Not From Here

Jaafar Issa
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You don't feel like you belong here, you go home and don't feel like you belong there either. Congratulations, you're not from here. Join the club.

  1. 5 days ago

    Was Leaving Home Worth It? (8 years in america)

    Was leaving home actually worth it or are we comparing everyday life in one country to a vacation in another? In this solo episode of Not From Here, we challenge how we romanticize our home countries and the West, exploring what moving abroad gives us and what even success can’t replace. We discuss: Why a vacation back home isn’t the same as building a life there. The assumptions we make about community, religion, and whom we can trust. Finding opportunity abroad while feeling guilty about leaving. Watching parents grow older from a distance. Whether we miss home or a chapter of life that moving back cannot recreate. Whether you left home or grew up abroad dreaming of moving back, this conversation is about comparing real lives not idealized versions of either place. 🏠Venture Title Agency: https://vtclosings.com/ ☕️ Detroit Perk Coffee: https://detroitperk.com/  Download the app: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/detroit... ⚖️ Hall Makled: https://www.hallmakled.com/ +1 (313) 788-8888 Connect with Jaafar: https://www.instagram.com/podnotfromhere/ https://twitter.com/JaafarrIssa https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaafar-issa-8046a419b/v 00:00 Was Leaving Home Actually Worth It? 01:09 The Life You’re Imagining vs. Reality 03:53 Visiting Lebanon Isn’t the Same as Living There 06:11 Living in Lebanon on an American Salary 07:44 Ad Break 09:26 Can You Trust “Your Own People”? 11:41 Religious Appearances vs. Actual Character 13:15 What Moving Abroad Can Actually Improve 15:39 Less Money, but More Hope 17:30 Watching Your Parents Age From Far Away 20:02 Survivor’s Guilt While Living Abroad 21:44 Do You Miss Home—or Your Old Life? 23:24 Loving Lebanon Without Moving Back 25:30 Would I Leave Again? 26:16 Why Moving to America Was Harder Than I Expected

    Was Leaving Home Worth It? (8 years in america)

  2. 7 Sept

    Catfished by the FBI: “They Wanted Me to Join ISIS For Love”

    Khalil Abu Rayyan was 21 when he was arrested following an FBI investigation into his alleged support for ISIS. He was never charged with terrorism, but received a five-year prison sentence for firearms offenses. In this episode of Not From Here, Khalil joins Jaafar Issa to share his account of the undercover relationship, the investigation, and what happened after his arrest. We also get into the loneliness that preceded it, what his family went through, and the parts of his life he is still trying to rebuild. In this conversation, we discuss: * His search for belonging as a young Arab American Muslim, and the online activity that attracted the FBI’s attention. * The woman he wanted to marry, their messages, and how he discovered she was undercover. * A year in solitary confinement and the prisoner he credits with saving his life. * Finding faith and Muslim brotherhood inside an American prison. * His father’s prison visits and what it meant to see him cry. * Learning to trust people after release, returning to school, and why he still struggles to forgive himself. Sponsors: 🔑 Ali Rida Team: https://soldbyrida.com/ 🛏️ Detroit Furniture: https://detfurniture.com/ ☕️ Detroit Perk Coffee: https://detroitperk.com/ Download the app: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/detroit... ⚖️ Hall Makled: https://www.hallmakled.com/ +1 (313) 788-8888 Connect with Khalil: https://www.linkedin.com/in/khalil-abu-rayyan-97965a33a/ Connect with Jaafar: https://www.instagram.com/podnotfromhere/ https://twitter.com/JaafarrIssa https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaafar-issa-8046a419b/v 00:00 Intro 02:01 Identity, Drugs & the Search for Belonging 08:53 ISIS Propaganda & His Online Persona 12:48 The First Woman Who Messaged Him 15:27 The Undercover Woman He Wanted to Marry 20:35 The Day the FBI Arrested Him 26:38 The Charges & His Five-Year Sentence 30:49 A Year in Solitary Confinement 34:08 The Prisoner Who Helped Him Survive 37:15 Finding Faith in a Prison Cell 46:17 His Father’s Visits & the Impact on His Family 54:19 Life After Prison & an Alleged FBI Offer 01:01:14 Learning to Trust People Again 01:04:59 Confronting His ISIS Messages 01:09:16 Loneliness & Wanting to Be Loved 01:11:36 Rebuilding His Life Through TikTok & Education 01:20:09 Still Having Nightmares About Prison 01:24:44 The Terrorism Allegations vs. His Conviction 01:30:36 Regret, Shame & Taking Responsibility 01:34:43 Does He Feel His Family Has Forgiven Him? 01:37:04 Why He Still Can’t Forgive Himself 01:48:44 Advice for Young Men Feeling Lost

    Catfished by the FBI: “They Wanted Me to Join ISIS For Love”

  3. 31 Aug

    Being Muslim is Hard & God Knew We Were Going To Fail

    What does it actually take to be a Muslim? In this solo episode, I reflect on discipline, desire, struggle, forgiveness, and what it means to keep trying, even when you fall short. Because maybe being Muslim was never supposed to be effortless. Referenced Lectures/Episodes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59-rA7ZoBzQ&t=2671s https://youtu.be/v5kElYw-Oiw?si=LP_f4_xUERc1z1Mc https://youtu.be/xxGA89us2tU?si=VNaWXspkk0n99v5n Sponsors:  🔑 Ali Rida Team: https://soldbyrida.com/ 🛏️ Detroit Furniture: https://detfurniture.com/ ☕️ Detroit Perk Coffee: https://detroitperk.com/  Download the app: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/detroit... ⚖️ Hall Makled: https://www.hallmakled.com/ +1 (313) 788-8888 00:00 Intro 01:55 Trying to Stay Muslim 06:00 Hard Work, just not for Faith 12:54 How Being Muslim is Hard 22:56 God Knew We Would Fail

    Being Muslim is Hard & God Knew We Were Going To Fail

  4. 24 Aug

    She Built a $10M Law Firm. Then Everyone Started Leaving | Dewnya Bazzi

    What happens when you build a $10 million company with people you trust, then watch them start walking away one by one? Dewnya is an attorney, entrepreneur, founder of ATLAW, and author of The Visionary Builder. But behind the success was a period that forced her to question the business she built, the way she led, the people around her, and ultimately herself. In this episode, we discuss: * How Dewnya built a law firm doing roughly $10M in business and what happened when her partners and attorneys began leaving * The leadership mistakes she had to confront instead of simply blaming the people who walked away * How the collapse affected her financially, including the moment her family had to seriously consider selling their home * Why she believes our community struggles to celebrate other people's success * The pressure immigrant communities place on entrepreneurship and being your own boss * Why success never seemed to feel like enough * Forgiveness, rebuilding trust, and what the entire experience taught her about people Sponsors: 🏢J&J Insurance Managers: https://insurancebyjj.com/ 🏠Venture Title Agency: https://vtclosings.com/ ☕️ Detroit Perk Coffee: https://detroitperk.com/ Download the app: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/detroit... ⚖️ Hall Makled: https://www.hallmakled.com/ +1 (313) 788-8888 Connect with Dewnya: https://www.instagram.com/dewnyabazzi/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/dewnya-bazzi/ The Visionary Builder: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H8B1PR71?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plpRedirect=mhFallback Connect with Jaafar: https://www.instagram.com/podnotfromhere/ https://twitter.com/JaafarrIssa https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaafar-issa-8046a419b/v 00:00 Intro 01:29 Dewnya Returns to Not From Here 03:05 From “No Home” to “Daughter of South Lebanon” 08:32 Moment Zero: The $10M Firm’s Thin Foundation 14:33 Her Partners Leave the Firm 22:20 Why Everyone Wants to Go Out on Their Own 31:37 The Moment After They Walked Out 37:02 What She Learned From Everyone Leaving 43:20 Rumors & Reputation 50:04 “We Have to Sell the House” 58:13 The $100,000 Check 1:07:45 The Ahmed Framework: A Leadership Lesson From Her Son 1:11:07 Why Success Never Feels Like Enough 1:16:02 The Empty Theater Exercise 1:22:11 Forgiveness, Resentment & Finding Hope Again

    She Built a $10M Law Firm. Then Everyone Started Leaving | Dewnya Bazzi

  5. 17 Aug

    He Investigated America's Most Hidden Assassination: "The President Didn't Even Mention It"

    On October 11, 1985, Alex Odeh kissed his wife goodbye, went to his office in Santa Ana, California, and opened the door. A bomb went off. He was the West Coast director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, and more than 40 years later, no one has ever been arrested. The president at the time never said a word on camera. William Youmans is a professor at George Washington University, raised in Dearborn, and the co-director of a new documentary investigating the assassination. He has spent his career researching how America watches, uses, and erases its Arab American community. In this episode: - The suspects who were under surveillance before the bomb, then disappeared - The pro-Israel group that had Alex on a list and cops on their payroll - Why Reagan stayed silent about a bombing in his home county - The CIA recruitment tent at the Arab festival on Warren Avenue - How Dearborn was used to sell the war on terror - Al Jazeera's $2 billion failure to enter America Sponsors: 🔑 Ali Rida Team: https://soldbyrida.com/ 🛏️ Detroit Furniture: https://detfurniture.com/ ☕️ Detroit Perk Coffee: https://detroitperk.com/ Download the app: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/detroit... ⚖️ Hall Makled: https://www.hallmakled.com/ +1 (313) 788-8888 Connect with William: https://www.instagram.com/willlafi/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-youmans-39541150/ Connect with Jaafar: https://www.instagram.com/podnotfromhere/ https://twitter.com/JaafarrIssa https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaafar-issa-8046a419b/v 00:00 Intro 01:49 Who Is William Youmans? 04:10 The Curse of Not Belonging Anywhere 08:04 Wiretaps, Informants, and Provocateurs 12:21 The CIA Tent at the Arab Festival 15:36 Ad Break 16:46 How Dearborn Was Used to Sell the War on Terror 25:41 The Assassination of Alex Odeh 32:50 Why a Bomb? 35:39 Netanyahu, Giuliani, and the Silence 38:10 Why Al Jazeera Wasn't Welcome in America 40:18 Ad Break 41:23 The $2 Billion Failure of Al Jazeera America 55:07 Is There Hope? 59:16 The Only Statue of an Arab American 1:02:32 The Lost Arab American TV Archive 1:07:14 The Muhammad Ali and Malcolm Kerr Tapes 1:10:53 What the First Generation Built

    He Investigated America's Most Hidden Assassination: "The President Didn't Even Mention It"

  6. 10 Aug

    Everything You Believe About Quitting Your 9-5 & Owning A Business Is A Lie

    You hate your job but you're scared to leave. Or you want to start a business but you don't know if you're built for it. This episode is how you actually decide. Nora Farhat built a corporate career from Michigan to Abu Dhabi, left it all at 35, and went on to build, buy, and sell multiple businesses. Now she runs several companies and leads the Arab American Women's Business Council. In this episode: ▸ Employee or business owner: how to know which one you are
▸ The 2 questions to answer before you start any business
▸ Why your side hustle isn't a business
▸ Why a business only fails when you decide it failed
▸ Building a business as a mom: guilt, sacrifice, and what your kids actually need to see
▸ Raising kids with grit when they have everything you didn't Sponsors: 🏢J&J Insurance Managers: https://insurancebyjj.com/ 🏠Venture Title Agency: https://vtclosings.com/ ☕️ Detroit Perk Coffee: https://detroitperk.com/ Download the app: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/detroit... ⚖️ Hall Makled: https://www.hallmakled.com/ +1 (313) 788-8888 Connect with Nora: https://www.instagram.com/nora.farhat/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/nora-farhat-4b4504b5/ Connect with Jaafar: https://www.instagram.com/podnotfromhere/ https://twitter.com/JaafarrIssa https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaafar-issa-8046a419b/v 00:00 Intro 01:46 Who Is Nora When She Looks in the Mirror? 03:48 Lucky People Aren't Lucky: The Power of Awareness 10:33 Employee or Business Owner: The Truth About Both Paths 20:33 How to Know If a Business Idea Is Worth Pursuing 25:13 Boring Businesses, Ego & Seven-Figure Exits 29:39 Why Your Side Hustle Isn't a Business 34:07 Leaving Corporate as a Mother 38:27 Starting a Business Without Sacrificing Your Kids 44:32 Millionaires Have 6 Income Streams 46:21 Mom Guilt Is a Lie 55:08 A Business Only Fails When You Decide It Failed 1:00:08 When to Sell & the Firing Mistake That Changed Everything 1:13:15 Raising Kids With Grit When They Have Everything 1:16:59 The Only Woman in the Room 1:28:07 The Career Test That Said She'd Only Be a Secretary

    Everything You Believe About Quitting Your 9-5 & Owning A Business Is A Lie

  7. 3 Aug

    Muslim Chaplain: I Watched Hundreds Of People Die & They All Regret The Same Things

    What do people say when they know they're dying? Dr. Naveed Baig was the first hospital imam in Denmark's history. He spent 15 years at the bedsides of the dying and served as a prison chaplain to men society gave up on. He has watched hundreds of people take their final breath. We flew to Copenhagen to find out what they told him. Most of us live like death is far away. We stay harsh on ourselves, fear God instead of loving Him, hold grudges we plan to fix later, and chase things the dying say never mattered. This episode is about fixing that before it's your turn. In this episode: * What the dying actually regret, and why it's never their sins * Why we grew up fearing an angry God, and the image that replaced it * The final words of a terminally ill woman that changed his faith * What happened when a two-year-old's life support was turned off * Can a murderer be forgiven, and can he forgive himself? * Why "have sabr" can hurt someone who is grieving * Why prisoners turn to Islam behind bars * Sunni or Shia? Why nobody asks at the end Sponsors: 🔑 Ali Rida Team: https://soldbyrida.com/ 🛏️ Detroit Furniture: https://detfurniture.com/ ☕️ Detroit Perk Coffee: https://detroitperk.com/ Download the app: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/detroit... ⚖️ Hall Makled: https://www.hallmakled.com/ +1 (313) 788-8888 Connect with Naveed: https://www.instagram.com/naveed.baig.1975/?hl=en https://www.linkedin.com/in/naveed-baig-392a9731/ Connect with Jaafar: https://www.instagram.com/podnotfromhere/ https://twitter.com/JaafarrIssa https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaafar-issa-8046a419b/v 
00:00 Intro
01:19 Who do you see in the mirror?
04:31 Be gentle with yourself: the harshness we inherited
11:57 Becoming Denmark's first hospital imam
16:38 What hospital staff never understood about Muslim patients
23:38 The room where a child's machine was turned off
27:43 What the dying confess
33:53 Why we learned to fear God instead of love Him
39:04 The mother who was tired of hearing "have sabr"
42:47 Families who scream at the imam
47:33 "I'm going to meet my Beloved"
49:13 Inside the prison: first prayers and unforgivable sins
53:15 Can a murderer forgive himself?
1:00:13 How deathbeds changed his view on Islam
1:02:52 "Our boat is sinking": the divide killing us
1:05:02 What actually matters at the end

    Muslim Chaplain: I Watched Hundreds Of People Die & They All Regret The Same Things

  8. 28 Jul

    The Marriage Advice Abused Women Get From Our Religious Leaders Is Worse Than You Think

    Dr. Sameera Ahmed is a licensed clinical psychologist and the founder of The Family & Youth Institute, one of the leading research organizations on Muslim mental health in America. For 25 years, she's been in the room with Muslim couples, seeing what actually happens in our marriages behind closed doors. In this episode, she reveals why the fights are never about what we think they're about, and shares what she's witnessed with her own eyes when abused wives went to religious leaders for help. In this conversation, we talk about: * The one question behind almost every fight in a marriage * In-laws, financial abuse, and the real top 5 causes of conflict in Muslim marriages * The intimacy disconnect between husband and wife * What she witnessed sheikhs tell emotionally abused wives * The premarital step that dramatically lowers divorce rates * The point where a marriage is truly beyond saving Sponsors: 🏠Venture Title Agency: https://vtclosings.com/ ☕️ Detroit Perk Coffee: https://detroitperk.com/ Download the app: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/detroit... ⚖️ Hall Makled: https://www.hallmakled.com/ +1 (313) 788-8888 Connect with Dr. Sameera: https://www.instagram.com/drsameeraahmed/ https://www.instagram.com/thefyi_org/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/thefyi-sameera-ahmed/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-family-youth-institute/ Connect with Jaafar: https://www.instagram.com/podnotfromhere/ https://twitter.com/JaafarrIssa https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaafar-issa-8046a419b/v 00:00 - Intro 01:34 - Who is Dr. Sameera Ahmed? 04:19 - The perfect families you see are struggling 08:23 - It’s not about the dishes 13:18 - Ads 14:33 - The cycle that pushes couples apart 18:30 - Why love doesn't conquer all 26:38 - The telepathy expectation ruining marriages 29:25 - The #1 cause of conflict: In-laws 39:51 - What financial abuse looks like 47:13 - The intimacy disconnect between husbands and wives 49:53 - Red flags she catches before the wedding 52:40 - Ads 53:29 - The real work starts after the wedding 57:55 - What sheikhs told abused wives in front of her 01:06:32 - The hardest year of every marriage 01:10:32 - The point where a marriage can't be saved 01:16:12 - The questions our community needs to stop asking 01:21:36 - Why educated women can't find husbands 01:25:20 - Is she scared for Muslim marriages?

    The Marriage Advice Abused Women Get From Our Religious Leaders Is Worse Than You Think
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About

You don't feel like you belong here, you go home and don't feel like you belong there either. Congratulations, you're not from here. Join the club.

Information

  • Creator
    Jaafar Issa
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    137

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