Bismillah,

Before we dive in — a personal request 🙏

If this story moves you, please subscribe, hit the bell, like, comment, and share. Your support helps us grow the channel and bring on even bigger guests for conversations like this.

In this episode, I sit down with Cllr Rukhsana Ismail, the Mayor of Rotherham, as she opens up for the first time about her journey, the challenges of online hate, and what it means to lead as a proud British Muslim woman. From criticism of her language to her viral “Proud British Muslim” video, she shares the raw truth about mistakes, resilience, faith, and finding peace under pressure.

Inside the conversation we cover:

– Dealing with online abuse and criticism

– Islam’s role in leadership and decision-making

– Overcoming personal and professional challenges

– Cultural vs religious practices and their clash in public life

– Finding inner peace while serving as Mayor

– Encouragement for struggling sisters in the community

Timestamps

00:00:00 – Emotional Mayor Announcement

00:02:19 – Welcome and Introduction

00:03:56 – Dealing with Online Abuse

00:11:18 – Responding to Language Criticism

00:13:02 – Making Proud British Muslim Video

00:18:07 – Islam’s Role in Leadership

00:22:34 – Overcoming Life Challenges

00:25:36 – Admitting Mistakes in Leadership

00:32:03 – Cultural vs Religious Practices

00:39:04 – Finding Inner Peace

00:46:12 – Helping Others and Saying No

01:11:03 – Encouragement for Struggling Sisters

#KaziShafiqurRahman #SideBySidePodcast #FirnasAirways #BritishMuslimEntrepreneur #MuslimPodcast #BusinessPodcastUK #BritishBangladeshiSuccessStory #AirlineStartupStory #FreshlyGrounded #BritishMuslimVoices #BritishBusinessDocumentary #HowToStartAnAirlineKazi #BuddiesLondon #Sunnamusk #KSRBuddies #BuddiesLondon #MuslimEntrepreneur #BoycottBrands #MiddleEastCrisis #MayorOfRotherham #CllrRukhsanaIsmail #Hijabi #UKPolitics #MuslimMayor #MuslimWomen