Finding Humans in the Machine Age

Since the industrial revolutions of the late nineteenth century, our civilization has increasingly modeled itself after the factory and the processor. We have constructed a world obsessed with raw efficiency, instrumentation, speed, and continuous measurement. In this system, those who learn to think, work, and act like machines are rewarded with status and wealth.   Meanwhile, those who long for a more soulful, unhurried existence, seeking to live as integrated human beings connected to the earth, the cosmos, and their Creator, are often sidelined and told to adapt or be left behind. In today’s episode we explore how to reclaim our humanity from the gears of this mechanical age.     Book recommendations:   The Burnout Society by Byung-Chul Han Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury   About the hosts: Walead Mosaad is an internationally recognized scholar in Islamic studies and human development. His academic and traditional training has accorded him the opportunity to work with communities worldwide as a teacher and project driver. He has completed degrees from Rutgers University and Fath Islamic Seminary in Damascus. He received his PhD from the University of Exeter in Arab and Islamic Studies, and was also classically trained at the Al-Azhar University. He is currently the Chair and Scholar-in-Residence of Sabeel Community. He has traveled extensively throughout the Muslim world, as well as Europe and the Far East, delivering lectures on various topics, including spirituality, ethics and intercultural peace building. https://www.sabeelcommunity.org/walead-mohammed-mosaad       Rehan Khan is a professor of leadership and novelist. He is an advocate for virtue-based storytelling as well as leading with a moral lens. Over 30 years Rehan has advised several global and regional brands. As an adjunct professor he teaches post-graduate courses in AI and the Future of Work, as well as Leadership: A Moral Perspective, and Personal Influence at one of the world’s leading international business schools. He is a keen observer of history and techno-science. Rehan is the author of a Tomb of Empires (2024) a historical fiction set in 90BC in the Middle East, the Carnegie nominated A Tudor Turk trilogy (2019-2022) set in the Ottoman Empire and Tudor England, and the fantasy sci-fi series, Tales of Khayaal (2025) set on the Earth like planet of Ikleel. These gripping stories also ask readers to consider the role of virtue within the human story. www.rehankhan.com and www.khayaal.com           If you would like to suggest a topic that you want us to explore, please send us an email on [email protected] 

In today’s show we are joined by Dr. Abdallah Rothman to discuss Wayfaring. In the podcast we examine the spiritual traditions that have informed Dr Abdullah throughout his life. We look at his attempt to bridge fields of knowledge, and the necessity of a master-apprentice relationship in the path of spiritual ascension.    Dr. Abdallah Rothman is the founder of Dar al-Shifaa , co-founder and President of the International Association of Islamic Psychology (IAIP), and Head of Islamic Psychology at Cambridge Muslim College (CMC).  He is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), a Board Certified Registered Art Therapist (ATR-BC), and holds an M.A. and PhD in Psychology. He is a student of the late Professor Malik Badri in Islamic psychology and his clinical practice as well as his academic research focus is on approaching counseling from within an Islamic paradigm and establishing an indigenous theoretical orientation to human psychology that is grounded in the knowledge of the soul from the Islamic tradition.   Book recommendations: Alghunya (Sufficient Provision for Seekers of the Path of Truth) by Abdul Qader Jillani The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield   About the hosts: Walead Mosaad is an internationally recognized scholar in Islamic studies and human development. His academic and traditional training has accorded him the opportunity to work with communities worldwide as a teacher and project driver. He has completed degrees from Rutgers University and Fath Islamic Seminary in Damascus. He received his PhD from the University of Exeter in Arab and Islamic Studies, and was also classically trained at the Al-Azhar University. He is currently the Chair and Scholar-in-Residence of Sabeel Community. He has traveled extensively throughout the Muslim world, as well as Europe and the Far East, delivering lectures on various topics, including spirituality, ethics and intercultural peace building. https://www.sabeelcommunity.org/walead-mohammed-mosaad     Rehan Khan is a thought-leader, professor, and novelist. He is an advocate for virtue-based storytelling as well as leading with a moral lens. Over 30 years Rehan has advised several global and regional brands. As an adjunct professor he teaches post-graduate courses in AI and the Future of Work, as well as Leadership: A Moral Perspective, and Personal Influence at one of the world’s leading international business schools. He is a keen observer of history and techno-science. Rehan is the author of a Tomb of Empires (2024) a historical fiction set in 90BC in the Middle East, the Carnegie nominated A Tudor Turk trilogy (2019-2022) set in the Ottoman Empire and Tudor England, and the fantasy sci-fi series, Tales of Khayaal (2025) set on the Earth like planet of Ikleel. These gripping stories also ask readers to consider the role of virtue within the human story. www.rehankhan.com and www.khayaal.com    If you would like to suggest a topic that you want us to explore, please send us an email on [email protected]   

The topic today touches the absolute core of our modern crisis: "The Reign of Quantity." Taking our title and inspiration from the seminal work (The Reign of Quantity – 1945) by the philosopher René Guénon, we are exploring how the contemporary world has become entirely obsessed with measurement, metrics, and raw numbers at the direct expense of quality, meaning, and inner depth. We live in an era where we are more concerned with recording a moment than actually living it, counting our steps rather than feeling our presence, and evaluating life by what can be quantified rather than what can be sanctified.   Book recommendations:   The Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord The Reign of Quantity by René Guénon     About the hosts: Walead Mosaad is an internationally recognized scholar in Islamic studies and human development. His academic and traditional training has accorded him the opportunity to work with communities worldwide as a teacher and project driver. He has completed degrees from Rutgers University and Fath Islamic Seminary in Damascus. He received his PhD from the University of Exeter in Arab and Islamic Studies, and was also classically trained at the Al-Azhar University. He is currently the Chair and Scholar-in-Residence of Sabeel Community. He has traveled extensively throughout the Muslim world, as well as Europe and the Far East, delivering lectures on various topics, including spirituality, ethics and intercultural peace building. https://www.sabeelcommunity.org/walead-mohammed-mosaad       Rehan Khan is a professor of leadership and novelist. He is an advocate for virtue-based storytelling as well as leading with a moral lens. Over 30 years Rehan has advised several global and regional brands. As an adjunct professor he teaches post-graduate courses in AI and the Future of Work, as well as Leadership: A Moral Perspective, and Personal Influence at one of the world’s leading international business schools. He is a keen observer of history and techno-science. Rehan is the author of a Tomb of Empires (2024) a historical fiction set in 90BC in the Middle East, the Carnegie nominated A Tudor Turk trilogy (2019-2022) set in the Ottoman Empire and Tudor England, and the fantasy sci-fi series, Tales of Khayaal (2025) set on the Earth like planet of Ikleel. These gripping stories also ask readers to consider the role of virtue within the human story. www.rehankhan.com and www.talesofkhayaal.com          If you would like to suggest a topic that you want us to explore, please send us an email on [email protected] 

When you break it down, a person who lives to be 80 years old is given roughly 29,200 days on this earth. Every sunrise is not just a new beginning; it is a ticking clock with a countdown timer. Yet, we live in a modern culture that is simultaneously obsessed with frantic busyness, yet wildly careless with the actual value of a single day. We rush through life, filling our calendars, while letting the precious, finite currency of our time slip right through our fingers. In this episode we discuss our relationship with time, in contrast to how traditional societies viewed time. We explore time from the perspective of literature as well as in the world-of-work.   Book recommendations:   Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman The Book of Tea by Okakura Kakuzō     About the hosts: Walead Mosaad is an internationally recognized scholar in Islamic studies and human development. His academic and traditional training has accorded him the opportunity to work with communities worldwide as a teacher and project driver. He has completed degrees from Rutgers University and Fath Islamic Seminary in Damascus. He received his PhD from the University of Exeter in Arab and Islamic Studies, and was also classically trained at the Al-Azhar University. He is currently the Chair and Scholar-in-Residence of Sabeel Community. He has traveled extensively throughout the Muslim world, as well as Europe and the Far East, delivering lectures on various topics, including spirituality, ethics and intercultural peace building. https://www.sabeelcommunity.org/walead-mohammed-mosaad       Rehan Khan is a professor of leadership and novelist. He is an advocate for virtue-based storytelling as well as leading with a moral lens. Over 30 years Rehan has advised several global and regional brands. As an adjunct professor he teaches post-graduate courses in AI and the Future of Work, as well as Leadership: A Moral Perspective, and Personal Influence at one of the world’s leading international business schools. He is a keen observer of history and techno-science. Rehan is the author of a Tomb of Empires (2024) a historical fiction set in 90BC in the Middle East, the Carnegie nominated A Tudor Turk trilogy (2019-2022) set in the Ottoman Empire and Tudor England, and the fantasy sci-fi series, Tales of Khayaal (2025) set on the Earth like planet of Ikleel. These gripping stories also ask readers to consider the role of virtue within the human story. www.rehankhan.com and www.khayaal.com          If you would like to suggest a topic that you want us to explore, please send us an email on [email protected] 

In today’s show we are joined by Ahmed Elbenni to discuss Sci-Fi Futurism. You can find his essay: Dreaming the Ummah - Science Fiction and the Possibility of Islamofuturism at the following link https://hashiya.org/posts/dreaming-ummah-islamofuturism Ahmed Elbenni is a Ph.D. candidate in Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University and senior editor at Muftah Magazine. He received his BA in History and Political Science from Yale University and MA in Near Eastern Studies from Princeton University. His doctoral dissertation examines the theorization, creation, and circulation of self-consciously ‘Islamic’ novels in the modern Near East. More specifically, it explores how Muslim reformers in the twentieth century conceived ‘literature’ as an epistemological and ethical problem-space which could, through the translation of “Islam” into an aesthetic experience and narrative strategy, birth a new human subjectivity) at home in modernity. Ahmed’s other research interests include digital culture, techno-spirituality, and the history of history   Book recommendations: Islamic Futures: The Shape of Ideas to Come by Ziauddin Sardar Arab and Muslim Science Fiction: Critical Essays by Emad El-Din Aysha, Hosam A. Ibrahim Elzembely   About the hosts: Walead Mosaad is an internationally recognized scholar in Islamic studies and human development. His academic and traditional training has accorded him the opportunity to work with communities worldwide as a teacher and project driver. He has completed degrees from Rutgers University and Fath Islamic Seminary in Damascus. He received his PhD from the University of Exeter in Arab and Islamic Studies, and was also classically trained at the Al-Azhar University. He is currently the Chair and Scholar-in-Residence of Sabeel Community. He has traveled extensively throughout the Muslim world, as well as Europe and the Far East, delivering lectures on various topics, including spirituality, ethics and intercultural peace building. https://www.sabeelcommunity.org/walead-mohammed-mosaad     Rehan Khan is a professor of leadership and novelist. He is an advocate for virtue-based storytelling as well as leading with a moral lens. Over 30 years Rehan has advised several global and regional brands. As an adjunct professor he teaches post-graduate courses in AI and the Future of Work, as well as Leadership: A Moral Perspective, and Personal Influence at one of the world’s leading international business schools. He is a keen observer of history and techno-science. Rehan is the author of a Tomb of Empires (2024) a historical fiction set in 90BC in the Middle East, the Carnegie nominated A Tudor Turk trilogy (2019-2022) set in the Ottoman Empire and Tudor England, and the fantasy sci-fi series, Tales of Khayaal (2025) set on the Earth like planet of Ikleel. These gripping stories also ask readers to consider the role of virtue within the human story. www.rehankhan.com and www.talesofkhayaal.com          If you would like to suggest a topic that you want us to explore, please send an email to [email protected] 

If you would like to suggest a topic that you want us to explore, please send us an email on [email protected] Today we will be discussing exploring without borders. The concept of exploring the earth without borders feels quite disjointed, as we live in an era of passports, biometric checkpoints, and razor-wire borders. Yet for much of the earth’s history, humans were able to simply walk, ride, or sail across the earth, moving freely from civilization to civilization to witness the sheer diversity of creation. In the classical world, scholars and seekers didn't stay in one place—their entire lives were defined by a borderless movement.….     Book recommendations: Rihla al-Haqiqa w’al-Majaz of Abd Al Ghani Al-Nabulusi The Moors Account by Laila Lalami   About the hosts: Walead Mosaad is an internationally recognized scholar in Islamic studies and human development. His academic and traditional training has accorded him the opportunity to work with communities worldwide as a teacher and project driver. He has completed degrees from Rutgers University and Fath Islamic Seminary in Damascus. He received his PhD from the University of Exeter in Arab and Islamic Studies, and was also classically trained at the Al-Azhar University. He is currently the Chair and Scholar-in-Residence of Sabeel Community. He has traveled extensively throughout the Muslim world, as well as Europe and the Far East, delivering lectures on various topics, including spirituality, ethics and intercultural peace building. https://www.sabeelcommunity.org/walead-mohammed-mosaad       Rehan Khan is a professor of leadership and novelist. He is an advocate for virtue-based storytelling as well as leading with a moral lens. Over 30 years Rehan has advised several global and regional brands. As an adjunct professor he teaches post-graduate courses in AI and the Future of Work, as well as Leadership: A Moral Perspective, and Personal Influence at one of the world’s leading international business schools. He is a keen observer of history and techno-science. Rehan is the author of a Tomb of Empires (2024) a historical fiction set in 90BC in the Middle East, the Carnegie nominated A Tudor Turk trilogy (2019-2022) set in the Ottoman Empire and Tudor England, and the fantasy sci-fi series, Tales of Khayaal (2025) set on the Earth like planet of Ikleel. These gripping stories also ask readers to consider the role of virtue within the human story. www.rehankhan.com and www.talesofkhayaal.com       

Today is the 20th episode of Waystations and over the past few months many of you have contacted us to say how much you’ve been enjoying the show. We’re now giving you the opportunity to contribute towards some of the topics we cover. If you would like to suggest a topic that you want us to explore, please send us an email on [email protected] Today’s episode looks at the art of clothing. In a modern culture often dominated by fast fashion, trend-chasing, and purely utilitarian views of what we wear, we want to step back and look at garments through a much more deliberate, traditional lens. We are going to explore how clothing isn't just about fabric and aesthetics—it's an outward manifestation of an inward reality….   Book recommendations: Kitab al-Libas (The Book of Clothing) by Al-Ghazali RK: Wolf Hall by Hillary Mantel   About the hosts: Walead Mosaad is an internationally recognized scholar in Islamic studies and human development. His academic and traditional training has accorded him the opportunity to work with communities worldwide as a teacher and project driver. He has completed degrees from Rutgers University and Fath Islamic Seminary in Damascus. He received his PhD from the University of Exeter in Arab and Islamic Studies, and was also classically trained at the Al-Azhar University. He is currently the Chair and Scholar-in-Residence of Sabeel Community. He has traveled extensively throughout the Muslim world, as well as Europe and the Far East, delivering lectures on various topics, including spirituality, ethics and intercultural peace building. https://www.sabeelcommunity.org/walead-mohammed-mosaad     Rehan Khan is a professor of leadership and novelist. He is an advocate for virtue-based storytelling as well as leading with a moral lens. Over 30 years Rehan has advised several global and regional brands. As an adjunct professor he teaches post-graduate courses in AI and the Future of Work, as well as Leadership: A Moral Perspective, and Personal Influence at one of the world’s leading international business schools. He is a keen observer of history and techno-science. Rehan is the author of a Tomb of Empires (2024) a historical fiction set in 90BC in the Middle East, the Carnegie nominated A Tudor Turk trilogy (2019-2022) set in the Ottoman Empire and Tudor England, and the fantasy sci-fi series, Tales of Khayaal (2025) set on the Earth like planet of Ikleel. These gripping stories also ask readers to consider the role of virtue within the human story. www.rehankhan.com and www.talesofkhayaal.com       

In this episode we are joined by Mikhail Abdul-Latif to talk about his book, The Tao of War, which is a training manual of applied philosophy and a guide for those seeking to walk the path of the warrior poet.  Mikhail is an author, poet, musician and lifelong martial artist from Seattle, Washington. He holds several national wrestling titles in both Canada and the United States, is a Black Belt in Jiu-Jitsu, and has spent many years traveling the world as a professional athlete while studying under various masters of martial arts and spiritual traditions.  He says that it is the blending of application and philosophy which produces the martial arts.   Book recommendations: The Axiology of Warriors by Mikhail Abdul-Latif Al-Fath ar-Rabbani (The Sublime Revelation) by Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani. Legends of the Condor Heroes by Jin Yong   About the hosts: Walead Mosaad is an internationally recognized scholar in Islamic studies and human development. His academic and traditional training has accorded him the opportunity to work with communities worldwide as a teacher and project driver. He has completed degrees from Rutgers University and Fath Islamic Seminary in Damascus. He received his PhD from the University of Exeter in Arab and Islamic Studies, and was also classically trained at the Al-Azhar University. He is currently the Chair and Scholar-in-Residence of Sabeel Community. He has traveled extensively throughout the Muslim world, as well as Europe and the Far East, delivering lectures on various topics, including spirituality, ethics and intercultural peace building. https://www.sabeelcommunity.org/walead-mohammed-mosaad     Rehan Khan is a professor of leadership and novelist. He is an advocate for virtue-based storytelling as well as leading with a moral lens. Over 30 years Rehan has advised several global and regional brands. As an adjunct professor he teaches post-graduate courses in AI and the Future of Work, as well as Leadership: A Moral Perspective, and Personal Influence at one of the world’s leading international business schools. He is a keen observer of history and techno-science. Rehan is the author of a Tomb of Empires (2024) a historical fiction set in 90BC in the Middle East, the Carnegie nominated A Tudor Turk trilogy (2019-2022) set in the Ottoman Empire and Tudor England, and the fantasy sci-fi series, Tales of Khayaal (2025) set on the Earth like planet of Ikleel. These gripping stories also ask readers to consider the role of virtue within the human story. www.rehankhan.com  and www.talesofkhayaal.com       

People often lament they don’t have enough time. However, one could argue that time is really the only currency we have and its what we do with it.  Though of course, there are times in our life, when we are truly pressed for time — such as when you have young kids, or when you are looking after old parents.  So, what is causing this feeling of not having enough time? Perhaps it might be to do with being distracted by things that are not necessary, rather than remaining focused on the necessary. That’s what we are going to look at today.   Book recommendations: The Value of Time by Abu Ghuddah The Screwtape Letters by C S Lewis   About the hosts: Walead Mosaad is an internationally recognized scholar in Islamic studies and human development. His academic and traditional training has accorded him the opportunity to work with communities worldwide as a teacher and project driver. He has completed degrees from Rutgers University and Fath Islamic Seminary in Damascus. He received his PhD from the University of Exeter in Arab and Islamic Studies, and was also classically trained at the Al-Azhar University. He is currently the Chair and Scholar-in-Residence of Sabeel Community. He has traveled extensively throughout the Muslim world, as well as Europe and the Far East, delivering lectures on various topics, including spirituality, ethics and intercultural peace building. https://www.sabeelcommunity.org/walead-mohammed-mosaad     Rehan Khan is a professor of leadership and novelist. He is an advocate for virtue-based storytelling as well as leading with a moral lens. Over 30 years Rehan has advised several global and regional brands. As an adjunct professor he teaches post-graduate courses in AI and the Future of Work, as well as Leadership: A Moral Perspective, and Personal Influence at one of the world’s leading international business schools. He is a keen observer of history and techno-science. Rehan is the author of a Tomb of Empires (2024) a historical fiction set in 90BC in the Middle East, the Carnegie nominated A Tudor Turk trilogy (2019-2022) set in the Ottoman Empire and Tudor England, and the fantasy sci-fi series, Tales of Khayaal (2025) set on the Earth like planet of Ikleel. These gripping stories also ask readers to consider the role of virtue within the human story. www.rehankhan.com  and www.talesofkhayaal.com       

If you said to traditional people that nothing matters, they would likely hold you up on that statement. They would say  everything matters. Your belief, the way you talk, the way you dress, your general sense of being and purpose.  However for many modern people this isn’t the case. There is a sense that nothing really matters. This is captured in the word “nihilism” which comes from the Latin word nihil, which means “nothing.”  In this episode we explore the roots of nihilism and its impact on how humans see themselves in the modern world.   Book recommendations: Deliverance From Error by Imam Al Ghazali The Meaning of Your Life by Albert Brooks The Conference of the Birds by Farid Al Attar   About the hosts: Walead Mosaad is an internationally recognized scholar in Islamic studies and human development. His academic and traditional training has accorded him the opportunity to work with communities worldwide as a teacher and project driver. He has completed degrees from Rutgers University and Fath Islamic Seminary in Damascus. He received his PhD from the University of Exeter in Arab and Islamic Studies, and was also classically trained at the Al-Azhar University. He is currently the Chair and Scholar-in-Residence of Sabeel Community. He has traveled extensively throughout the Muslim world, as well as Europe and the Far East, delivering lectures on various topics, including spirituality, ethics and intercultural peace building. https://www.sabeelcommunity.org/walead-mohammed-mosaad     Rehan Khan is a professor of leadership and novelist. He is an advocate for virtue-based storytelling as well as leading with a moral lens. Over 30 years Rehan has advised several global and regional brands. As an adjunct professor he teaches post-graduate courses in AI and the Future of Work, as well as Leadership: A Moral Perspective, and Personal Influence at one of the world’s leading international business schools. He is a keen observer of history and techno-science. Rehan is the author of a Tomb of Empires (2024) a historical fiction set in 90BC in the Middle East, the Carnegie nominated A Tudor Turk trilogy (2019-2022) set in the Ottoman Empire and Tudor England, and the fantasy sci-fi series, Tales of Khayaal (2025) set on the Earth like planet of Ikleel. These gripping stories also ask readers to consider the role of virtue within the human story. www.rehankhan.com  and www.talesofkhayaal.com