Raw Islam with Imam Azhar Raw Islam with Imam Azhar

On this episode of the Raw Islam podcast, Imam Azhar and B.C. Dodge talk about the last ten days and what they mean and why they are so important.



Both agree that while this Ramadan has seemed peaceful, it has been a busy one.

On this, halfway through Ramadan episode of the Raw Islam Podcast, the listeners voted in the Twitter poll, and Imam Azhar and B.C. Dodge talk about the all-female mosques.



Yet, before we can get into the meat of the episode, something is bothering Imam Azhar that he needs to get off his chest – people arming themselves to attend prayers in the mosque. There have been shootings in other religious venues, such as synagogues and churches, and there was not much conversation around the topic of worshipers arming themselves to attend services.

This episode of the Raw Islam podcast opens on a very somber note, as Imam Azhar addresses the arson attack on a mosque in the United States. While he wanted to talk more on this topic, as you know, the concept of the show is that you, the listeners get to pick the issue that we talk about in our weekly Twitter poll, and the winner this week was “Religion on Death Row.”







There have been court cases where an inmate on death row has requested that an Imam prays with him before his execution. The request went as far up as the Supreme Court. If the Constitution of the United States guarantees us the freedom of religion, doesn’t that mean that someone on death row has the right to have an Imam or Buddhist Priest with them in their final moments?







The same week that this news broke, Omar Suleiman gave the opening prayer in the House of Representatives. After he gave this prayer, he was targeted online as being anti-Semitic for his personal on Palestine and Gaza.







The bigger question then becomes, is it religion in America on death row, or is it just Islam?







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This episode of the Raw Islam podcast recorded at the start of Ramadan, and the picks from this week’s poll were “How was your first fast?” and “What’s on your Iftar plate?”



As B.C. Dodge turns the mic back over to Imam Azhar, he realizes that it isn’t iftar time in Texas yet. But have no fear, Imam Azhar is always prepared, and he knows what will be on his plate in an hour or so – it was a salad.

On this episode of the Raw Islam Podcast, Imam Azhar talks

about the real Ramadan, what it really means to Muslims, and to non-Muslims.

With Ramadan only six days away it is time to start preparing all the meal plans and the iftars you’re going to attend, but in the case of B.C. Dodge – make sure the dates are in the fridge (he tends to forget every year).



But before we dive head into all that, the Imam takes a moment

of silence for all the lives that have been lost, around the globe – from Africa

to Ohio, to California, to North Carolina – in just the last week. In taking

this moment, the Imam uses the word “normalization.”



Imam Azhar expresses concern over the normalization and acceptance

of these murders as, of these souls forcibly removed from this earth, and it

is treated as just another day.



As B.C. returns the show back to the topic of Ramadan, he

asks the Imam about his work as an Imam and a community leader in regard to

fact vs fiction around Ramadan “traditions.”

On this episode of the Raw Islam podcast, Imam Azhar address the current and ongoing desecrations of houses of worship. While we know this show tends to focus on Islam, when we say houses of worship, we mean Churches, Synagogues, Mosques, and everything in between.