Lamisah Chowdhury, 18, from London, found the podcast through social media and decided to start listening on her way to university, and was particularly drawn to Episode 19, where author Asmaa Hussien discusses love and longing.
"It was how she overcame the tragedies that she lived through, was able to talk about it openly and now happy and successful after it," Chowdhury said, explaining that the episode gave her hope at a time she personally needed it.
Some cover dark topics. In Episode 13, a woman under the alias "Sabryna" spoke about her experience of being sexually assaulted. That interview resonated deeply with listeners. Mohamud noted that many people reached out asking if they could get in touch with Sabryna to share their own story and took comfort in hearing from other survivors of sexual assault.
"You see the numbers, and it's a little bit alarming," said Mohamud, who added it was often younger women and children reaching out about the episode, including one as young as 11. While Cadar and I spoke about the episode and the response it got from the community, Mohamud started to get tearful, and so did I.
What was most powerful about Sabryna's story was that she told listeners that what happened to them wasn't their fault and reminded them of their worth — a message that is not always spoken about loudly in Muslim communities.
"She's affirming the people who experienced this particular violence at this age group," Mohamud said.
Sabryna later created an Instagram account to talk to some of the listeners, but after a few weeks, she was overwhelmed and had to stop. "I am so sorry that you've all experienced this," she posted. "But hearing your stories is particularly taking me to a really bad place, and I need a break."
Not all episodes are heavy, but listeners who may have experienced a similar situation as the guests of that episode often share that they go away feeling stronger.
Running a faith-based podcast means focusing on building a community, said Mohamud, who is now running podcast events for The Digital Sisterhood across the US, including hosting live recording in a burqa, a far cry from the usual white man from Brooklyn podcast cliché.
The podcast has led to a Discord server, whose more than 1,600 members talk about Islam and nonreligious related topics, such as anime, parenting, and cooking.
"I understand that this work is not about gaining this and that," Mohamud said. "I just want to do something that matters."
Having seen some of their older video clips, I asked if they plan on pivoting to video, like a lot of podcasts have nowadays, but Mohamud said any visual storytelling would be through illustrated art.
"Our designs and our images are very animation-based because I wanted to avoid the objectification of women," she said. "Obviously these women are telling intimate stories. I don't want them to also have to think, Do I look good?"
Instead, the focus is exactly where it should be: on their stories.
Until next time,
Ikran Dahir
P.S. Brace yourself because the new BTS album, Proof, is out now. Steffi Cao and I will be hosting a Twitter Space at 1 p.m. ET today unpacking all our reactions. 💜 Join us!
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