EP 41: Spider-Man and Beyond | Arman Haque

Arman Haque is a special effects artist (specialising in lighting). He and his team have worked along a number of feature films including "Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings" and most recently "Spider-Man: No Way Home." Furqan spoke to him about his interest in the field and what he aims to do with the skills and expertise he has gained in his profession.

Sheikh Ismail Kamdar graduated from the ʿĀlimiyyah program in 2006 and completed a BA in Islamic Studies at International Open University in 2014. Specializes in the fields of Fiqh, Tafsir, and History. The author of over a dozen books in the fields of Islamic Studies and Personal Development. He is the founder of Islamic Self Help, and the research manager at Yaqeen Institute. In this episode, Sheikh Ismail discusses his writing process as well as his latest publication "Earning Barakah: An Islamic Guide to Blessed Sustenance."

KalamCast asked listeners for questions they would like answered on Islamic finance. Almir answered and discussed the answers for these questions. Almir is the Director at Australian Centre for Islamic Finance (AUSCIF) and CEO at Olive Investments. He is also an adviser to a number of institutions that provide Islamic finance and member of a working group at AAOIFI (Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions).

Adam Kaan is the creator of "Fit Dad Life Mastery Program." He states that his mission is to help professional "Desi Dads" lose 20 to 30 kg or more in a few short months. He aims to help men to take control of their health and perform better in all areas of their lives. In this episode, Adam talks about his own journey into weight loss and speaks of the unique elements of his program.

Cybersecurity is the protection of computer systems and networks from information disclosure, theft of or damage to their hardware, software, or electronic data, as well as from the disruption or misdirection of the services they provide. Dr Atif Ahmed is an Associate Professor at the University of Melbourne where he serves as Deputy Director for the Academic Centre of Cyber Security Excellence. He leads a unique team of Cybersecurity Management researchers drawn from information systems, business administration, security intelligence, and information warfare. He spoke to KalamCast about what Cyber Security is, some of the pressing issues within the field and potential opportunities for work.

Isa and AbdulShaheed get together with Furqan over zoom and discuss typical issues which reverts to Islam face upon embracing Islam and things they have encountered through their own experiences including difficulties pertaining to the community, some of the early challenges they faced and what they think works. 

Furqan met with a panel of doctors: Dr Ziauddin Ansari, Dr Shumaila Panhwar & Dr Shiraz Mekhri (via Zoom) to discuss some of the frequently mentioned concerns surrounding the reality of the COVID-19 pandemic. There is also discussion concerning the various conspiracy theory claims which have emanated as a result of the pandemic.

An Australian comedian’s joke about the Christchurch mosque shootings has sparked a fierce debate online. In his recently-released comedy special Anti-Hero, comedian Isaac Butterfield references the 2019 terror attack during which Brenton Tarrant killed 51 people and injured 49. A clip of that joke was tweeted by Almir Colan, the Director of Australian Centre for Islamic Finance, on the weekend. Almir sat down with Furqan via Zoom to further elaborate on his throughts as well as offering a commentary on Butterfield's response.

Sheikh Bilal Ismail was born in Durban, South Africa. He is one of three siblings and comes from a religious traditional hanafi family. He memorized the Quran while studying at school and went on to complete high school in 1998. Sheikh Bilal then went on to do a diploma in Computer Science in 1999, as well as qualifying as a Microsoft certified systems engineer. He was accepted into the Islamic University of Madinah in 2001 where he completed his Diploma in Arabic followed by a BA in Islamic Law from the faculty of Shariah.  In this episode, Sheikh Bilal discussed his interest in Ottoman history and covers some of the content discussed in his course "Ertugrul to Ataturk."

Furqan caught up with Subhi Alshaik, the creator of Zaky. Subhi speaks of his past in the music industry, his 'religious awakening' and how he started One4Kids (a children’s animation company that focuses on producing educational entertainment for kids all over the world). He discusses some of his challenges in having created and popularising "Zaky" as well as future projects he is working on such as "Leith and Leila."