Isnad Academy Podcast

Irshaad Sedick
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Isnad Academy | Classical Scholarship. Contemporary Relevance. We live in an era of information overload — and a crisis of authentic knowledge. The Islamic tradition has always had an answer: the isnad, the verified chain of transmission that separates sound scholarship from noise. Isnad Academy is built on that foundation. Our content — led by Shaykh Irshaad Sedick and rooted in the classical orthodox tradition — is designed for Muslims navigating a complex world without abandoning their deen. Our flagship podcast, The Strong Believer, tackles the prophetically diagnosed condition of the Ummah and offers a structured, scholarly path toward strength — for individuals, families, and communities. This is knowledge you can trace back.

  1. SUMUD | They Survived Apartheid Prison. They Said Israel Was Worse.

    4d ago

    SUMUD | They Survived Apartheid Prison. They Said Israel Was Worse.

    Two men from the Cape who once stood against apartheid boarded a boat for Gaza. They were seized in international waters, held in an Israeli prison, and sent home. This is their witness. Former Ambassador Faizel Moosa and Mogamed Faeek Ariefdien sailed with the Global Sumud Flotilla on its Spring 2026 mission. In this Strong Believer special they sit with Shaykh Irshaad Sedick and tell the story the headlines could not carry. The decision to go and what it cost their families. The interception at sea. The brutality of the prison ships and Ktziot detention. The salah led under a rifle. The shouts they sent through the prison walls so the Palestinians inside would know they were not alone. And what sumud and sabr came to mean once they had paid for them in their own bodies. The boat was stopped. The witness was not. Guests: Former Ambassador Faizel Moosa, humanitarian, struggle veteran, son of the late Judge Essa Moosa. Mogamed Faeek Ariefdien, Cape Town stalwart of the anti apartheid struggle. Host: Shaykh Irshaad Sedick, Isnad Academy. ⚠️ This episode contains accounts of violence and abuse. Viewer discretion is advised. #Sumud #Gaza #Palestine #GlobalSumudFlotilla #Flotilla #CapeTown #StrongBeliever #Sabr #FreePalestine #icjosh Chapter markers 00:00 Cold open: human trafficked in a container 00:57 Sumud and sabr: the opening 03:01 Meet the guests 04:53 Why we went: aid for the children 06:17 The 10,000 still behind: leaving the Palestinians in prison 07:21 Change it with the hand: the hadith that frames the episode 09:38 Raising the world's awareness 12:33 We stood on the holy grounds: redefining success 14:33 The power of dua in the cell 15:53 Was it a failure? Hudaybiyya and Fath Mubina 17:03 The decision: getting your affairs in order 19:46 Apartheid and Gaza: the same and not the same 21:43 On the boat: the spirit of the convoy 25:53 Dawah at sea: salah under a rifle 33:35 Shot on deck while his family watched live 37:08 The prison ships: containers, stun grenades, rubber bullets 41:00 Singled out as South African: the ICJ in the interrogation 43:00 Banu Nadir: destroyed by their own hands 50:19 Even the babies are terrorists 51:31 Whatever your passport says, you are Palestinian 54:09 The container, the boots, and the last kick of a dying horse 58:43 In the belly of the beast 01:00:17 Let them hear that we are here 01:02:14 Refusing to scream 01:03:50 What will you tell Allah? 01:05:33 Cyprus, the Western Cape, and the exit strategy 01:07:48 What you can do: Coke, coal, and the West 01:08:20 Wake up, Cape Town 01:11:25 The land convoy and the silence of Muslim states 01:14:36 Why I sail: I should have gone sooner 01:18:55 Seeing injustice at home 01:21:39 Closing: Surah al Nisa and a dua

    1h 24m
  2. Rooted - Episode 3 He Doesn't Go By Sheikh | Hafiz Raees Mohamad

    Jun 5

    Rooted - Episode 3 He Doesn't Go By Sheikh | Hafiz Raees Mohamad

    In a time when anyone can upload an Islamic video and call themselves a scholar, Islam has always been carried differently — from teacher to student, across generations, all the way back to the Prophet ﷺ. That chain has a name: isnād. ROOTED is Isnad Academy's flagship interview series. Conversations with South Africa's qualified Islamic scholars — the people who went to the source and came home. Rooted in tradition. Routed through the chain. Our third guest carries the chain quietly. Hafiz Raees Mohamad memorised the Qur'an as a child, walked out of grade five to do it, and later travelled to Tareem, Yemen — where he studied at Dar al-Mustafa under the supervision of Habib Umar bin Hafiz. He is the author of The Road to Tareem, a book endorsed by Shaykh Nuh Ha Mim Keller as "a real gem." He holds a postgraduate diploma and MBA from Henley Business School, serves in an executive role at Old Mutual Investment Group, and is currently pursuing a PhD enhancing Michael Porter's strategy models using prophetic strategy. He answers to "Brother," not "Sheikh." That is the conversation. In this episode we cover: Why a Hafiz of the Qur'an and a Dar al-Mustafa graduate refuses the title of SheikhArriving in Yemen during civil war with no Arabic, no contacts, and one return ticketWhat twelve months in Dar al-Mustafa actually feels like from the insideThe morning Habib Umar told him "I think you're ready to leave"Writing The Road to Tareem and the Uber ride that started itWhy he came home without the turban, the lexicon, or the performanceHow prophetic strategy outperforms corporate strategy in real boardroomsThe Mawlid in Madinah that proved Tareem travels with youAdvice for the young brother in Cape Town who wants the knowledge but not the costumeIsnad Academy hosts South African qualified scholars and provides professionally recorded courses for the global Muslim community. Subscribe to stay connected to the chain. 00:00 — Opening: To Be Rooted, To Be Routed 00:43 — Introducing Hafiz Raees Mohamad 02:01 — Why "Brother" and Not "Sheikh" 04:08 — Who is Raees Mohamad in His Own Words 06:07 — The Decision to Go to Tareem 08:49 — Survival: Arriving in Yemen at Civil War 14:05 — The First Two Months Felt Like Two Years 18:21 — Writing The Road to Tareem 21:55 — "I Want to Come Home" — The Call to His Mother 26:39 — Speaking Arabic at the Mawlid 27:39 — Breakfast with Habib Umar 31:01 — "I Think You're Ready to Leave" 32:14 — What Tareem Actually Did For Him 33:55 — The Scholar Who Becomes a Businessman 38:21 — When Your Non-Muslim Boss Asks If You Made Salah 45:25 — Advice to a Freshly-Returned Graduate 49:13 — The Community's Traditional IQ Has Risen 52:54 — Tareem Without the Turban 56:20 — What He Holds On To, Privately 01:00:39 — The Spirituality of Tareem 01:02:16 — The Madinah Mawlid: Tareem Travels With You 01:05:53 — For a Young Person Considering Tareem 01:08:31 — Quickfire Round 01:09:56 — Advice to the Brother Who Wants This Life 01:14:23 — A Month in Dar al-Mustafa Will Humble You 01:16:38 — Shaykh Nuh Keller on *The Road to Tareem* 01:17:30 — Be Your Own Person 01:18:21 — The Book That Brought Him a Wife, a Scholarship, and a Career 01:19:53 — Closing

    1h 19m
  3. Qurbani: Everything They Don't Teach You | with Mawlana Anees Kara

    May 15

    Qurbani: Everything They Don't Teach You | with Mawlana Anees Kara

    A practical, no-fiqh conversation about Qurbani with Mawlana Anees Kara of Maraisburg, Johannesburg. After nearly four decades in this work, Mawlana Anees brings the kind of practitioner knowledge that does not appear in any classical text or fatwa site: how to pick a healthy animal off the kraal, why some Qurbani meat tastes different and how to prevent it, the real difference between farm and home Qurbani, and the proper way to distribute meat with dignity. This is a standalone episode for the Eid al-Adha season. For fiqh questions about Qurbani, please refer to my other content on SeekersGuidance and on the Isnad Academy. Chapter markers below. About Mawlana Anees Kara Mawlana Anees graduated from Darul Uloom Zakariyya in 2009 and serves as the masjid's Khatib in Maraisburg. He runs K.A.Z Livestock and Game Meat Traders - a family project that has operated for over 36 years. #Qurbani #EidAlAdha #IsnadAcademy Chapter markers 00:00 Introduction 01:08 Meet Mawlana Anees Kahrah 02:25 Where to actually buy your animal 05:23 What an experienced eye looks for 07:59 Honesty in weight and pricing 10:54 Why lamb costs more than mutton 12:54 The two reasons Qurbani meat gets a bad name 15:25 Merino, Dorper, and the breeds question 19:31 Bringing your animal home and treating it right 27:35 Pros and cons of home versus farm Qurbani 30:54 Tasting wild, tasting bloody: the real reason 33:31 The post-slaughter process that fixes everything 36:55 Giving your meat away with dignity 38:47 The slaughter itself: knife, angle, technique 42:42 Aspiring to slaughter for the first time 46:38 Where to find Mawlana Anees 48:11 Closing dua

    50 min
  4. ROOTED | Ep. 2 — "He Came Home Different" | Sh Muhammad West

    May 8

    ROOTED | Ep. 2 — "He Came Home Different" | Sh Muhammad West

    In a generation pulled in every direction, ROOTED is a series about the ones who stayed grounded. The scholars who sat at the feet of their teachers and carried the tradition home. Sh Muhammad West is one of the few in his generation who carries two worlds at once. A graduate of the Islamic University of Madina and a chartered accountant. The imam of one of the oldest masajid in the country, Boorhanol Islam in the Bo-Kaap, and the treasurer of the Muslim Judicial Council. He is the Madina graduate who refused to come home and cut himself off from the community he disagrees with on secondary matters. He chose the harder road, the road of staying in the room. In this conversation, we sit with the formation of a scholar in Jeddah and Madina, the texture of his return, the Athari and Shafi'i fault lines, the cost of refusing tribalism, the romantic but halal proposal, the autistic son who is the happiest person he knows, the burnout he is only now learning to name, and the institution he is now responsible for the finances of. We talk about the MJC honestly. What it is, what it is not, why our forefathers thought it was non-negotiable, and what the path forward looks like for an organisation eighty years old that is finally being asked to explain itself. A conversation between two scholars and a long-time colleague about formation, friction, and the institutional servant’s reckoning. This is your deen. You deserve to understand it. 00:00 Cold open: just die as a Muslim 00:22 Opening monologue 02:25 Quick-fire opener 07:43 Jeddah as a child 10:50 Madina University from the inside 13:18 Coming home in 2011 17:45 The parents' search across Malaysia, Egypt, Jeddah 22:30 The mother's record 27:40 The maternal grandfather and the Silo gym call 33:30 The Madina student years 39:20 Teaching the Sirah from a minority lens 49:20 The Woolworths meeting 52:00 Athari, Salafi, and the time and place for debate 57:00 Sami Hamdi and the politics of Quran and Sunnah 01:00:40 Palestine and the heart right now 01:11:30 Just talk to Allah 01:17:25 The Romantic Proposal 01:21:00 The life of an alim's wife 01:31:30 Burnout and sharpening the saw 01:33:50 The MJC: what it actually is 01:46:35 Baytul Ulama in the absence of a Khalifa 01:55:50 Living with politics 01:57:55 Final advice for the seeker 02:00:00 The point of all of this #ROOTED #IsnadAcademy #IslamicScholarship

    2h 2m
  5. ROOTED | Ep. 1 — "He Went to the Source" | Shaykh Zaid Fataar Al-Azhari

    Apr 25

    ROOTED | Ep. 1 — "He Went to the Source" | Shaykh Zaid Fataar Al-Azhari

    We live in a time when anyone can upload an Islamic video and call themselves a scholar. But Islam has never been carried that way. It has always moved from teacher to student, across generations, all the way back to the Prophet ﷺ. That chain has a name: isnād. ROOTED is Isnad Academy's flagship interview series — conversations with South Africa's qualified Islamic scholars. The people who went to the source and came home. Rooted in tradition. Routed through the chain. Our first guest embodies both. Shaykh Zaid ibn Riad Fataar Al-Azhari left Cape Town at the age of six for Cairo, where he would spend the better part of his life inside one of the oldest universities on earth. At Al-Azhar he memorised the Qur'an, completed his Diploma in Islamic Sciences, and earned his BA in Islamic Theology — specialising in Aqīdah and Philosophy. He studied privately with Egyptian scholars, receiving ijāzāt in Hadith and Aqīdah. He returned to Cape Town, completed his Masters at the Madina Institute with a thesis on Al-Ghazali and Ibn Rushd — Revelation versus Reason — and has been serving the community ever since as imam, teacher, and founder of Dar At-Tawhid Institute. He currently serves as Head of Department for Islamic Studies at the Oracle Academy. He is, in the truest sense, a scholar who went to the source — and came back to us. In this conversation we cover: — What it means to grow up as a Cape Town child inside the Azhar world — The moment knowledge stopped being something forced and became something wanted — What isnād actually is and why it matters in an age when any fatwa is a Google search away — The three levels of ijāzah — and what each one actually authorises you to do — Why sitting with a scholar gives you something no YouTube video, PDF, or AI can replicate — The nūr of prophethood — and why it only travels heart to heart — How the ādāb of the scholars changed Shaykh Zaid more than their knowledge did — A real talāq case that showed exactly why wisdom cannot come from a book alone — The difference between being religious and performing religiosity — What our generation of scholars carries differently — and what that demands of us — What to say to a young Muslim who wants knowledge but doesn't know where to start or who to trust This is not a wellness podcast. This is not a highlight reel. This is a conversation about what it actually means to carry knowledge — and what Cape Town has quietly been producing for generations. ROOTED. Every episode, one scholar. One chain. One city at the bottom of Africa with more to offer the world than most people know. Isnad Academy is based in Cape Town, South Africa. Our mission is to connect the global Muslim community to authenticated Islamic scholarship — through live teaching, recorded courses, and platforms like ROOTED that make our scholars visible to the world. New episodes drop regularly. Subscribe and turn on notifications so you don't miss the next conversation. #IsnadAcademy #ROOTED #IslamicScholarship #SouthAfrica #CapeTown #Azhar #Isnad #IslamicKnowledge #MuslimPodcast #Ulama 00:00 — A Family Almost Broke Up (Cold Open) 00:12 — Welcome to ROOTED | Series Introduction 05:00 — Quick Fire: Coffee, Cairo & Astronomy 09:45 — Cairo at Six: Growing Up as a Foreigner 18:00 — The Quran is Everywhere in Egypt 22:00 — When Knowledge Became a Choice 31:00 — The Fish in the Tank: Entering the University 38:00 — The Turning Point: The Ādāb of the Scholars 44:00 — What is Isnād and Why Should You Care? 51:00 — The Soul Operation 57:00 — What is an Ijāzah? Three Levels Explained 01:02:00 — What a Teacher Gives You That a PDF Cannot 01:09:00 — The Nūr of Prophethood: Heart to Heart 01:12:00 — Egypt's Politics and the Colonisers' Legacy 01:23:00 — The FBI Story: Freedom We Take for Granted 01:29:00 — Do We Carry the Tradition Differently? 01:35:00 — The Worrying Trend: Religion as Fashion 01:52:00 — The Exciting Trend: Scholars in the University 02:03:00 — Final Advice to Young Seekers of Knowledge 02:08:00 — What's Coming from Isnad Academy

    2h 11m
  6. The Disease Has a Name | The Strong Believer S2E1

    Apr 17

    The Disease Has a Name | The Strong Believer S2E1

    The Muslim world is not confused. It is paralysed. And there is a difference. In this opening episode of Season 2, Shaykh Irshaad Sedick begins with a question asked outside a masjid after Isha: what am I supposed to do now? It is the question every Muslim is carrying. And the answer begins with a prophetic diagnosis that is 1,400 years old and more relevant today than it has ever been. We live in a time when the nations of the world have gathered. The feast the Prophet ﷺ described is not a metaphor anymore. It is the news. In the hadith of Thawban, narrated in Abu Dawud, the Prophet ﷺ foretold a time when the Ummah would be numerous but weak, like the foam on the ocean. Moved by every wave, unable to move anything else. He named the cause: wahn. And when the companions asked what wahn was, he said: hubb al-dunya wa karahiyyat al-mawt. Love of this world and hatred of death. That is the diagnosis. It has been sitting in our books for fourteen centuries. The question this season asks is: are we finally brave enough to face the cure? The cure is strength. Not strength as a motivational concept. Strength as a prophetic prescription. The strong believer is better and more beloved to Allah than the weak believer, even though there is goodness in both. Season 2 of The Strong Believer focuses on intellectual strength: how we build the kind of mind that can read this world clearly, think with the Quran as its foundation, and navigate what is coming without being broken by it. This episode covers: The question every Muslim is carrying right now and what it really meansThe hadith of Thawban and the prophetic diagnosis of the UmmahWahn in its contemporary forms: managed numbness, the guilt cycle, the waitingThe strong believer hadith as the direct prescriptionThe Quran as an intellectual foundation: one scholar's journey from a train to Darul NaeemWhat hubb al-dunya actually looks like in an ordinary Muslim life in 2026What karahiyyat al-mawt looks like when nobody is asking you to dieHadiths referenced: Hadith of Thawban on wahn — Abu Dawud Al-Mu'min al-Qawiyy — Muslim Al-Kayyis man dana nafsahu — Tirmidhi

    37 min
  7. After Ramadan: Istiqamah, Acceptance, and the Fight to Keep Going

    Mar 24

    After Ramadan: Istiqamah, Acceptance, and the Fight to Keep Going

    In this post Ramadan reminder, Shaykh Irshaad Sedick reflects on one of the most important questions facing every believer after Eid: what happens after Ramadan? Drawing on the verses of Surah Fussilat, the glad tidings given to those who say “Our Lord is Allah” and then remain steadfast, this talk explores the meaning of istiqamah, not as perfection, but as constantly getting back up and returning to Allah. Ramadan is not the finish line. It is the training ground. The real event is life itself. This episode reflects on acceptance, the six days of Shawwal, the danger of going back to old habits, the priority of salah and staying away from haram, and the wisdom of setting small, sustainable acts of worship that can remain with us until the next Ramadan. A timely reminder for anyone asking how to preserve the gifts of Ramadan and continue the journey with sincerity, humility, and hope. Chapter markers 00:00 Opening praise, verses, and hadith 02:03 Reflecting after Ramadan and asking Allah for acceptance 02:57 The practice of the salaf after Ramadan 04:21 What happens after the honeymoon of Ramadan? 04:46 We do not worship Ramadan, we worship Allah 06:24 Salah is not piety, it is the bare minimum 07:00 Shaytan is back, and the real fight begins 07:18 Ramadan as training, not the competition 08:25 The race analogy: training for the real event 09:44 The boxing analogy: get back up again 12:16 The meaning of istiqamah 13:19 Istiqamah is not perfection 15:03 We are not angels, we are human beings who keep trying 16:27 Surah Fussilat and the angels at the time of death 17:42 Do not fear and do not grieve 19:27 Glad tidings of Jannah before leaving this world 20:42 We were your allies in this world and the next 21:02 In Jannah you will have whatever your souls desire 22:42 Allah alone is our Rabb 23:21 They slipped, but they kept getting back up 24:12 Ask Allah for a good death 25:01 Now we are in the ring 25:36 The six days of Shawwal 26:56 Warming down after Ramadan 27:44 Can the six fasts be separate or must they be consecutive? 28:44 Combining qada with the six days of Shawwal 31:42 You cannot maintain Ramadan exactly outside Ramadan 33:17 Do not drop everything because you cannot keep everything 34:03 Focus on the bare minimum first 34:49 Stay away from haram and guard your salah 35:25 Set a ridiculously easy quota 37:24 Small consistency grows into something great 38:31 Use your five daily salahs as your ladder of growth 40:06 Why we fail: we set the bar too high 40:37 Build slowly and keep improving 41:18 Final dua and closing

    42 min
  8. The Ummah in Turbulent Times: Clarity on Iran, Israel, and the Region

    Mar 4

    The Ummah in Turbulent Times: Clarity on Iran, Israel, and the Region

    In this episode, I sit with Mln. Ebrahim Moosa from the Palestine Information Network for a frank conversation on the current escalation in the region and what it means for the wider Ummah. This is the full, raw recording as it was captured. It is not edited for tone, platform sensitivities, or soundbites. The aim is clarity: identifying the aggressor-victim framing, resisting oversimplification, and keeping our moral compass anchored while the timeline shifts fast. We also speak about: How public confusion is forming and why it is understandableThe danger of making any state a barometer for PalestineHolding political clarity without collapsing into theological confusionJustice, consistency, and the responsibility of speech in crisisRamadan: worship, dua, and meaningful action without escapism Listen with care, verify claims, and keep your heart anchored to Allah in a moment designed to disorient.

    44 min
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About

Isnad Academy | Classical Scholarship. Contemporary Relevance. We live in an era of information overload — and a crisis of authentic knowledge. The Islamic tradition has always had an answer: the isnad, the verified chain of transmission that separates sound scholarship from noise. Isnad Academy is built on that foundation. Our content — led by Shaykh Irshaad Sedick and rooted in the classical orthodox tradition — is designed for Muslims navigating a complex world without abandoning their deen. Our flagship podcast, The Strong Believer, tackles the prophetically diagnosed condition of the Ummah and offers a structured, scholarly path toward strength — for individuals, families, and communities. This is knowledge you can trace back.

Information

  • Creator
    Irshaad Sedick
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    173
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Isnad Academy Podcast