On this episode, Dr. Adnan Husain invites back Dr. Arial Salzmann, Associate Professor of Islamic and World History at Queen’s University, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 2003 Invasion of Iraq by the US military and its allies. With almost 500,000 Iraqis dead, the Iraq War continues to shape the modern Middle East. Together with Dr. Husain, Dr. Salzmann offers an in-depth analysis of the devastation of the Iraq war and reflects upon the war’s history, the contemporary social and political ramifications, and the continued lack of accountability for anyone responsible for the mass casualties in Iraq.

In this episode, Dr. Adnan Husain speaks with writer, photographer and M.A Student, Shahroz Khan, regarding his upcoming master's thesis on the Kafala system and the migrant labour regimes under neoliberalism. For the last two years, Shahroz has been working behind the scenes as the main producer of the Majlis and now Dr. Husain invites him to shed light on the Kafala system and help our audience historicize its emergence and understand how it became such a prominent part of labour system in the Middle East.  During the recent 2022 Fifa World Cup in Qatar, the Kafala system was a common topic in the media cycle, highlighting the constant abuse migrant workers experienced in the Gulf countries. Building on that, Dr. Husain and Shahroz discuss how the system is connected to the global neoliberal economy and connect it to other exploitative systems around the world. To follow more of Shahroz's work, you can connect with him on instagram. 

In this special live episode commemorating Islamic History Month in Canada, Dr. Adnan Husain takes the Majlis to the live discussion panel with Dr. Mohamed Abdou, where he discusses his book Islam and Anarchism. Specifically, Dr. Abdou talks about one part of the book called "Anarcha-Islam", which is geared towards an anti- and non-authoritarian understanding of Islam, and theologically challenges the classist, sexist, racist, ageist, queerphobic, and ableist inequalities in modern societies. You can find more of Dr. Abdou's work on his website or follow him on twitter. To get updates about the Majlis and live events at Queens University, please subscribe to our newsletter by signing up here

In this episode, Dr. Adnan Husain speaks with the historian of the modern Middle East, Dr. Djene Bajalan, about the Kurdish struggle in Iran and its impact on the ongoing protests in country. The discussion follows Dr. Bajalan’s article in Jacobin and offers insight into the nature of the protests in Iran, particularly focusing on the centrality of the Kurdish community. For more of his work, you can follow Dr. Bajalan on Twitter and listen to his podcast “This is Revolution”. To sign up for the MSGP newsletter, please follow this link.

In this special episode, M.A student Shahroz Khan catches up with the Mediterranean historian and an alum of The Majlis, Amel Bensalim. She inaugurated The Majlis as a podcast during her time as an M.A student at Queen's University, where she worked with Dr. Husain and Dr. Salzmann on the Hafsid Dynasty and trained as a 'Mediterranean-ist'. As a Ph.D. student at Princeton University's history department, Amel is currently working with Dr. Marina Rustow and researching the Geniza Documents, and how they paint an image of the medieval world. For more information on Geniza, you can go to The Princeton Geniza Project. To follow more of Amel's work, you can find her Twitter.

Welcome back to the Majlis! In this episode, Dr. Adnan Husain speaks with Muslim anarchist activist-scholar Dr. Mohamed Abdou, about his new book "Islam and Anarchism: Relationships and Resonances". Through this conversation and his research, Dr. Abdou seeks to disturb two commonly held notions - that Islam is necessarily authoritarian and capitalist; and that anarchism is necessarily anti-religious and anti-spiritual. Deeply rooted in key Islamic concepts and textual sources, and drawing on radical Indigenous, Islamic anarchistic, and social movement discourses, Dr. Abdou proposes 'Anarcha-Islam' and theologically challenges the classist, sexist, racist, ageist, queerphobic, and ableist inequalities in modern societies.  You can find more of Dr. Abdou's work on his website or follow him on twitter. 

On this episode of the Majlis, Dr. Adnan Husain and graduate student Shahroz Khan discuss the verbal art known as Qissah or Dastaan with Prof. Pasha M. Khan, Chair in Urdu Language and an Associate Professor at the Institute of Islamic Studies at McGill University. He is the author of The Broken Spell, which highlights the rise and fall of the art of Qissah in South Asia. Such storytelling techniques once flourished from Mughal India to Safavid Iran, entertaining and captivating audiences in villages and bazaars and, patronized by imperial courts. Pasha Khan discusses the history of early Qissah and its relevance in the Persinate world, and how British colonization ultimately led to its decline. We also hear the fun tale of Sami Pokar, the Anglo-Indian woman who turned into a cat. You can find Pasha Khan on Twitter. 

In this episode, Dr. Adnan Husain speaks with historian and essayist Prof. Juan Cole from the University of Michigan, about a new collection of essays and studies in his latest book Peace Movements in Islam. Contrary to the distorted and mainstream view of Islam as somehow inherently or uniquely violent, Prof. Cole argues that there is a dazzling array of Muslim organizations and individuals that have worked for harmony and conciliation through history. Expanding  Islam and its relationship to movements for peace, this episode discusses the necessity of bringing attention to how Muslims have looked to their faith to find inspiration for creating and uplifting peace movements throughout the world.  You can find more of Prof. Cole's work on his website or find him on twitter. 

In this episode, Dr. Adnan Husain speaks with gender studies scholar Dr. Dana Olwan as they discuss her most recent book "Gender Violence and the Transnational Politics of the Honor Crime". Dr. Olwan's research examines how certain forms of violence become known, recognized, and contested across multiple geopolitical contexts—looking specifically at a particular form of gender-based violence known as the “honor crime” and tracing how a range of legal, political, and literary texts inform normative and critical understandings of this term.

On Jan. 29, 2017, a lone gunman entered a mosque in Quebec City and opened fire on dozens of Muslim Canadians ending a prayer service. By the time the shooting had ended, tragically six worshippers had been killed, and 19 more injured. In this special episode, Dr. Adnan speaks to Canadian author, filmmaker, and creative producer Student Asim about his latest project in commemoration of the Quebec City mosque shooting. By going on the website islamophobia.io/jan29, listeners can participate in the project by writing a Letter of Remembrance for the Quebec City Mosque Massacre Victims.