Ikhlas and Makkah bring on their first shaykh! And literally ask him a million questions. In this episode, we sit down with Shaykh Muhammad Mendes and talk everything from student-teacher relationships to Islamic scholarship in Africa to what he does when he’s not serving as a spiritual guide. Guest: Adeyinka Muhammad Mendes is the imam and scholar in residence at the Institute of Islamic Studies in Princeton, New Jersey. He is also founding director of SacredService for Human Liberation. Episode Details: (00:04:40) Ikhlas rants about how no one respects knowledge and the people that seek it (Makkah is one of them). (00:16:30) Shaykh Mendes is basically a child of the entire African diaspora. (00:23:42) We define a few terms: shaykh, imam, scholar… what do these words really mean? (00:33:33) Shaykh Mendes talks why he studied Islam in “Black Africa” and why Black people are so extra when connecting with the divine. (00:44:40) Makkah gets real and asks how women can balance their pursuit of knowledge with protecting themselves from shady men. (01:01:04) That time Shaykh Mendes almost got stung by a scorpion... Music: Intro and Outro Music: RSPN by Blank and Kytt, CC-licensed