ABOUT THIS EPISODE
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
