th, 2019 53m 28s

Zain Bhikha is a world-renowned singer and songwriter who performs Islamic songs. He began his illustrious career 25 years ago and since then he has released 13 Albums, collaborating with numerous artists such as Native Deen, Outlandish, and th

#41. Melanie Elturk: Detroit, Chicago, Dubai to NYC- Hear The Haute Hijab Story

Jun 9th, 2019 1h 4m

Melanie Elturk is the founder of Haute Hijab, one of the leading US modest fashion brands. In 2010, she set out with the vision to bring hijabs into the mainstream and to empower hijab wearing women worldwide. She is a regular contributor to El

#40. Anees & Foz: Ramadan Reflections

May 26th, 2019 24m 22s

We reflect on our experiences of Ramadan at the halfway mark. We compare how we are progressing against our goals, contrast of fasting in the Middle East vs. the West, and reflecting on spirituality. The discussion is broken down into three par

#39. Fikra Yel: Creating a Community, Ramadan Sharing Fridges

May 12th, 2019 30m 49s

Fikra Yel is the founder of Ramadan Sharing Fridges, an initiative that serves the less fortunate community workers and labourers with free food and drink during Ramadan. In 2015, Fikra had a spare fridge and wondered what to do with it. She de

Bonus

BONUS - Hiba Masood: Making Ramadan Fun for Kids

May 4th, 2019 25m 49s

In our final episode of our ‘Ramadan prep’ series, we speak to Hiba Masood from Drama Mama about making Ramadan fun for kids! We talk to Hiba about teaching children about Ramadan in a fun way, instilling the spirit of Ramadan into children, cr

Bonus

BONUS - Nazima Qureshi: Nutrition During Ramadan

May 2nd, 2019 25m 32s

In our next episode of the ‘Ramadan prep’ series, we speak to nutritionist Nazima Qureshi about eating healthy during Ramadan. We talk about what we should be eating, foods to avoid, sunnah foods, tips on getting through the long summer days, s

Bonus

BONUS: 2019 Ramadan Special - Saifullah Nasir: Preparing Ourselves Spiritually for Ramadan

Apr 28th, 2019 29m 8s

Ramadan is nearly here! To help prepare we have put together some very special episodes. These will cover how to be prepared from a spiritual aspect, nutrition during Ramadan and how to make Ramadan fun for kids! This is the first of our specia

#38. Zehra Allibhai: Break Barriers, Stay Fit & Eat Healthy

Apr 14th, 2019 52m 16s

Zehra Allibhai has been passionately involved in the health and fitness industry for the past 15 years. She is a certified fitness instructor focused on living a healthier lifestyle. In 2016, Zehra started her own brand, ‘The Fitnest’, as a mea

#37. Isam Bachiri: From Hip-Hop To A Spiritual Journey

Mar 31st, 2019 38m 4s

Isam Bachiri is a vocalist, rapper and former member of the hip-hop group, ‘Outlandish’. Together with his friends Waqas Qadri and Lenny Martinez, they formed ‘Outlandish’ in Denmark in 1997. ‘Outlandish’ went on to enjoy international success

#36. Layla Hassanali: The Halal Foodie

Mar 17th, 2019 51m 32s

Layla Hassanali is the founder and the person behind the popular food blog, Halal Girl About Town. In 2012, Layla started ‘Halal Girl About Town’ in her quest to explore the variety of options in halal dining around London and internationally.

#35. Gemma Elizabeth: The Home School

Mar 4th, 2019 47m 18s

Gemma Elizabeth is a home schooling expert. In 2014, she began to home educate her child after he developed separation anxiety when he first went to pre-school. Gemma began to blog about her experiences on home education and soon became an insp

#34. Huda Fahmy: “Yes, I’m hot in this!”

Feb 17th, 2019 52m 8s

Huda Fahmy is a cartoonist and creator of the hilarious web-comic series ‘Yes, I’m hot in this’. The comic humorously portrays the life of an American Muslim woman wearing the hijab and is used as a platform to address misconception people have

#33. Shahed Amanullah: The Silicon Valley Veteran

Feb 3rd, 2019 1h 8m

Shahed Amanullah is a serial entrepreneur and a Silicon Valley veteran. In 1998, he founded Zabihah.com, the world’s first Halal restaurant guide. He is the co-founder of Zakatify, a social initiative in partnership with PayPal which turns your

#32. Muhammad Aurangzeb Ahmad: Artificial Intelligence and Islam

Jan 20th, 2019 37m 51s

Muhammad Aurangzeb is a Data Scientist, an associate professor at University of Washington and the founder of ‘Islam & Science Fiction’, a website dedicated to sci-fi stories, novels, movies with Islamic themes Aurangzeb is a Data Scientist at

#31. Yassmin Abdel-Magied: Bold, Confident and The Unconscious Bias

Jan 6th, 2019 52m 49s

Yassmin Abdel-Magied is an engineer, award winning social advocate, author and broadcaster. Yassmin advocates for the empowerment of youth, women and those from culturally diverse backgrounds. Yassmin started her working career as an engineer o

#30. Mohamed Faris: How Productivity Is Linked to Islam

Dec 23rd, 2018 1h 3m

Mohammed Faris is an international coach, author, speaker and the founder of Productive Muslim. Productive Muslim is a popular lifestyle blog which Mohammed started in 2007 to explore the question, “Can Islam teach us productivity?” Today, Moha

#29. Mohammed Ali: Making A Change Through Graffiti Art

Dec 9th, 2018 53m 25s

Mohammed Ali is an award winning artist, curator and creative producer. He is regarded as a pioneer in the Islamic street-art movement, fusing street art with Islamic script and patterns. He has been awarded an MBE for services to Art. Mohamme