The Journey podcast is a humble effort to document the spiritual path of my teachers, friends and family. I wanted to explore what people's spiritual journeys were like, especially those who travelled far to acquire knowledge. I hope this serves as an inspiration and motivation for others to seek knowledge near or far.
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The Journey podcast is a humble effort to document the spiritual path of my teachers, friends and family. I wanted to explore what people's spiritual journeys were like, especially those who travelled far to acquire knowledge. I hope this serves as an inspiration and motivation for others to seek knowledge near or far.
Like many Afghans, Imam Yama Niazi's family left Afghanistan during the Soviet invasion. By the '90s, he was an 18 year old aspiring rapper in Santa Barbara, California, a typical American teen who knew little about the religion but made a dua that changed the course of his life. One day, perhaps in answer to that dua, a mysterious visitor stopped by the family business. The visitor, a convert and former rapper, befriended him. He taught him how to pray, the basic tenets of the religion and mentored him. Imam Yama gave up rapping, began practicing Islam and eventually sought sacred knowledge. Through an ISNA catalogue, he learned about Shaykh Hamza Yusuf and started driving five hours weekly to the take classes with Shaykh Hamza in the Bay area. The classes introduced him to other scholars including Shaykh Salek ibn Siddina and Shaykh Muhammad Yaqoubi and a whole new world.
In this episode, Imam Yama narrates an emotional story of how Allah SWT guided him. He gives important and nuanced advice about dawah, the limits of interfaith work and the challenges of being an American Imam. He now lives in Vancouver, B.C., teaches youth classes at SeekersGuidance: The Global Islamic Seminary and runs the The Blessed Tree Foundation, a non-profit that focuses on spreading the beauty of Islam.
His story intersects with many familiar names: Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, Shaykh Salek ibn Siddina, Shaykh Shaykh Muhammad al-Yaqoubi الشيخ محمد اليعقوبي,,الحبيب عمر بن حفيظ - Habib Omar, Shaykh Yahya Rhodus, Shaykh Rami Nsour, Shaykh AbdulKarim Yahya, Ustadh Feraidoon Mojadedi, Shaykh Mufti Abdur-Rahman ibn Yusuf Mangera , Imam Zaid Shakir, Shaykh Faraz Rabbani, Shaykh Tameem Ahmadi
The Journey
The Journey podcast is a humble effort to document the spiritual path of my teachers, friends and family. I wanted to explore what people's spiritual journeys were like, especially those who travelled far to acquire knowledge. I hope this serves as an inspiration and motivation for others to seek knowledge near or far.
