For our first ever crossover episode, Zara speaks to Imran Ali Malik, host of the American Submitter podcast. They discuss the concept of travel as a ‘mutual unveiling’ and share ‘transformative’ travel experiences. Imran talks about his time in Guinea Bissau, where tribes were converting to Islam after an elder dreamt of the Prophet Muhammad (saw), and tells us about the Wali Songo, the ‘Nine Saints’ of Indonesia.
What We Talk About In This Episode
- How this period of quarantine has affected our content/the way we work.
- Travel as a mutual ‘unveiling’ (in the Arabic language) and what this means.
- Guinea Bissau: conversion of tribes to Islam after an elder, Maulana, dreamt of the Prophet (saw)- and how Imran’s experience visiting the country was transformative for him.
- How vulnerability whilst travelling can lead one to have a greater sense of tawwakul, reliance upon God.
- Finding meaning in times of crisis.
- Finding the deeper meaning in art and architecture; how the state of the artist/architect affects your soul.
- Indonesia- visiting the Wali Songo, the ‘Nine Saints.’
- Yemeni traders; how they brought Islam to the region, and the way in which they interacted with the local population and culture, including through music and shadow puppet plays.
- The tombs of the saints in Java.
- Preserving and connecting with tradition.
- How Sacred Footsteps started and what it has become.
- How travel can be transformative and the importance of intention.
Things / People Mentioned in this Episode
- SF contributor Shahroze Khan – Wazir Khan mosque Insta Story.
- Mimar Sinan – Ottoman architect
- Wali Songo
- Salahuddin Mazhary – Chechnya Podcast and Insta Story
- Murabit al Hajj
- ‘A Mauritanian Retreat: In Search of Murabit al Hajj’ by Zara Choudhary
American Submitter is a podcast about Muslims in the West and the spiritual teachings of Islam hosted by Imran Ali Malik. Through a combination of long form conversation, audio documentary, and reflective narration the listener gets the personal story of a religious life. American Submitter attempts to translate what it means to be a conscious Muslim in America by measuring the spiritual teachings of Islam with the reality of Muslims finding their way while living at the western edge of civilization. LISTEN HERE.
Imran Ali Malik is a radio journalist based in Oakland, California. Connect with him on Twitter and Instagram.
Listen to Sacred Footsteps- The Podcast on iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify & more!
