The Adnan Husain Show

Professor Adnan Husain, historian and scholar of religion, hosts a show spanning history, politics, global affairs, intellectual culture, as well as religion and spirituality. The format ranges from scholarly guest interviews, panel discussions, recorded lectures, and his own readings and commentary.

Struggle Session 7 Live w/Lara Sheehi and Nina Farnia 01/22/2026

Office Hours 17-Iran: Society under Sanctions w/David Yaghoubian 01/19/2026

Reflections on 2025; Visions for 2026 01/15/2026

2025 A Year in History w/Revolutionary Guerrilla Menace! 01/06/2026

The Imperial Theory Industry w/Gabriel Rockhill 12/19/2025

Office Hours 15-Sovereign Development vs. Imperialist War w/Bikrum Gill 12/03/2025

Office Hours 15-Sovereign Development vs. Imperialist War w/Bikrum Gill The radical academy is in session Friday, Nov. 21 at 5pm for Office Hours. In this session Adnan hosts Dr. Bikrum Gill, a professor at Virginia Tech, a scholar of international political economy, and member of the Anti-Imperialist Scholars Collective. We will talk about the key confrontation of our time: the possibility for sovereign development by peoples of the Global South and the imperialist wars waged against these projects by the colonial West. We'll examine these processes and projects of alternative development outside of Western capitalist hegemony, the geopolitical economies and ecologies of imperial capitalism, and the various theatres in which sovereign development is under violent intervention and attack across the globe. This will be an important discussion, so join us and post your questions and comments on socials and in the YT chat! Bikrum's research is guided by third world Marxist political and methodological commitments. He is concerned, in particular, with how the contradictions of capitalist imperialism bear upon the sovereign capacity of peoples in the Global South. His research and writings have inquired into this question through a focus on agriculture and development, the climate crisis, sanctions, and anti-colonial/anti-imperialist resistance. To prepare for Office Hours, you can read some recent pieces by Bikrum: You can have priority for your questions and comments by becoming a supporter and posting on patreon.com/adnanhusain or make a one time contribution via buymeacoffee.com/adnanhusain Support the show on Patreon if you can (and get early access to episodes)! Or make a one-time donation to the show and Buy Me a Coffee: Like, subscribe, share! Also available as audio podcast on all major platforms: https://adnanhusainshow.libsyn.com X: @adnanahusain Substack: adnanahusain.substack.com www.adnanhusain.org /episode/index/show/c4dcb37c-8f08-4246-a286-0f8feb6c4e23/id/39247080

Full Audio! Struggle Session 6 Live w/Nerdeen Kiswani, Sina Rahmani, Henry Hakamaki & Mehmet Ali Arslan 12/01/2025

Full Audio! Struggle Session 6 Live w/Nerdeen Kiswani, Sina Rahmani, Henry Hakamaki & Mehmet Ali Arslan The Struggle Session was back for November on Sunday Nov 23rd at 3pmET! Enjoy full audio of the program. This monthly livestream panel program is not convening to make you feel better--the unvarnished analysis and fierce self-criticism may make you feel a bit worse! But, it will inform and, hopefully, spur you to taking action. As Marx said, the point isn't just to understand the world but to change it. This is an activist panel for a much needed Struggle Session: Nerdeen Kiswani, founder of Within our Lifetime; Sina Rahmani, host of East is a Podcast and impressario/producer of the online tankie left; Henry Hakamaki, editor at ISKRA Books and co-host of Guerrilla History podcast; and Mehmet Ali Arslan, musician, activist, and co-host of Fredshetsarna podcast in Swedish and English. Join us for a wide-ranging discussion of the key developments and issues for the anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist, anti-genocide left. We'll talk about directions of the Palestine solidarity movement and Gaza resistance in light of the ceasefire/UN occupation force resolution that Russia and China didn't veto, Mamdani on the Left and MAGA civil war on the Right, Jolani at the White House and Kremlin, imperial wars on Venezuela, Lebanon, Iran brewing and much more. Post your questions, suggested topics, and comments. Note there are now two livestream formats: landscape and portrait depending on which fits best on your screen. So do choose the alternative if it doesn't show up properly on your mobile device or computer monitor/screen. You can get priority for your questions/suggestions/comments by posting on patreon.com/adnanhusain. Support the show on Patreon if you can (and get early access to episodes)! Or make a one-time donation to the show and Buy Me a Coffee: Like, subscribe, share! Also available as audio podcast on all major platforms: https://adnanhusainshow.libsyn.com X: @adnanahusain Substack: adnanahusain.substack.com /episode/index/show/c4dcb37c-8f08-4246-a286-0f8feb6c4e23/id/39146090

Bonus Full Audio! Office Hours 13-Sudan: Resistance, Compradors, an Existential Fight for Liberation w/Hamza Al-Muqawi 11/29/2025

No god but God--after 20 years w/Reza Aslan 11/26/2025

The Names of God (4): al-Rahman, "The Merciful" 11/19/2025

The Names of God (4): al-Rahman, "The Merciful" In this episode, Adnan and Marc explore the most frequently mentioned of the names that serves both as an attribute and a sort of "proper name" in some fashion. We explored the meanings of the Arabic root R-H-M that gives rise to "rahmah" or mercy as a noun and the two adjectival attributes al-Rahman and al-Raheem, the names that are part of the invocation of chapters of the Qur'an. We considered the particular onological and psychological relationships surrounding al-Rahman as the most merciful or the most benificent. In addition, we wrestled with questions of theodicy. How can we reconcile the manifest cruelty and oppression humanity has wrought--something the angels in Qur'anic origin narratives objected to and charged that humans would sow corruption and shed blood in the world rather than serve as responsible stewards--with the cosmic foundations of the universe in rahma/mercy and the fact that God is pre-eminently understood and uniquely described as al-Rahman? What can this possibly mean in the face of the suffering of most of the world's population in deprivation, during a time of genocide in Palestine and Sudan, as well as in the suffering and difficulty we all face in our lives? This was a problem medieval mystics and theologians also tried to think through. Intriguingly, these included a sense of a profoundly necessary social empathy as a spiritual value of making the name al-Rahman real that impels sacrifice for the weak, defenseless, and suffering. We had to recognize the limits of these discourses however and consider further what this might mean for the contemporary human experience from psychological and spiritual perspectives. Many issues and concerns came up in the discussion and particularly in contending with how we can understand spiritual and psychological growth in the apparent contradiction of cosmic mercy in a cruel world. that will flow naturally into the next episode on al-Raheem, the compassionate. Thank you for joining us in this journey through the Names of God. We look forward to your comments and questions. Support the show on Patreon if you can (and get early access to episodes)! www.patreon.com/adnanhusain Or make a one-time donation to the show and Buy Me a Coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/adnanhusain Like, subscribe, share! Also available in video on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@adnanhusainshow X: @adnanahusain Substack: adnanahusain.substack.com www.adnanhusain.org /episode/index/show/c4dcb37c-8f08-4246-a286-0f8feb6c4e23/id/39053335

West African Sufi Resistance and Contemporary Freedom Struggles w/ Butch Ware 11/10/2025

*UNLOCKED!* Indigenous Spiritualities and Anticolonial Resistance Movements w/Nick Estes 10/17/2025

UNLOCKED!! Office Hours #8 w/Nihal El Aasar: Full Audio 10/08/2025

The Names of God (3): Allah or The Divine Being 10/07/2025

Remembering Anticolonial Algiers: Panthers & Pan-African Revolutionaries w/Elaine Mokhtefi 09/26/2025

Subverting Syria: Dark Histories of US Empire w/Patrick Higgins 09/18/2025

Struggle Session #4 *UNLOCKED* 09/16/2025

The Airing of Grievances with Sina Rahmani & Friends 09/10/2025

The Names of God (2): Beginnings and Openings 09/03/2025

The Names of God (2): Beginnings and Openings Adnan and Marc continue their conversation about the Names of God in the Sufi Muslim mystical tradition and its wider resonances for spiritual experience and self-examination. In particular we observe some of the challenges of beginning such an ambitious project and the preparation required by discussing the openings to two major medieval Arabic commentaries on the divine names introduced in episode 1, al-Ghazali’s treatise on the “beautiful names” and al-Tilimsani’s commentary on the names and attributes as they appear in the Qur’an, the scriptural text of Islam. We also give a brief overview of the names to comment on the contrasts among the “jamali” and “jalali” or “beautiful” and “majestic” attributes as facets of the divine and the nature of apparent synonyms among the traditional 99 names. What does it mean that God self-describes in the Qur’an as both “the Just” and “the Merciful”, “the Punisher” and the “Forgiving”? How do these contrasting qualities, like “the First and the Last” or “the Hidden and the Manifest,” often paired in the devotional tradition of reciting the names, relate to the human encounter with these dimensions? We also respond to an interesting comment from a listener about our preference to translate as “the Complete Human” rather than “the Perfect Man” the concept the great mystic Ibn al-Arabi developed and we discussed in the first episode of the Insan al-Kamil. Marc has a new companion video on “Relating to God: the God image in Sufism.” You can follow his work: Support the show on Patreon if you can (and get early access to episodes)! www.patreon.com/adnanhusain Or make a one-time donation to the show and Buy Me a Coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/adnanhusain Like, subscribe, share! Also available in video on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@adnanhusainshow X: @adnanahusain Substack: adnanahusain.substack.com www.adnanhusain.org /episode/index/show/c4dcb37c-8f08-4246-a286-0f8feb6c4e23/id/38056390

Office Hours #5: Taking Action against Genocide and Empire w/Calla Walsh 09/02/2025

Office Hours #5: Taking Action against Genocide and Empire w/Calla Walsh An excerpt from a very exciting and inspiring Office Hours livestream Friday Aug 29, 5pmET. For the full conversation and full audio of all livestreams (Office Hours and Struggle Sessions), join patreon.com/adnanhusain. In this edition of Office Hourse, I talked with Calla Walsh about taking action against genocide and empire. Calla is a brilliant analyst and courageous anti-imperialist activist. She discussed her experience in Cuba solidarity, direct action against the Israeli genocide in Gaza with comrades following the example of Palestine Action (UK), about her recent trip to Iran, and her analysis of and thoughts about moving from spectatorship to action in resisting ZioAmerican empire and its genocidal violence in Gaza, Palestine, and beyond. Do not miss this edition of Office Hours w/Prof Adnan Husain. Again, you can hear the full audio version on patreon.com/adnanhusain and also watch for free on YT. These Office Hours and Struggle Session livestreams are meant for interaction and engagement. You can post questions to social media announcements ahead of time or join the YT livestream comments to post your questions and comments and also discuss with other members of the audience community. But, by becoming a patron and supporter, you will have priority for your questions, suggested topics and comments for livestream guests and panels. So join patreon.com/adnanhusain You can also support with a one-time donation via buymeacoffee.com/adnanhusain You can support Calla's work on Substack: In particular, support our political prisoners, notably T. Hoxha and now Casey Goonan on hunger strike. Calla calls for your action here: It has a toolkit for calling the prison administration to support political prisoners! Read her account of her trip to Iran: Support the show on Patreon if you can (and get early access to episodes)! www.patreon.com/adnanhusain Or make a one-time donation to the show and Buy Me a Coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/adnanhusain Like, subscribe, share! Also available in video on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@adnanhusainshow X: @adnanahusain Substack: adnanahusain.substack.com www.adnanhusain.org /episode/index/show/c4dcb37c-8f08-4246-a286-0f8feb6c4e23/id/38053225

Resistance Media Report w/Laith Marouf 08/27/2025

The Spirit of Bandung at 70: Anticolonialism and its Legacies w/Rabab Abdulhadi & Salman Sayyid 08/24/2025

Yemen: Solidarity and Resistance w/Isa Blumi, Part 2 08/20/2025

Settler Colonialism: History and Concept w/Laleh Khalili 08/16/2025

Yemen's History of Resisting Empire w/Isa Blumi, P. 1 08/12/2025

Yemen's History of Resisting Empire w/Isa Blumi, P. 1 In this first part of a two part series, Adnan has an epic conversation with Dr. Isa Blumi, historian and Professor of Turkish and Middle Eastern Studies at Stockholm University, about Yemen’s modern history of resisting colonialism geopolitically and global capitalism. Author of Destroying Yemen: What Chaos in Arabia Tells Us about the World, Dr. Blumi masterfully analyzes and integrates the geographic, social, economic, cultural, political and religious dimensions of Yemen’s distinctive historical experience. If you want to understand why Ansarullah as a popular movement has taken leadership of active solidarity with the people of Gaza in confronting ZioAmerican empire, this episode will be indispensable. To consult more of Dr. Isa Blumi’s recent work on Yemen and the Gulf region: Blumi, Isa. Destroying Yemen: What chaos in Arabia tells us about the world. Univ of California Press, 2018. Blumi, Isa. Chaos in Yemen: Societal collapse and the new authoritarianism. Routledge, 2010. Blumi, Isa. "The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)." In Government and Politics of the Contemporary Middle East, pp. 545-652. Routledge, 2023. Blumi, Isa, and Jaafar Alloul. "Guest-Editors’ Introduction: Re-Worlding the Gulf: Anomaly as Geopolitical Function." Middle East Critique 34, no. 2 (2025): 181-202. Blumi, Isa. "Imperial Equivocations Britain’s Temperamental Mobilization of the Caliphate, 1912-1924." Rivista italiana di storia internazionale 4, no. 1 (2021): 149-173. Blumi, Isa. "Iraqi ties to Yemen’s demise: Complicating the ‘Arab Cold War’in South Arabia." Journal of Contemporary Iraq & the Arab World 16, no. 3 (2022): 235-254. Support the show on Patreon if you can (and get early access to episodes)! Or make a one-time donation to the show and Buy Me a Coffee: Like, subscribe, share! Also available in video on YouTube: X: @adnanahusain Substack: adnanahusain.substack.com www.adnanhusain.org /episode/index/show/c4dcb37c-8f08-4246-a286-0f8feb6c4e23/id/37786835

There is no post-Gaza 08/07/2025

The Names of God (1): Introduction 08/04/2025

The Names of God (1): Introduction Adnan introduces a new series on the spiritual and devotional tradition of the Divine Names. A collaboration with phenomenological psychologist and student of Sufism, the mystical dimension of Islam, Dr. Marc Applebaum, the series explores each of the 99 "Beautiful Names" through Sufi mystical theosophy, Qur'anic commentaries, and spiritual experience and meaning. Drawing inspiration from medieval as well as modern spiritual texts within Islamic theology and Sufi writings as well as in other Abrahamic traditions and psychological and pheomenological scholarship, Adnan and Marc embark on an examination of the Names of God in the context of spiritual fulfillment and development as a path for realizing the full potential of what it means to be human, a complete human, in the world. Therefore, we hope this will be a valuable series for not only Muslims interested in the Islamic tradition on the 99 Names in Sufism or adherents of Judaism or Christianity, but also to those seeking nourishment and pathways for self-knowledge and growth of all varieties in or outside of religious traitions. In this introduction to the series, Marc and Adnan talk about: their interest in the Names; the Names' place in Sufi mysticism, particularly the "Akbarian" theosophical school based on the insights and writings of influential Sufi Shaykh Muhyiddin ibn al-Arabi; phenomenology as a philosophical approach grounding experience; and relevance to psychological and spiritual interpretations of the Names of God. For two short companion videos Marc made that elaborate more on his background as well as understanding of phenomenology and its relevance as an approach, see: More of Marc's work: Itlaq Foundation: Support the show on Patreon if you can (and get early access to episodes)! Or make a one-time donation to the show and Buy Me a Coffee: Like, subscribe, share! Also available in video on YouTube: X: @adnanahusain Substack: adnanahusain.substack.com /episode/index/show/c4dcb37c-8f08-4246-a286-0f8feb6c4e23/id/37630410

Psychlib #11: Nobody Expects the Spanish Inquisition w/ Adnan Husain 08/01/2025

Malcolm X-Radical Legacies vs Liberal Lies w/Jared Ball 07/25/2025

Struggle Session #2: Action for Palestine 07/24/2025

The Adnan Husain Show

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