Published by Sarah Hemeida & Sarah Ahmed
Conversations between a Muslim female physician and a Muslim female scholar, the co-directors of Empowher Health, on women's health - mind, body, and spiritual wellbeing. (visit www.empowherhealth.org for more)
Listen on Apple PodcastsWe've been teasing it, posting about it, and talking around it for months — and now it's finally here. Dr. Sarah sits down with Aalimah Sarah Ahmed to talk about A Light of Her Own: Muslim Womanhood as a Path to Allah — what it is, why she wrote it, and what she hopes every Muslim woman takes away from it. This is the conversation behind the book: the idea that sparked it, the questions it tries to answer, and why Muslim womanhood is not something to work around on the way to Allah ﷻ, it's the path itself. If haven't order your copy yet, consider this your sign. Order on: www.bysarahahmed.com Text to get in touch! Support the show If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe and share! To help us continue this important work, become a sustainer at www.empowherhealth.org
Time for an our semi-annual pod where Dr. Sarah and Aalimah Sarah take your questions! We covered a lot of ground with this one, asking about everything from social media culture, intuitive eating, to islamic parenting and suffering marriages. This one is for ya'll! Text to get in touch! Support the show If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe and share! To help us continue this important work, become a sustainer at www.empowherhealth.org
Time for an our semi-annual pod where Dr. Sarah and Aalimah Sarah take your questions! We covered a lot of ground with this one, asking about everything from social media culture, intuitive eating, to islamic parenting and suffering marriages. This one is for ya'll! Text to get in touch! Support the show If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe and share! To help us continue this important work, become a sustainer at www.empowherhealth.org
In this episode, we sit down with Shaikh Mikaeel Ahmed Smith for an honest conversation about optimization culture, peptides, longevity, and what it looks like to pursue physical health as an act of faith. We talk about navigating the overwhelming world of biohacking, sorting hype from substance, body image in Muslim communities, and why deen and discipline might be more connected than we think. Whether you're deep in the wellness world or just starting to ask better questions about your health, this one is worth your time. Text to get in touch! Support the show If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe and share! To help us continue this important work, become a sustainer at www.empowherhealth.org
In this episode, we sit down with Shaikh Mikaeel Ahmed Smith for an honest conversation about optimization culture, peptides, longevity, and what it looks like to pursue physical health as an act of faith. We talk about navigating the overwhelming world of biohacking, sorting hype from substance, body image in Muslim communities, and why deen and discipline might be more connected than we think. Whether you're deep in the wellness world or just starting to ask better questions about your health, this one is worth your time. Text to get in touch! Support the show If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe and share! To help us continue this important work, become a sustainer at www.empowherhealth.org
From injury recovery to skin health to the growing longevity conversation, peptides are everywhere right now. But what are they actually, and does the science hold up? Dr. Sarah and Aalimah Sarah Ahmed unpack the evidence behind two of the most talked-about peptides, BPC-157 and GHC-Cu, so you can understand what's hype, what's real, and what might actually be worth your attention. Text to get in touch! Support the show If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe and share! To help us continue this important work, become a sustainer at www.empowherhealth.org
From injury recovery to skin health to the growing longevity conversation, peptides are everywhere right now. But what are they actually, and does the science hold up? Dr. Sarah and Aalimah Sarah Ahmed unpack the evidence behind two of the most talked-about peptides, BPC-157 and GHC-Cu, so you can understand what's hype, what's real, and what might actually be worth your attention. Text to get in touch! Support the show If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe and share! To help us continue this important work, become a sustainer at www.empowherhealth.org
Women carry everything: their families, their grief, their responsibilities, their faith. But how many of us are actually taking care of the body that's doing all that carrying? Dr. Sarah and Aalimah Sarah Ahmed talk about pain, fear, muscle strength, bone density, and what gets in the way of Muslim women showing up for their own physical health, and why it all matters far more than we've been told. Text to get in touch! Support the show If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe and share! To help us continue this important work, become a sustainer at www.empowherhealth.org
Women carry everything: their families, their grief, their responsibilities, their faith. But how many of us are actually taking care of the body that's doing all that carrying? Dr. Sarah and Aalimah Sarah Ahmed talk about pain, fear, muscle strength, bone density, and what gets in the way of Muslim women showing up for their own physical health, and why it all matters far more than we've been told. Text to get in touch! Support the show If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe and share! To help us continue this important work, become a sustainer at www.empowherhealth.org
In this episode, Aalimah Sarah Ahmed and Sheikh Mikaeel Ahmed Smith explore one of the most misunderstood conversations in our community: depression, anxiety, and what it means to struggle mentally while holding onto your deen. Honest, grounded, and long overdue. Text to get in touch! Support the show If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe and share! To help us continue this important work, become a sustainer at www.empowherhealth.org
In this episode, Aalimah Sarah Ahmed and Sheikh Mikaeel Ahmed Smith explore one of the most misunderstood conversations in our community: depression, anxiety, and what it means to struggle mentally while holding onto your deen. Honest, grounded, and long overdue. Text to get in touch! Support the show If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe and share! To help us continue this important work, become a sustainer at www.empowherhealth.org
You've probably been in a conversation about race that went nowhere. Everyone was careful, no one was honest, and nothing changed. This episode is about why that keeps happening, and how to break through it. We had guest Bayanne Elkhatib MS, LPC-A (the Texas Therapist) on the mic to help us get to the root of what makes these conversations so uncomfortable, what we're really asking when we call something a preference, and where the line between preference and prejudice actually falls. Text to get in touch! Support the show If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe and share! To help us continue this important work, become a sustainer at www.empowherhealth.org
You've probably been in a conversation about race that went nowhere. Everyone was careful, no one was honest, and nothing changed. This episode is about why that keeps happening, and how to break through it. We had guest Bayanne Elkhatib MS, LPC-A (the Texas Therapist) on the mic to help us get to the root of what makes these conversations so uncomfortable, what we're really asking when we call something a preference, and where the line between preference and prejudice actually falls. Text to get in touch! Support the show If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe and share! To help us continue this important work, become a sustainer at www.empowherhealth.org
Text to get in touch! Support the show If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe and share! To help us continue this important work, become a sustainer at www.empowherhealth.org
Your child can't sit still, forgets everything, and loses focus in the middle of a sentence, and you've been told to just be stricter, make more du'a, or wait it out. But what if there's more to the story? In this episode, Aalimah Sarah sits down with Dr. Sarah Hemeida to talk about ADHD in children and teens: what it actually is, how it shows up differently across ages, and why it so often goes unrecognized in our communities. From navigating diagnosis to practical strategies for the Muslim home, this is the conversation Muslim mothers have needed. Text to get in touch! Support the show If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe and share! To help us continue this important work, become a sustainer at www.empowherhealth.org
Ramadan is known as the month of giving , but what does that really mean? In this episode, we go beyond the donation box to explore the full, rich picture of generosity in Islam: your time, your attention, your presence, and your heart. We draw on the lives of the women Companions who embodied true open-handedness, and ask what it looks like for us to carry that same spirit today. Whether you're stretched thin or simply unsure where to start, this episode will expand how you see giving and inspire you to pour freely, in whatever form you have to offer. If you want to support Empowher this month, please join our dollar a day campaign at donorbox.org/empowherhealth Text to get in touch! Support the show If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe and share! To help us continue this important work, become a sustainer at www.empowherhealth.org
Ramadan is known as the month of giving , but what does that really mean? In this episode, we go beyond the donation box to explore the full, rich picture of generosity in Islam: your time, your attention, your presence, and your heart. We draw on the lives of the women Companions who embodied true open-handedness, and ask what it looks like for us to carry that same spirit today. Whether you're stretched thin or simply unsure where to start, this episode will expand how you see giving and inspire you to pour freely, in whatever form you have to offer. If you want to support Empowher this month, please join our dollar a day campaign at donorbox.org/empowherhealth Text to get in touch! Support the show If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe and share! To help us continue this important work, become a sustainer at www.empowherhealth.org
This Ramadan feels different. We are not entering it light and carefree, we are arriving burdened. Carrying grief from what we’re witnessing around the world. Carrying political tension, social unrest, community fractures, private anxieties, and the quiet exhaustion of simply trying to stay faithful in heavy times. In this episode, we talk about what it means to fast when your heart already feels worn out. How do we show up to worship when we’re mentally drained? How do we hold space for global pain while still tending to our own souls? Is it possible that Ramadan was designed precisely for moments like this? This conversation is for the tired believer. The overwhelmed mother. The activist trying not to burn out. The woman scrolling through headlines before suhoor. The one who feels both spiritually hungry and emotionally depleted. Ramadan isn’t asking you to pretend you’re not heavy. It’s inviting you to bring that heaviness to Allah. Let’s talk about how. Text to get in touch! Support the show If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe and share! To help us continue this important work, become a sustainer at www.empowherhealth.org
This Ramadan feels different. We are not entering it light and carefree . We are arriving burdened. Carrying grief from what we’re witnessing around the world. Carrying political tension, social unrest, community fractures, private anxieties, and the quiet exhaustion of simply trying to stay faithful in heavy times. In this episode, we talk about what it means to fast when your heart already feels worn out. How do we show up to worship when we’re mentally drained? How do we hold space for global pain while still tending to our own souls? Is it possible that Ramadan was designed precisely for moments like this? This conversation is for the tired believer. The overwhelmed mother. The activist trying not to burn out. The woman scrolling through headlines before suhoor. The one who feels both spiritually hungry and emotionally depleted. Ramadan isn’t asking you to pretend you’re not heavy. It’s inviting you to bring that heaviness to Allah. Let’s talk about how. Text to get in touch! Support the show If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe and share! To help us continue this important work, become a sustainer at www.empowherhealth.org
Aalimah Sarah Ahmed sits down with her husband, Shaykh Mikaeel Ahmed Smith, for a candid conversation on the evolving landscape of Muslim mental health. They reflect on his recent work in counseling and therapy, his ongoing writing and research, and the unique challenges Muslims face when seeking healing in a space that often separates the psychological from the spiritual. Together, they explore what it means to approach therapy with faith intact, how Islamic scholarship can inform ethical and effective care, and why our communities must move beyond coping toward true healing of the Muslim soul. Text to get in touch! Support the show If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe and share! To help us continue this important work, become a sustainer at www.empowherhealth.org