Episode Transcript This is episode 14 of Mohamed Ghilan’s podcast with yours truly as your host. I really do appreciate you listening and if you haven’t subscribed yet I invite you to do so. It really does go along way in helping improve the ranking of this podcast. Also, I started turning my attention to […]
Author Archives: Mohamed Ghilan, M.D, Ph.D.
16
May
May
This article originally appeared in ImanWire The popular conception of religion seems to be that of a set of rules and regulations that one adheres to. It is a handbook of what to do and what not to do without much attention given to what it all means and what it is about. For many Muslims, […]
This article originally appeared in ImanWire The popular conception of religion seems to be that of a set of rules and regulations that one adheres to. It is a handbook of what to do and what not to do without much attention given to what it all means and what it is about. For many […]
25
Apr
Apr
One of the most profound experiences I have ever had was participating in the Deen Intensive’s Rihla program that took place in Spain in the summer of 2010. I had the blessing of attending the Rihla for two more years after that in Turkey. But the impact of my time in Spain on my soul was […]
18
Apr
Apr
This article originally appeared in ImanWire One of the most profound experiences I have ever had was participating in the Deen Intensive’s Rihla program that took place in Spain in the summer of 2010. I had the blessing of attending the Rihla for two more years after that in Turkey. But the impact of my time in […]
Our modern culture has embraced mockery of anything and everything to the extent that nothing is off-limits as the idea of the Sacred has by and large been discarded. The elders, parents, teachers, religion, prophets, and even God Himself have all become regulars on comedy sketches on television and many comedy acts. Mockery has become […]
22
Mar
Mar
I recently had an opportunity to speak to a group of private sponsors of Syrian refugees coming to Canada. This wonderful group of people volunteered their time and whatever resources they could gather to help, in the small way that they could, innocent families struck by a brutal war. They were eager to learn about […]
19
Mar
Mar
I have to say I’m not quite surprised that the average rating of this book on Goodreads was below 4 stars. Neil Postman launches a precise and exposing assault on the foundations that make up the modern mind. I’ve always had an intuitive sense that the impact of modern technological advancements was not restricted to […]
17
Mar
Mar
Neil Postman’s book Technopoly remains as relevant today as it was when he published it in 1992. I’ve been contemplating and reading for a while now about the impact of the public’s reception of technoogy on their perception of science. It appears, at least to me, that it’s often the case that when those who are […]
29
Feb
Feb
What constitutes the soul? What about the spirit? Are they one in the same? And what’s the deal with the mind? Where does the brain come in with all of this? How does it all figure in with regards to mental illness, or is it spiritual illness? Are they two different things? And are these […]
04
Feb
Feb
This book was quite a sobering read that I think everyone, especially those in medicine should pick up. As Dr. Atul Gawande states at the beginning of it, medical education is so focused on saving lives that physicians may be the least prepared for their patients to deal with the inevitable flip side of this […]
01
Feb
Feb
The following is an excerpt from Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Dr. Atul Gawande. This 2014 This book was quite a sobering read that I think everyone, especially those in medicine should pick up. As Dr. Gawande states at the beginning of it, medical education is so focused on saving lives that […]
28
Jan
Jan
This is one of the most captivating books on the history of medicine I’ve come across, and written by a person who couldn’t be better positioned to produce this work. Psychiatry is too often disparagingly referred to as the unwanted second cousin of medicine (or some other similar reference). But Dr. Jeffrey Lieberman chronicles the […]
18
Jan
Jan
The book is an argument against the notion that addiction should be classified under the same category as cancer, multiple sclerosis, and dementia. If you consider the history of how and why addiction became a disease as opposed to being classified as anything else, combined with the neuroscience of how addiction impacts the brain vs. […]
14
Jan
Jan
The following is an excerpt from the epilogue written by Lucy Kalanithi to the recently published book When Breath Becomes Air written by her husband Paul Kalanithi, who died in March 2015 after a battle with stage IV lung cancer. It’s not merely a chronicle of how Paul reacted to and dealt with his cancer as it […]
14
Jan
Jan
What does it feel like to be a doctor and a patient at the same time? This is the experience of a neurosurgeon as he came face to face with his mortality after he was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer that eventually metastasized to his brain. Paul Kalanithi writes in such tragically beautiful and […]
06
Jan
Jan
The following is an excerpt from The Biology of Desire: Why Addiction is not a Disease by Marc Lewis, PhD. The book is an argument against the notion that addiction should be classified under the same category as cancer, multiple sclerosis, and dementia. If you consider the history of how and why addiction became a disease as […]
03
Jan
Jan
I read this right after reading Steve Silberman’s NeuroTribes, which I also highly recommend. In short, Prizant takes his 40 years of experience and presents his insights gained from the numerous cases he’s been exposed to or worked with. Two main themes that run in this book is first to ask “Why?” when it comes […]
27
Oct
Oct
CJ Werleman’s latest book The New Atheist Threat: The Dangerous Rise of Secular Extremists acts as a nice companion to Chris Hedges’ 2008 book I Don’t Believe in Atheists. In his latest treatise, Werleman takes the reader on an account of his emotional transformation from an atheist with a “live and let live” attitude about religion to a […]
21
Sep
Sep
The following is a translation of an Arabic article written by Dr. Ahmed Al Raissouni and published in December 1, 2014 on his official website. Originally from Morocco, Dr. Al Raissouni is a Maliki jurist having attained his undergraduate degree in Sharia from the University of Al Qarawiyyin in 1978, a Masters degree in the Higher Objectives of Sharia from Muhammad V University in 1989, […]
30
Aug
Aug
The following is a translation of an Arabic article written by Muhammad ibn Al-Mokhtar Al-Shinqiti and published in April 1, 2014 on Al Jazeera’s website. Originally from Mauritania, Al-Shinqiti is currently a professor of political science, history of religion, and Islamic ethics at Qatar Foundation. Sectarianism is a symptom among the symptoms of straying away from the […]
12
May
May
Given the chosen title, let alone the specific content, it is not surprising that Mark Bauerlein did not garner a lot fans or high ratings for his book The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future. But that is precisely what he set out not to do. The Dumbest […]
18
Feb
Feb
This article originally appeared in Middle East Eye In a recent article for The Atlantic, Graeme Wood takes great pains and goes to considerable lengths in explaining what the Islamic State, also known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Sham (ISIS), as an organisation really wants. In summary, Wood’s position is that a proper understanding of ISIS needs […]
26
Dec
Dec
This article originally appeared in ImanWire One of the yearly rituals our Muslim community engages in is the debate about whether it is permissible for one to wish a Merry Christmas to Christians or not. What follows is not to engage in the specifics of the debate. Of course this is another contentious issue in which […]