Muslims Doing Things

Mohamedou Ould Slahi’s memoir was recently turned into a movie that has since received 6 nominations between the Golden Globes and the BAFTAs. Jodie Foster received a Golden Globe for playing Mohamedou’s lawyer in The Mauritanian. Tahar Rahim played Mohamedou, and other A-listers like Benedict Cumberbatch carry major roles. Mohamedou is a Mauritanian who was detained at Guantánamo Bay detention ca...

Aqsa Altaf is a writer and director whose recent film, American Eid, can be streamed on Disney +. Aqsa is the daughter of Pakistani and Sri Lankan migrants. She was raised within a migrant community in Kuwait before finding her way to a community college in Los Angeles. From there, Aqsa worked her way to USC's film school and dedicated her career to storytelling. Aqsa is and was one of six filmmak...

Johana Bhuiyan knew that she wanted to be a reporter -- but didn't know that she'd end up as an investigative reporter. Currently at the Los Angeles Times, Johana covers tech with a focus on accountability. Johana is especially interested in interrogating how tech impacts real people and their civil liberties. Johana is a veteran reporter who is currently is focusing on how tech is used to enhance...

Husain Abdullah was born in Los Angeles and raised in Pomona, California as one of 16 in a blended family. Husain and his siblings loved sports. As a child, Husain's eldest brother would give him advice that would inspire him to reach great heights. Husain had a 7-year career on the Minnesota Vikings and Kansas City Chiefs before retiring from the NFL to pursue his own ventures. Listen to Husain (...

Rowaida Abdelaziz is an award-winning national reporter at the Huffington Post based in NYC, where she spearheads the coverage of Islamophobia and reports on the intersection of Muslim life within politics, culture, and gender. Listen to Rowaida’s journey to becoming a national reporter — how her identity played a role and her hot takes on the tokenization of Muslim women. Also, read the Burkini a...

If you are part of Schitt’s Creek’s cult following, you already know that Rizwan Manji — who plays Ray Butani — is a phenomenal actor. Rizwan has been acting since the late 90s and has credits in over 115 shows and movies. From the Wolf of Wall Street, Glee, Hannah Montana, to the New Girl, to the Tiger Hunger, to Arranged, NCIS…and most recently, as Mr. Khan in Mira, Royal Detective’s Eid-centric...

When Misha Euceph went to college, she envisioned a career in radio journalism. Her career blossomed as podcasts became mainstream and a series of twists and turns got her to KPCC, where she produced her own blockbuster podcast: The Big One: Your Survival Guide. Fast-forward a few years, and Misha has founded and leads her own audio production company, Dustlight, where she has produced work for gi...

Sundus Abdul Hadi is an Iraqi visual artist and author. Sundus grew up in Abu Dhabi as a frequent visitor of Iraq before settling in Canada as a ten year old. Listen to how Sundus navigated art school, a career in the arts, and how she has navigated a creative lifestyle. Listen to the story of Sundus’s journey. Plugs:  Follow Sundus on Instagram We Are the Medium, the art collective Sundus's websi...

Salam Al-Marayati was new to the workforce when he founded one of the oldest national American Muslim advocacy and public policy organizations (MPAC) . In 1988, it was clear the Muslims were underrepresented at the policy level. Over three decades later, MPAC’s footprint is undeniable, and the organization continues to widen its impact by creating opportunities for Muslims to work in Washington, H...

Dr Alaa Murabit is the United Nations High-Level Commissioner on Health Employment & Economic Growth, among many (many) other things. Alaa went into medicine thinking that she would go into pediatric surgery before her NGO, the Voice of Libyan Women, presented another path in life. Since graduating from med school, Alaa has become a global health and security expert, with achievements that ran...

When Ascia Sahar was 25, she pitched herself to ABC — and was on the road to her dream job as an anchor. From there, she worked at United States Institute for Peace before taking time off of work to raise her children. But her love for writing and vintage meant that she combined her thoughtful narratives with beautiful content, and Instagram noticed. #Wordsbyascia became an omnipresent hashtag. Fi...

Khalida Brohi was a teenager when she learned that her cousin Khadija was killed in the name of honor, by Khadija’s own father's brother. Khalida dropped out of medical school and dedicated her life to ending honor killings. She has since founded Sughar Foundation, with the mission of redefining honor through social enterprise. She also founded the insanely Instagrammable Chai Spot in Sedona + NYC...

Marwa ( @marwaatik ) was 18 when she started to create a new hijab experience, over 12 years ago. Before that for many of us, hijab procurement was a mishmash of H+M or Forever21 neck scarves and masjid basement bazaar finds. But when she started Vela with her sister Tasneem, they focused on color, quality, and even hijab weight for the most comfortable and chic feel. The colors are forecasted and...

A few days ago, my dad’s brother Sami died to COVID -- he was one of my dad’s closest friends. My father is the only member of his immediate family to have left Iraq. Only in recent years, with the accessibility of video chatting and reliable wireless networks, he incorporated a new routine to his life: regular video calls with his big brother and other siblings. Before that, due to a crumbling in...

Huda Al-Marashi wrote her memoir while raising three children. Over a 15 year journey as a stay at home mom throughout her husband's demanding medical education and training, Huda wrote (a lot), figured out the publishing industry, and sold her first book, First Comes Marriage: My Not-So-Typical American Love Story.  Huda's memoir is a tale of the all-too-familiar (but very tight lipped) balance o...

At this point, you’ve probably heard of Clubhouse. The audio based social network has brought together communities at a unique time in history, when we are all stuck at home. On Clubhouse, realtime panels happen throughout the day in different clubs, which are groups around a common interest. And if you’re on Clubhouse and especially if you’re Muslim, you have probably seen Alex Fox around. Alex’s...

Reza Aslan always knew he would be a writer -- though he may not have always known he would be the author of a New York Times #1 bestseller, a TV host, producer, a scholar, and an Emmy nominee. Reza straddles a very unique intersection, as a scholar of religion with a robust career in entertainment. Listen to my chat with Reza on how he got to that intersection -- and keep an eye out for his sitco...

Aysha Harun (@ayshaharun) is a beauty and lifestyle content creator whose journey began at 15 with her eponymous YouTube channel. Aysha filled a gap in the Black, women of color, hijabi, and Muslim spaces -- all of which were underserved at the time. Nearly 500k YouTube subscribes and 260k Instagram follows later, Aysha’s content has attracted a community that seeks to keep up with her and emulate...

Author Tahereh Mafi ( @tahereh ) is an author and a force in the young adult world. Tahereh's first published work, Shatter Me, has been reviewed over 300,000 times on Goodreads. She is no stranger to the New York Times Best Selling Authors list and she is a National Book Award nominee.  Recently, Tahereh's fictional novel (peppered with non-fictional anecdotes from her own life) about a hijabi te...

Dr. Reshmaan Hussam went to MIT for undergrad and grad school to study economics. As a developmental economist, she found herself as Harvard Business School’s first (a pretty confident assumption) hijabi professor. TL;DR -- her goal is to ensure some of the world's future business leaders are well versed in some of the world's greatest injustices. And other stuff. She sits at the intersection of d...

Sahar is a periodontist, and she didn't let a bad GPA get in the way of bright career. Listen to Sahar's journey as a student athlete, a surgeon, an influencer -- and how mentorship shaped her life.  Plugs: Follow Sahar on Instagram  About the host + the pod: Follow the host (@laylool) on Instagram   Follow Muslims Doing Things on Instagram --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.c...

Y'all have been asking for a solo epi and I locked myself in a room and gabbed about myself. In honor of the pod's 1 month anni and your incredible support, I introduce myself, my career, how I met my co-founders at Wise Systems, and some of my favorite hacks.  Some quick mentions: How to start a podcast and a go-to keyboard ( Mac or PC ) and a go-to mouse.  Shoutout + sponsor from the episode: Fo...

Malika Bilal is an American broadcast journalist. You may have seen Malika on The Stream, an Al-Jazeera English production which she co-hosted and digitally produced for upwards of a decade before receiving an Emmy nod. Malika is now the host of Al-Jazeera English's podcast, The Take. Learn how Malika carved her path as a hijabi, a Black woman, and a Muslim in broadcast media.  Keep up with Malika...

Irene Sarah (@IreneSarah) has turned her lifestyle into a business through representing brands. She has 500,000 Instagram followers and 275,000 YouTube followers, and has been in the social media industry before it was an Industry (capital I). Learn about Irene's journey.  Follow Irene on Instagram  About the host + the pod: Follow the host (@laylool) on Instagram Follow Muslims Doing Things on In...

Dr Aaliya Yaqub is a board certified physician, skincare guru, mom, and startup medical co-founder. She is working on her second company, Simple Health Kit, after serving as Forward's medical co-founder. Aaliya has an addictive Instagram, where she shares her favorite products (hint: she does drugstore face wash), articles, life hacks, with motivational monologues sprinkled throughout.  You can fi...