The Middle Ground Podcast

﷽ al-Salāmu ʿalaykum and welcome to Episode 60 of the Middle Ground Podcast. The following is a short talk by I gave after Fajr Prayer on the meaning of struggle and the importance of making struggle meaningful. Allāh says in the Qurʾān: يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلْإِنسَـٰنُ إِنَّكَ كَادِحٌ إِلَىٰ رَبِّكَ كَدْحًا فَمُلَـٰقِيهِ فَأَمَّا مَنْ أُوتِىَ كِتَـٰبَهُۥ بِيَمِينِهِۦ فَسَوْفَ يُحَاسَبُ حِسَابًا يَسِيرًا وَيَنقَلِبُ إِلَىٰٓ أَهْلِهِۦ مَسْرُورًا O mankind! You are indeed laboring restlessly towards your Lord, and will meet Him. Therefore the one who has his book handed to him from his right-side will have an easy reckoning and will be returned to his people, happy. — Sūrah al-Inshiqāq I focused in particular on two terms in this Sūrah: * striving ( kadḥ ) and * how the striving through those difficulties will turn us over to “our people” ( inqilāb ) in the Hereafter. “There are people that have never met us, and that are there waiting for us, and— in shāʾ Allāh —by Allah's mercy and His faḍl , if we arrive in that way, we have people that will be the happiest people that will ever want to see us.” Imam’s Corner is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Imam’s Corner at www.imammarc.com/subscribe

﷽ Welcome to Episode 59 of the Middle Ground Podcast. The following is from my post-Fajr talk on October 11th, 2026, discussing memory and remembrance. The opening passages of Sūrah Yūnus and Sūrah al-Sajdah share several themes, including Allah’s creation of the heavens and the earth, His governance of all affairs, and the repeated invitation to remember Him. This repetition in the Qur’ān serves an important purpose. By encountering the same ideas in different passages, sometimes expressed in slightly different language, we begin to recognize their relationships and develop a more coherent understanding of the Qur’ān. This leads to an important distinction between memory and remembrance ( dhikr ) . Memory allows us to recall information and experiences, while remembrance gives those experiences meaning by connecting them to our awareness of Allah. The Qur’ān repeatedly invites us to engage in this process through the question, أَفَلَا تَتَذَكَّرُونَ (Will you not remember?), encouraging a form of reflection that continues beyond the immediate moment of reading or listening. Imam’s Corner is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Imam’s Corner at www.imammarc.com/subscribe

﷽ The great Muslim scholar, Ibn Taymiyyah, once said: الفقر لي وصف ذات لازم أبداً كما الغني أبداً وصف له ذاتي. “Neediness is an intrinsic attribute of mine, inseparable from me forever, just as self-sufficiency, forever, is an intrinsic attribute of Him.” This episode of the Middle Ground Podcast is from our Friday Night Ḥalaqah (September 25 2026). Imām Marc expands on a ḥadīth qudsī from Friday’s khutbah in which Allāh declares that He has prepared for His devoted worshippers “what no eye has seen and no ear has heard” , tied to the verse in Sūrah al-Sajdah that “no soul knows what has been prepared for it”, the qurrat al-’ayn — the “coolness of the eyes.” The contrast he draws is between this life, which by design leaves us restless with our eyes always chasing novelty, our hearts stirred by trends that expire and the Here-After, where satisfaction never runs out, illustrated by the description of a man in paradise who gazes at his wife for forty years and never tires. So the beginning of training our palate, our souls, to pursue what actually satisfies rather than what merely gives a temporary dopamine hit, is the topic of this episode. Imam’s Corner is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Imam’s Corner at www.imammarc.com/subscribe

﷽ One of this world’s defining qualities is it’s filled with lies and deceptions. From make-up crises, predictions by so-called “experts”, non-stop political and cultural arguments, scandals, and endless speculation about what may happen next, it becomes fatiguing. Sūrah al-Nabaʾ cuts through that noise by directing our attention to the one event that cannot be postponed or avoided: the Day of Judgment (يوم القيامة) The Sūrah begins with people in disarray, disputing the reality of the Day of Judgment only to end with a scene completely the opposite: the day has arrived. A day in which the Spirit ( Rūḥ /Angel Gabriel) and the other angels standing in ranks, with no one speaking except by Allāh’s permission. And unlike this dunyā every word will be the truth. What once seemed distant has now arrived. The way in which Allāh presents this Day to us ought to change the way we should think about time and about our deeds. The Qurʾān says that on that Day a person will see: يَوْمَ يَنظُرُ ٱلْمَرْءُ مَا قَدَّمَتْ يَدَاهُ “the Day every person will see what their hands have sent ahead” - 78: 40 meaning, we think our deeds and actions are in the past but in reality they’re in the future waiting for us. But the Quran never leaves mankind without direction and guidance. We should focus on which path we are taking back to our Lord: a path of humility, obedience and servitude, or a path of disobedience, hedonism, and obstinacy: ذَٰلِكَ ٱلْيَوْمُ ٱلْحَقُّ ۖ فَمَن شَآءَ ٱتَّخَذَ إِلَىٰ رَبِّهِۦ مَـَٔابًا “Whoever so will should take a path back to his Lord.” - 78: 39 al-Qurṭubī explains maʾāb (مآب) as “a return to Allāh through righteous action” . The destination is unavoidable : Allah! But the path one takes toward it is still open . The question is therefore not whether we are returning to Allāh—we are—but how we are traveling there, and what we are sending ahead of ourselves before we arrive. Imam’s Corner is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Imam’s Corner at www.imammarc.com/subscribe

﷽ This episode is from our Friday Ḥalaqah. Picking up from where we left off in our khuṭbah today, we discussed not only how humans tend to only change when when presented with a crisis, we also talked about how change takes grit, determination and courage, as found in the statement of the Prophet ‎ﷺ احرِصْ على ما يَنفَعُكَ، واستَعِنْ باللهِ ولا تَعجِزْ “Guard that is beneficial for you, seek help through God, and don’t be weak!” itself taken from a longer ḥadīth, “The strong believer is better and more beloved to Allāh than a weak one though each has good in them 1 .” * Taken from Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim no. 2664. Imam’s Corner is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Imam’s Corner at www.imammarc.com/subscribe

﷽ In this episode I discuss my brief participation in the the conference, If He Were Among Us , put on by the Rahma Center in Lake Forest, CA. I noticed that many of the participants were asking about perfection as it related to following the Prophet ‎ﷺ. I share a few reflections in this post-Fajr talk from this Sunday, August 30th, 2026 for our Fajr Club & Breakfast. Imam’s Corner is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. The ḥadīth is the one collected in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī : ارجِعوا إلى أهليكم فكونوا فيهم، وعَلِّموهم ومُروهم، وصَلُّوا كما رَأَيْتُموني أُصلِّي، فإذا حضرَتِ الصَّلاةُ فلْيُؤذِّنْ لكم أحدُكم، ولْيَؤُمَّكم أكبرُكم “Return to your families and remain among them. Teach them and instruct them, and pray as you have seen me pray. When the time for prayer comes, let one of you give the adhān, and let the eldest among you lead you in prayer.” My thanks to Shaykh Atef and the Rahma Center for inviting me to share a few thoughts. Get full access to Imam’s Corner at www.imammarc.com/subscribe

﷽ By nature, we love an underdog. When a sports team “beats the odds” we love to cheer for them even if we were booing them just a week ago for losing. When momentum builds—whether in a political campaign, a business venture, or a spiritual/religious experience—it is easy to ride the bandwagon and pledge to the promise of future exploits. Yet the Qur’ān and Islamic ethics treats unfulfilled speech not as harmless optimism, but as a critical spiritual and legal liability. Imam’s Corner is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. A Little Backstory Behind Sūrah al-Ṣaff Sūrah al-Ṣaff opens with a divine rebuke of those who were bragging about their exploits and their hollow promises they were making to God and the Prophet ﷺ: “O you who believe! Why do you say that which you do not do? Most hateful it is with Allah that you say that which you do not do.” Qur’an, Sūrah al-Ṣaff 61:2–3 In his tafsīr , Imam al-Qurṭubī explains that this verse emerged during a pivotal moment in Madīnah. Following the miraculous underdog victory of the Prophet ﷺ and the Muslims at Badr, bandwagon enthusiasm surged. People began over-committing, swearing that if another battle arose they would sacrifice everything just to be there, yet when the Battle of Uḥud came, many retreated. Others engaged in outright hypocrisy and deception, taking credit for feats of valor they never actually performed. One man even claimed he had killed a combatant at Badr when he was never there. al-Qurṭubī categorizes speech that departs from reality into two categories: * Kadhib : Falsely claiming credit for sacrifices or work you never completed. * Khulf : Making bold vows in an emotional rush, only to quietly abandon them when execution requires real effort. The Four Categories of Commitments Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) classifies human pledges into clear legal and ethical rulings: * Unconditional Vows (Nadhr Taqarrub Mubtadaʾ) : A direct, voluntary devotional vow made to Allah (e.g., “I owe a fast for Allah’s sake”). This is universally binding by scholarly consensus (ijmāʿ) . * Conditional Vows (Nadhr Muʿallaq) : Pledging worship contingent on securing an outcome (e.g., “If my business succeeds, I will donate $X”). Imams Mālik and Abū Ḥanīfah hold that once the outcome occurs, fulfillment is non-negotiable . * Causal-Linked Promises (Waʿd Manūṭ bi-Sabab) : A pledge made to another that induces them to take financial or logistical action (e.g., “Sign the lease, and I will cover the first month”). Because the other party incurred liability relying on your word, this promise is legally binding by consensus . * Standalone Promises (Waʿd Mujarrad) : A bare commitment with no prerequisites. While Imām Mālik noted it may not always be judicially enforceable in court (qaḍāʾan) , breaking it destroys one’s nobility, spiritual integrity, and personal honor (makārim al-akhlāq wa-ḥusn al-murūʾah) . The Wisdom of Sustainable Consistency We often default to dramatic promises because we mistake momentary inspiration for genuine capacity. When a Bedouin came to the Prophet ﷺ asking if fulfilling only the baseline pillars of Islam without additional voluntary devotions would grant him Paradise, the Prophet ﷺ affirmed that it would (recorded in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim no. 11, English / Arabic ). True spiritual and religious maturity lies in recognizing your limits, guarding your tongue, and delivering reliably on the baseline rather than building a reputation on unfulfilled hype. Get full access to Imam’s Corner at www.imammarc.com/subscribe

﷽ Sūrat al-Maʿārij offers a sobering picture of the Day of Judgment: * a day when when a woman would abandon her own child; * a day when I man would offer his own mother as ransom to escape the Fire! But the Sūrah also teaches us how to live before that day arrives. Imam’s Corner is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. In this post-Fajr khāṭirah , we reflect on the relationship between īmān and security and why both hardship and prosperity are tests: it’s all in how you look at it. Allāh singles out al-muṣallīn—the people of prayer —as those capable of remaining steady through both. Ṣalāh , the daily prayer, particularly when practiced in congregation ( jamāʿah ), produces the kind of people who give others their rights, who honor their trusts, speak truthfully, and remember their ultimate accountability before Allāh. Sūrah al-Maʿārij also offers an important lesson for Muslims living amid hostility and ridicule: confront evil when necessary, but do not allow those who oppose Islam to determine your sense of security, belonging, or self-worth. Our task is to remain faithful, build together, and remember that our security ultimately comes from Allāh—not from the approval of others. Get full access to Imam’s Corner at www.imammarc.com/subscribe

﷽ It’s not just Muslims feeling the gaze of Big Brother these days: it seems everyone everywhere all the time is feeling like we’re all under the every-increasing watchful eye of the Surveillance State. There is no veil from this surveillance. So how should we as Muslims feel about this and what might we do about it? Imam’s Corner is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Build It Local & Live Off the Land I know this sounds more like a fantasy or an idea, something you’d see on YouTube with someone living an ideal and charming life “off-the-grid” in a van. But after my experience building my own OCR AI tool using Qwen, a tool which runs locally on my laptop, this might be an opportunity for Muslims to explore the open-source space and stake out our claim. We cover this and more in Episode 51 of the Middle Ground Podcast . Here’s some items of interest we think you might want to explore: * deflock.org : an open-source project mapping license plate readers. * Rialto police make late-night TV thanks to irresponsible surveillance ( warning some profanity). * What is a panopticon ? We thought you’d never ask! * For more info on the Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) app (an AI design pattern that improves large language model [LLM] accuracy by fetching relevant facts from external sources such as PDF’s) that I’ve built, watch this video: * Islamic Economics as an answer to the ribā/usury/ vs. mutual-risk/muʿāmalāt model. Let’s move away from a casino economy. * Elevate your critique : Muslims, including myself, have been shouting “western!, western!” from the rooftops for God knows how long but we’ve got to elevate our critique because in many ways the world quietly moved past our static critiques, stealthily creating a world which is completely western: the only difference now is to which degree of westerness are we talking about? Get full access to Imam’s Corner at www.imammarc.com/subscribe

﷽ Welcome [back!] to Episode 50 of the Middle Ground Podcast with Imam Marc Manley and brother Dawud Aleman. We discuss our absences, life in the intervening year or so, and how we still cultivate hope and faith in the ridiculous times we’re living in. Watch the podcast on YouTube as well: Imam’s Corner is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Imam’s Corner at www.imammarc.com/subscribe

﷽ Welcome back to another episode of the Middle Ground Podcast. This one will be short and sweet as I share some feedback from a brother who reached explaining that he felt burnout and longing from ideological fatigue. Imam’s Corner is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Imam’s Corner at www.imammarc.com/subscribe

﷽ al-Ḥamdulillāh it was my pleasure to speak at the 10th Annual Family Symposium for Muslim Family Foundation: Roots of Wellness, alongside Dr. Deana Helmy, sister Ahlam Gheith and Shaykh Ḥasan Radi. Imam’s Corner is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Being a non-professional I wanted to bring a somewhat different perspective to the table to challenge and, in shā’ Allāh, improve how Muslim, mental health professionals and otherwise, look at and trust the wester secular approach to healing the human soul. In the talk I referenced mainly two works of interest. * Hunter, James Davison. The Death of Character: Moral Education in an Age Without Good or Evil . Basic Books, 2000. * Rieff, Philip. The Triumph of the Therapeutic: Uses of Faith After Freud . Harper Torchbooks, 1968. Many thanks to Muslim Family Foundation, Dr. Ali Al-Saadoon, the panel members, all who attended and especially brother Mohamad Nasser for inviting me. Get full access to Imam’s Corner at www.imammarc.com/subscribe

﷽ al-Ḥamdulillāh I was invited again by the gracious folks at Masjid al-Fatiha of America , located in Azusa, California. I’ve worked closely with this family-run masjid for years. Imam’s Corner is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Imam’s Corner at www.imammarc.com/subscribe

﷽ Many Muslims today speak of “love”: for Allāh, for the Prophet ‎ﷺ, etc. And while having love for Allāh and the Prophet ‎ﷺ are indeed noble ambitions it would also seem that the current emphasis on love has come at the cost how we see obedience. It would seem for some Muslims today that talk of fearing Allāh and striving for obedience is akin to negativity. Others have conflated love with mercy. But the Qur’ān, however, addresses these qualities quite differently and separately . If we examine how the Qur’ān commands us to fear Allāh, such admonitions are unencumbered and straightforward. In contrast love is conditional: “If you love Allah, then follow the Prophet ﷺ.” — ‘Āl ‘Imrān v. 31 or that there are those that Allāh loves, and those He doesn’t: “Surely Allah loves those who always turn to Him in repentance and those who purify themselves.” — al-Baqarah v. 222 and “Surely He [Allāh] does not like the wasteful.” — al-Aʿrāf v.31 In other words love—especially love to Allāh and/or His Prophet ‎ﷺ is proven through devotional commitment ( ittibāʿ ) and obedience ( ṭāʿah ), not merely self-selecting sentiment. As for mercy ( raḥmah ), Allāh says that it encompasses everything : “My mercy encompasses everything.” — al-Aʿrāf v. 156 In fact, Allāh’s mercy—in this life —extends even to those who don’t believe in Him or even reject Him outright. Yes, Allāh shows mercy to the believer and the non-believer alike (though not necessarily equally ). In fact, as we leaned in our Satuday ʿaqīdah class, Allāh’s mercy can be understood as having two branches if you will: the aforementioned all-encompassing mercy for everything and everyone in this life, and a specially mercy reserved for those who believe in Him for the Next Life. The point being here is that we should not collapse mercy into love. Imam’s Corner is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. A great example of this is the sotry of Qarūn (Korah, in the Bible). His story illustrates how misplaced love—especially of wealth—can blind judgment. Those around him admired him, even coveting to be in his place. But when Allāh caused the earth to swallow him, they realized that Allāh alone expands and constricts provision. In fact, in the Qālūn ( Madanī ) reading of the 82nd verse , we see an additional highlight that differs from the Ḥafṣ reading, وَيَقْدِرُ ۖ لَوْلَآ أَن مَّنَّ ٱللَّهُ عَلَيْنَا لَخَسَفَ بِنَا ۖ “Had it not been for the grace of Allah, He could have surely caused the earth to swallow us up!” in the reading according to Qālūn, it becomes, وَيَقْدِرُ ۖ لَوْلَآ أَن مَّنَّ ٱللَّهُ عَلَيْنَا لَخُسِفَ بِنَا ۖ “Had it not been for the grace of Allāh we would have been swallowed up by the earth!” (passive) In the latter case, the verb in the passive voice underscores our powerlessness and the need for fear in order to sober and reorientate our hearts. Get full access to Imam’s Corner at www.imammarc.com/subscribe

﷽ So much of today’s “spiritual” discourse turns faith into a dopamine-trap where we seek to obtain, or in some cases, avoid, a certain mood. On this treadmill of mood chasing fear is always “bad,” love is always “good.” But what we are in need of today isn’t just obtaining the perfect “vibe” but instead, we need to be taught the skills which are necessary and conducive to contemplation and reflection. We need to return to a knowledge-based engagement with the Book of Islām which means we’re going to have to study. Systematic study. Yes, we’re going to have to learn the language of revelation—Arabic—because everything in our Dīn flows from the Qur’ān in its language (as well as the Sunnah). These sciences of revelation are not the tools of gatekeepers; they are the tools by which we can authentically and effectively contemplate ( tadabbur ) and reflect ( tafakkur ) with consistency and discipline, not just sentiment. Imam’s Corner is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. It goes without saying that we all need an emotional bond with the Qur’ān but feelings built on hawa (emotions/passions) and speculation won’t suffice in and of themselves. Real attachment grows out of consistent and rigorous learning. Beware of performative “piety” that entertains yet leaves you without acquiring the tools to learn. Seek teachers who impart methods, not just stories. The onus is on you to choose paths and mentors that raise the waterline of knowledge so you can truly engage this Book with is “guidance for the God-fearing” ( hudan lil-Muttaqīn) . This short talk is meant as an invitation, not an admonition. A pray that we can all build a sturdy foundation of knowledge from which love can spring deep from within that well. Get full access to Imam’s Corner at www.imammarc.com/subscribe

﷽ Welcome to Episode 46 of the Middle Ground Podcast. In this episode I want to discuss a new (and disturbing) trend I’ve noticed in the social media landscape, namely Muslims making videos in which they claim the non-practicing Muslims are somehow actually “doing Islām more” than those who do. Can this be true? You can listen to the audio podcast or watch the video below. Imam’s Corner is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Imam’s Corner at www.imammarc.com/subscribe

﷽ Welcome to Episode 45 of the Middle Ground Podcast. For this episode I’m sharing an excerpt from my Saturday class on ʿaqīdah , otherwise known as “creed”; i.e., the things we Muslims must believe in and things we must reject . But the study of ʿaqīdah is much more than a list of do’s and don’ts. It should ultimately impact our character as well. I share a anecdote of a lesson I recently learned while visiting my 92-year-old father in the hospital. Imam’s Corner is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Imam’s Corner at www.imammarc.com/subscribe

﷽ Welcome to Episode 44 of the Middle Ground Podcast. Today, while driving to Jumu’ah, I wanted to share some thoughts of mine on the state of Muslim thinking and politics particularly as it relates to Zohran Mamdani’s bid for NYC mayor and the need for American Muslims to mature in their religious, and political, thinking. Imam’s Corner is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Imam’s Corner at www.imammarc.com/subscribe

﷽ Welcome to Episode 43 of the Middle Ground Podcast. Today I want to discuss the current paradox we’re living in: the paradox of “infinite” digital options. This paradox has left many (if not most) us more distracted, less fulfilled, and suffering from a kind of spiritual malnutrition. Friedrich Nietzsche, the 19th Century philosopher, presaged the age of the “smart”-phone by warning of the dangers of losing our will to exert ourselves against external forces. What he foretold of nihilism now manifests as endless scrolling: a flood of content that means nothing, an curated attrition. Our minds and more specifically, our hearts, overwhelmed by choice and a dearth of serendipity, have succumbed, resigning us to a doom of passive consumption. We confuse abundance with freedom, but true freedom requires boundaries. Algorithms, despite the ubiquitous presence, are neither neutral or natural; they inform our desires and corral us into predictable patterns like lambs for the slaughter. But Nietzsche’s vision of the Übermensch is not the answer. After all, he is famously attributed to the statement, “Gott ist tot/God is dead” . What we need today is not the Übermensch but the muḥsin , the one who creates values and lives by them, striving for God’s pleasure as if he sees God , though in spite of not being able to do so, the muḥsin knows God sees him . In todays context this will undoubtedly include a reclaiming of our attention. We must strive to align our habits, digital, analog, and otherwise, with our highest values, namely Islām, not our lowest impulses. What I’m advocating for here, with all due respect to Cal Newport, shouldn’t be misconstrued as a kind of digital minimalism; it's precisely an Islāmic and spiritual resistance. The Qur'ān isn't an echo chamber; it's a resonance chamber. Echoes repeat cacophonously. Resonance transforms you. We must build a digital philosophy grounded in Islām: rooted in submission (Islām), faith (Īmān), and excellence (Iḥsān). This means creating principles for tech use that serve our goal of achieving Jannah (Paradise), not endless, short-lived dopamine hits. In an age where every scroll is tracked, then perhaps the revolutionary act is to stop and choose. Real freedom is not infinite content; it is deliberate attention, guided by purpose. Recommended Actions: * Digital Intention Journal : Before opening any app, write down your purpose and time limit. Reflect after. * Algorithmic Sabbaticals : One day a week, consume only human-recommended content. * Information Sanctuaries : Designate time for deep, distraction-free engagement with one source. * Digital Containers : Set fixed times (e.g., 30 mins a.m./p.m.) for digital use. * Create Islamic Digital Principles : Define three tech-use rules aligned with Islām, Īmān, and Iḥsān. * Weekly Discovery Day : Seek novelty outside the algorithm: libraries, friends, strangers, random tools. * Choose Content in Advance : Decide what to watch/read before opening apps. * Reframe Tech Use as Worship : Ask: does this tool help me emulate the Prophet? * Reclaim Will to Power : Choose what nourishes you—not what hooks you. * Embrace Constraints : Boundaries don’t limit creativity; they make it possible. Get full access to Imam’s Corner at www.imammarc.com/subscribe

﷽ Welcome back to the Middle Ground Podcast with Episode 42. Here, Imam Marc Manley takes into an important—and uncomfortable topic—that continues to stir headlines and town hall debates across America: Sharī’ah law. The issue here is not the fears and concerns of non-Muslims; as Imam Marc states, it’s not the obligation of Muslims to make non-Muslims comfortable with Muslims and Islām. Instead, the problem is the caricature of sharī’ah that’s being presented as factual in political campaigns and viral fear-mongering social media videos. This episode endeavors to unpack what Sharī’ah really means for Muslims, especially Muslims living in a non-Muslim society and how Sharī’ah shapes the personal lives of Muslims (and maybe even influencing not public laws), challenging the caricature and assumption that Sharī’ah is something always to be “imposed” upon others (a misconception even some Muslims have bought into). Imam’s Corner is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. You’ll hear a candid conversation on the difference between divine and secular law, as well as how fear of Islam shapes not just social opinions but public and governmental policy, and what it means to confidently assert your faith without compromise. Whether you’re Muslim, Christian, or just trying to make sense of religion in modern America, this is one you don’t want to miss. Get full access to Imam’s Corner at www.imammarc.com/subscribe