logo
episode-header-image
Feb 2025
1h 24m

The Price of Progress: Economic Realitie...

MUHAMMAD JALAL
About this episode

Donate to the critical aid campaign at http://btml.us/thinkingmuslim


Africa is a resource-rich continent with immense potential. When countries within the continent demonstrate good governance and sound economic judgment, they thrive. It is, of course, overly simplistic to discuss Africa as a monolith. Yet some regions, particularly sub-Saharan Africa, continue to grapple with debt, poverty, and civil conflict. This is why the continent remains the most underdeveloped, leading to a brain drain of its most talented individuals to more prosperous nations. To what extent has the legacy of colonialism, in both its historical and contemporary forms, contributed to these challenges? How do we evaluate its potential, and what about the Muslim population, which numbers around 437 million – almost half of the continent?


To help us untangle and demystify Africa, we are honoured to have on The Thinking Muslim Professor Abdoulaye Ndiaye, an Assistant Professor of Economics at NYU Stern. He has written extensively about his home country, Senegal, and has recently published intriguing article examining Islamic concept of zakat and economic inequalities in the Muslim world within an Islamic understanding.


Also, for the past 16 months, we all know how difficult it has been for food and essential supplies to reach the beleaguered people of Gaza. This, Insha'Allah, is changing. We have partnered with a charity, Baitulmaal, because now, more than ever, there is a need not only in Gaza but also in Turkish controlled Northern Syria and in all the places we routinely talk about in this program where our ummah is subject to abject poverty. We have chosen this charity because Baitulmaal is a non-profit with people on the ground who organize well-thought-out projects and serve the most needy.


To donate to their Critical Aid campaign, please visit the link on our screen now and in the description. Please do remember that charity never reduces our risk and gives Barakah to our wealth.


You can find Prof. Abdoulaye Ndiaye here:

X: https://x.com/AbdouNdiayeNYU


Let me remind all viewers that to help us continue to engage critical thought at this time, Please consider becoming a Patron. https://www.patreon.com/TheThinkingMuslim


You can also support The Thinking Muslim through a one-time donation: https://www.thinkingmuslim.com/Donate


Listen to the audio version of the podcast:

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7vXiAjVFnhNI3T9Gkw636a


Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-thinking-muslim/id1471798762


Sign up to Muhammad Jalal's newsletter: https://jalalayn.substack.com


Purchase our Thinking Muslim mug: https://www.thinkingmuslim.com/merch


Find us on:


Patron. https://www.patreon.com/TheThinkingMuslim


Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinking_muslim


Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Thinking-Muslim-Podcast-105790781361490


Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thinkingmuslimpodcast/


Telegram: https://t.me/thinkingmuslim


BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/thinkingmuslim.bsky.social


Host: https://twitter.com/jalalayn


Host IG: https://www.instagram.com/jalalayns/


Website Archive: https://www.thinkingmuslim.com



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Oct 7
2 Years On: Has the Resistance Won? With Dr Norman Finkelstein
Help us expand our Muslim media project here: https://www.thinkingmuslim.com/membershipDonate to our charity partner Baitulmaal here: http://btml.us/thinkingmuslim This week on The Thinking Muslim, we have Dr. Finkelstein to discuss Gaza two years after October 7, 2023. We explor ... Show More
1h 14m
Sep 30
Charlie Kirk - is the US heading for Civil War? Imam Tom Facchine
Help us expand our Muslim media project here: https://www.thinkingmuslim.com/membershipImam Tom Facchine joins us to discuss the MAGA Right’s stance on 9/11, why the Right must wake up to Israel’s propaganda, and the importance of Muslims building strong institutions.You can find ... Show More
52m 41s
Sep 19
The Gaza Doctor TRUMP Needs To Hear | Dr. Bilal Piracha
Help us expand our Muslim media project here: https://www.thinkingmuslim.com/membershipDr Bilal Piracha has just returned from a haunting trip to Gaza. He shares the stark reality: the extermination campaign is in its final stages, and we are running out of time. Dr Piracha is an ... Show More
58m 32s
Recommended Episodes
Nov 2019
#049: The Walking Quran: Insights from Islam in Africa w/ Dr. Bilal Ware
Dr. Bilal Ware is a historian of Africa and Islam. He is professor at UC Santa Barbara. He earned his Ph.D. in 2004 at the University of Pennsylvania where he trained in African History, African-American History, and Islamic Intellectual History. His research spans the last thous ... Show More
1h 11m
Sep 22
Wendell Marsh, "Textual Life: Islam, Africa, and the Fate of the Humanities" (Columbia UP, 2025)
Textual Life: Islam, Africa, and the Fate of the Humanities (Columbia University Press, 2025), is a groundbreaking book that recasts the role of knowledge in the making of a colonial and postcolonial nation. It makes a case for a new literary and intellectual-historical approach ... Show More
53m 46s
Feb 2025
114: What Does The Reviver of Islam Look Like in the 21st Century? w. Dr. Ermin Sinanovic
Dr. Ermin Sinanovic, Executive Director of the Center for Islam in the Contemporary World at Shenandoah University and a Faculty Associate in Research at Cornell University, explores the concept of Mujaddid (the renewer of Islam) and their relevance in the 21st century. He studie ... Show More
56m 34s
Feb 2025
Samar Al-Bulushi, "War-Making as Worldmaking: Kenya, the United States, and the War on Terror" (Stanford UP, 2024)
Since Kenya's invasion of Somalia in 2011, the Kenyan state has been engaged in direct combat with the Somali militant group Al-Shabaab, conducting airstrikes in southern Somalia and deploying heavy-handed police tactics at home. As the hunt for suspects has expanded within Kenya ... Show More
1h 8m
May 2025
123: How Horses Collapsed The Muslim Empire w. Saad Yaqoub
Georgetown PHD Candidate ,Saad Yaqoub, reveals the untold history of the rise and fall of Muslim civilization. The answer is: horses? Saad also debunks the myth of a unified and monolithic Islamic empire and the notion of “golden ages” in history. Lastly he gives a blueprint for ... Show More
1h 19m
Jul 2024
E97: Imam Shafí Advise On Success, Marriage, Money, Envy & Travel w. Sh Ammar AlShukry
Sh. Ammar AlShukry recites beautiful poems that give insight into the life of Imam Shafi, one of the greatest Muslim scholars in history. Who surprisingly dealt with a lot of envy and hatred from other Muslims. He dealt with deep loneliness and speaks about the importance of trav ... Show More
2h 11m
Feb 2024
E79:The ProphetﷺLost Ring, Pirates of the Caribbean & Crows of the Arabs w. Mustafa Briggs
Mustafa Briggs once again joins the podcast with a jampacked episode full of fascinating stories of Muslim figures throughout history. The origin and definition of "Taha" & "Yasin" are Ethiopian? The Fierce first female sultana! The crows of the arabs - the poets! The prophet Muh ... Show More
1h 44m
Jul 2018
The Mali Empire: Sundiata And Mansa Musa
This is the second episode in our series on Islam in West Africa. In this episode, we're going to explore the origins of the Empire of Mali. We'll also take a look at two of its most popular rulers: Sundiata and Mansa Musa. Sundiata is mostly known through the Epic of Sundiata. W ... Show More
1h 27m
Aug 18
Contemporary Moroccan Thought | Mohammed Hashas
We delve into the need to fill the literary and intellectual gap in Moroccan scholarship, the impacts of notable contemporary Moroccan philosophers and thinkers, and how their ideas engage with local, regional, and global issues like modernity, democracy, and human rights. Dr Moh ... Show More
54m 40s
Sep 22
How Muslims Neglected The Heart and How to Fix it | Ustadh Mohamad Baajour
In this heartfelt episode, we sit down with Ustadh Mohamad Baajour, Director of Tarbiyyah at EPIC Masjid, to explore the central role of the heart in Islam. From his childhood in Beirut to his work in Texas, Ustadh Baajour shares personal stories, powerful hadith reflections, and ... Show More
58m 59s