#9 A More Muslim Japan

#9 A More Muslim Japan

The number of Muslims in Japan has almost quadrupled in the last two decades. Migrants are coming in ever greater numbers to work there from countries like Indonesia. And yet, Islam is still seen as this... foreign, elusive thing. This week on the show, reporter Tanita Rahmani follows two Muslim women who try to change things. And begin the long journey towards normalizing their faith and the slow making of a more Muslim Japan. All through a unique—and universal—lens: food. --- Credits: Reported and produced by Tanita Rahmani, with help from Nadeen Shaker. Story editing and original music by Salman Ahad Khan. Additional music by Alexander Overington. Sound design and engineering by Joe Plourde. Fact-checking by Heba Elorbany. This season of More Muslim is powered by Al Mujadilah, a center and mosque for women in Qatar. If you liked our show, please rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. A transcript of this episode will be available shortly on our website. More about our show at moremuslim.org. --- Guests: Hitomi Remon, founder of the Japan Halal Association [https://www.google.com/search?q=Japanese+Halal+Association+hitomi&client=safari&hs=c3NV&sca_esv=3b4cc2d9bc5e80fb&rls=en&sxsrf=ANbL-n7lRg8RaBxpRlVPeCe1D_1f9PBHOQ%3A1781130703086&ei=z-Upaor0BLuii-gP14rQ2Qs&ved=0ahUKEwjKl-z23P2UAxU70QIHHVcFNLsQ4dUDCBA&uact=5&oq=Japanese+Halal+Association+hitomi&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiIUphcGFuZXNlIEhhbGFsIEFzc29jaWF0aW9uIGhpdG9taTIHECEYChigATIHECEYChigAUiGC1CuAVjCCXABeACQAQCYAZoCoAGYDqoBAzItN7gBA8gBAPgBAZgCB6AC3gzCAgoQABhHGNYEGLADwgIOEAAY5AIY1gQYsAPYAQHCAhcQLhjcBhi4BhjaBhjYAhjIAxiwA9gBAcICBhAAGBYYHsICCxAAGIAEGIoFGIYDwgIFECEYoAGYAwCIBgGQBg66BgYIARABGAmSBwUxLjAuNqAHpSGyBwMyLTa4B9IMwgcHMC40LjIuMcgHHIAIAQ&sclient=gws-wiz-serp], the first body certifying halal for domestic Japanese products Esma Esra, founder of Tulu Tours [https://tulutours.com], a halal travel guide to Japan --- Further reading: To see some of the deep Japan spots where Esma and her groups prayed, check out @placesyoullpray [https://www.instagram.com/placesyoullpray/] on Instagram.

#8 The Travelling Sisterhood

As millions of Muslims complete Hajj this week, we revisit a question scholars have debated for centuries: can a Muslim woman make a journey like that without a mahram? This week on the show, host Sohaira Siddiqui recalls the first time she ran headfirst into that debate, when she decided to tell her parents she wanted to move to Jordan to study Arabic. And how that initial conversation at her parents' kitchen table led her to dive deep into centuries of scholarly debate on the topic, from the Mughal princess Gulbadan Begum's seven-year pilgrimage to Mecca, to the 2023 Saudi ruling that let women perform Hajj without a male guardian. Years later, in post-Arab Spring Egypt, a young woman in the middle of a spiritual crisis feels the same pull to leave, and signs up for a women's retreat in Morocco, hoping a group of new Muslims might help her find her way back to a faith she's losing her grip on. --- Hosted by Sohaira Siddiqui. Reported by Nadeen Shaker, with help from Tanita Rahmani. Produced by Tanita Rahmani. Editing by Salman Ahad Khan. Fact-checking by Heba Elorbany. Special thanks to Sadia Ramzan from The Muslim Women Travel Group, Parvez Siddiqui, and Suzanne Gaber. --- Suggested Reading: * Begum, Gulbadan. The History of Humāyūn (Humāyūn-Nāma) [https://archive.org/details/historyofhumayun00gulbrich]. Translated by Annette S. Beveridge. London: Royal Asiatic Society, 1902. * Lal, Ruby. Vagabond Princess: The Great Adventures of Gulbadan [https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300251272/vagabond-princess/]. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2024.

#7 In Therapy, With SheikhaGPT

When reporter Yassmin Abdel-Magied's friend tells her she's been using ChatGPT as a therapist, Yassmin doesn't know what to think. The chatbot calls her friend "habibti." Gives her Islamic relationship advice. It's helping her reconnect with her faith in ways no human in her life has been able to. But it's also a product built by a tech company with no foundations in Islamic psychology. This week on the show, Reporter Yassmin Abdel-Magied goes down a rabbit hole to try and understand Islam's relationship to mental health and whether AI can ever truly heal us. And she finds a Stanford professor asking herself the same questions. --- EPISODE CREDITS: Reported by Yassmin Abdel-Magied. Produced by Taqwa Sadiq. Edited by Sarah Qari and Salman Ahad Khan. Music by Alexander Overington and Salman Ahad Khan. Sound Design and Engineering by Alexander Overington. Fact-checking by Heba Elorbany. Illustration by Lina Jaradat. Special thanks to Muhammad Faruque, Sidrah Hassan, Merve Nursoy-Demir, Jacki Shoyeb, Ndaa Hassan, Tasneem, and Talia Augustidis. --- This season of More Muslim is powered by Al Mujadilah, a center and mosque for women in Qatar. If you liked our show, please rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. A transcript of this episode will be available on our website. More about our show at moremuslim.org [moremuslim.org]. Follow us on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/moremuslimshow/] at 'moremuslimshow.' --- Further reading: Awaad, Rania, and Merve Nursoy-Demir. Maristāns and Islāmic Psychology: A Historical Model for Modern Implementation [https://www.routledge.com/Maristans-and-Islamic-Psychology-A-Historical-Model-for-Modern-Implementation/Awaad-Nursoy-Demir/p/book/9781032359694]. [https://www.routledge.com/Maristans-and-Islamic-Psychology-A-Historical-Model-for-Modern-Implementation/Awaad-Nursoy-Demir/p/book/9781032359694] Abdel-Magied, Yassmin. “Are You Using ChatGPT for Therapy? [https://yassmin.substack.com/p/are-you-using-chatgpt-for-therapy]” Substack, 2025.

#6: Cape Malay: The Indonesian Roots of South African Islam

Growing up, Aina had heard about the transatlantic slave trade that enslaved Africans and took them to the Americas. But on one of her reporting trips, she was shocked to learn that, around the same time, Dutch colonizers were deporting and enslaving Muslims from Indonesia and shipping them thousands of miles... all the way to South Africa. This week, reporter Aina J. Khan takes us to Cape Town and tells the story of the Cape Malay, South Africa's oldest Muslim community. How they used their faith to survive through 400 years of slavery, colonialism, and apartheid. And why, today, they might be facing their most existential threat yet: gentrification. --- EPISODE CREDITS: Reported by Aina J. Khan. Produced by Catherine Boulle and Salman Ahad Khan. Original music and sound design by Salman Ahad Khan. Fact checking by Heba Elorbany. Engineering by Alexander Overington. Illustration by Lina Jaradat. --- This season of More Muslim is powered by Al Mujadilah [https://almujadilah.qa/en], a center and mosque for women in Qatar. If you liked our show, please rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. A transcript of this episode will be available on our website. More about our show at moremuslim.org [moremuslim.org]. --- Further reading: Baderoon, Gabeba. Regarding Muslims: From Slavery to Post-Apartheid [https://www.amazon.com/Regarding-Muslims-Post-Apartheid-Gabeba-Baderoon/dp/186814769X]. Johannesburg: Wits University Press, 2014. Jessa, Sirhan, and Jayne M. Rogerson. "Tourism Gentrification in Cape Town's Bo-Kaap: Socio-economic Transformations and Displacement." [https://apcz.umk.pl/BGSS/article/view/65362] Bulletin of Geography: Socio-economic Series 69 (2025): 129–143. Williams, Karen. "The Indonesian Anti-Colonial Roots of Islam in South Africa." [https://mediadiversified.org/2016/08/25/the-indonesian-anti-colonial-roots-of-islam-in-south-africa/] Media Diversified, August 25, 2016. Dangor, Suleman E. "Shaykh Yusuf of Macassar: Scholar, Sufi, National Hero — Towards Constructing Local Identity and History at the Cape." [https://media.neliti.com/media/publications/282843] Kawalu: Journal of Local Culture 1, no. 2 (2014).

#5 Hanabneehu: Rebuilding Sudan, One Class at a Time

When war broke out in Sudan in April 2023, Dr. Fairouz El Hijzi had to flee her home with her family. Two months later, as a hastily-appointed interim dean of architecture, she faced an impossible choice: give up on her students' futures or attempt to resume classes in the middle of the worst humanitarian crisis in modern history. This is the story of what happened when she and her students decided to keep hope alive and build a new future for Sudan in the midst of the destruction all around them. --- EPISODE CREDITS: Reported by Yassmin Abdel-Magied. Produced by Taqwa Sadiq. Edited by Sarah Qari. Original music, sound design, and engineering by Alexander Overington. Fact checking by Heba Elorbany. English translations voiced by Wa’ad Abu Obeida, Lina Altayib, and Hazim Ali. Special thanks to Ahmed Adm, Prof. Eisa Bashier Mohamad, Muhammad Fathallah, Hafsa Omar, Rawia Farog Khater Muhammad, Lubna Ahmed Hussein, and all the students and teachers who shared their stories. --- This season of More Muslim is powered by Al Mujadilah, a center and mosque for women in Qatar. If you liked our show, please rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. A transcript of this episode will be available shortly on our website. More about our show at moremuslim.org. --- Further reading: Amidst war & displacement in Sudan, my aunt won't stop educating [https://www.newarab.com/opinion/amidst-war-displacement-sudan-my-aunt-wont-stop-educating] | Yassmin Abdel-Magied, The New Arab Learn more about the ongoing crisis in Sudan at Keep Eyes On Sudan [https://eyesonsudan.net/].