OnGuard - For the Ummah, For the Truth

What if the biggest obstacle to your future isn't your circumstances, your resources, or your abilities — but the fact that you're relying on yourself?

In this deeply moving episode of OnGuard, Dr Hamza Andreas Tzortzis sits down with Sh Mustafa Almansur to explore the true meaning of īmān, tawakkul (trust in Allah), and the extraordinary possibilities that open up when we stop depending solely on ourselves.

Sh Mustafa shares the emotional story of his estrangement from his son, and the seemingly irrational decision to travel thousands of miles to Saudi Arabia without knowing whether his son would even agree to see him.

Together, they challenge some of our deepest assumptions about self-belief, anxiety, control, success, and what it actually means to trust Allāh.

Is īmān simply something we possess, or something we actively do? Does tawakkul mean expecting Allah to give us what we want? And how can accepting that we don't control the outcome actually liberate us to take action?

Drawing on the Qur'an, the life of the Prophet ﷺ, and powerful personal experiences, this conversation explores how a genuine relationship with Allah can transform what we believe is possible.

**Sometimes, the moment you stop relying on yourself is the moment everything changes.**

Watch, reflect, and share with someone who needs this reminder.

Chapters:
00:00:00 Introduction
00:03:00 Why are Muslims struggling with fear and anxiety?
00:06:10 Where is Allah in your calculations?
00:12:00 Are you limiting what Allah can do for you?
00:15:00 Changing ourselves and the Muslim Ummah
00:18:00 Is this just positive thinking or the prosperity gospel?
00:23:00 Does tawakkul guarantee worldly success?
00:30:00 Īmān is not just something you believe
00:35:00 Do you actually depend on Allāh?
00:37:40 My son thought I abandoned him
00:42:00 Why we demand guarantees before trusting Allāh
00:45:00 Lessons from the Prophet ﷺ at the Battle of the Trench
00:49:00 Knowing Allah versus experiencing His names
00:53:00 How to practise tawakkul when you're anxious
01:00:00 Why knowledge alone isn't enough
01:04:00 Taking action without controlling the outcome
01:09:00 Why a believer should never say 'impossible'
01:10:00 Practical advice for Muslims and the Ummah
01:14:00 Hamza's challenge: Does everything depend on Allāh?
01:18:40 Remembering that Allah is always with you
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What if the greatest challenge to modern Christianity comes not from Islam — but from Christianity's own forgotten history?

Who really followed the teachings of Jesus (ʿĪsā عليه السلام)? His 'brother' James and the original disciples who knew him personally, or Paul, whose teachings came to dominate Christianity despite never meeting Jesus?

In this fascinating episode of OnGuard, Dr Hamza Andreas Tzortzis sits down with Paul Williams of @BloggingTheology to uncover a largely forgotten chapter of Christian history — one with potentially revolutionary implications for how we understand the religion of Jesus.

They explore the beliefs of the earliest followers of Jesus, the extraordinary significance of James, the rise of Pauline Christianity, and why the original Jesus movement may have had far more in common with Islam today than most people realise.

But this conversation goes beyond Christian origins. Paul also challenges conventional Muslim approaches to daʿwah, reflects on his journey with Blogging Theology, and shares insights from his engagement with leading Christian academics.

As Paul puts it, the implications could amount to a “Copernican revolution” in how we understand Christianity.

Was the original religion of Jesus forgotten? And what happened to those who followed it?

Watch the full conversation and decide for yourself.

CHAPTERS
00:00 Intro
01:31 Are Muslims debating the wrong Christians?
02:27 Is Christianity really declining?
09:04 Should Muslims prioritise Christian daʿwah?
13:17 A better way to invite Christians to Islam
19:01 Dialogue, debates and finding common ground
24:08 What's wrong with Christianity today?
29:25 James: The forgotten brother of Jesus
33:09 What religion did Jesus' first followers practise?
38:49 James vs Paul: Two different religions?
41:56 Who truly represented Jesus?
47:46 The religion of Jesus vs the religion about Jesus
51:02 Were Jesus' earliest followers Muslim?
52:01 How Christians explain the differences
55:00 The forgotten diversity of early Christianity
01:08:01 Why the original disciples matter more than Paul
01:15:22 Books that could change this debate
01:19:27 How Blogging Theology began
01:24:00 Christian scholars and the prophethood of Muhammad ﷺ
01:25:33 Sincerity and the dangers of online daʿwah
01:31:10 Final advice: Be more prophetic, less pathetic

Subscribe to Islam21c for more thought-provoking conversations on Islam, history, theology and the challenges facing Muslims today.

Share this episode with someone interested in the historical Jesus, early Christianity or Muslim-Christian dialogue.

#OnGuard #BloggingTheology #Christianity
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What if your daʿwah is successful in the eyes of people — but rejected by Allāh?

In this powerful episode of OnGuard, Shaykh Shaqur Rehman joins us for a deep and unusually candid discussion about ikhlāṣ: sincerity for the sake of Allāh.

But this isn't simply a reminder to “check your intentions”.

What happens when the algorithm rewards you for being seen? When daʿwah becomes a personal brand? When views, followers, praise and influence begin affecting how you speak, what you post — and even why you post it?

Could an outwardly good Islamic video earn no reward at all? Could the very likes and shares we celebrate become evidence against us?

Shaykh Shaqur explores riyāʾ (showing off), sumʿah (seeking to be heard), the danger of celebrity daʿwah and “one-man shows”, why accountability matters, and how an intention can change even while performing a good deed.

Most importantly, the discussion turns practical: how do we actually protect our hearts while doing public work for Islam?

Through lessons from the Qurʾān and Sunnah, personal experiences, and remarkable examples from the Salaf, this is an urgent conversation for every Muslim who teaches, posts, speaks, campaigns, creates content — or simply wants their good deeds to be accepted by Allāh.

Chapters
00:00 Can your daʿwah become a sin?
01:12 Ikhlāṣ in the age of algorithms
05:10 How Shayṭān targets our intentions
12:49 What does ikhlāṣ actually mean?
18:52 The crunch moment: sincerity when it hurts
25:18 Riyāʾ, public deeds and “faking it”
34:25 “Build the ʿabd first”
37:43 The problem with one-man daʿwah
43:32 Lesser shirk and speaking for an audience
51:58 When a good deed becomes sinful
58:22 Riyāʾ and sumʿah in the social-media age
01:05:18 Why does it have to be a “big deed”?
01:09:41 Protecting your intention as an online daee
01:21:11 Why your private worship matters
01:30:19 Extraordinary examples of ikhlāṣ from the Salaf
01:38:37 A final warning for the digital age

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Muslim men are struggling with anxiety, depression, loneliness, addiction and pressures that often remain completely hidden from the people around them. But why do so many men suffer in silence — and what should Muslims actually do about it?

In this episode of OnGuard, Dr Hamza Andreas Tzortzis sits down with Ahmed Tomal of Tawfiq Therapy for a frank discussion about the mental health challenges facing Muslim men today.

They explore anxiety, depression, loneliness, addiction, relationships, suicidal thoughts, emotional suppression and the difficulty many men have in asking for help. Ahmed also breaks down what therapy can genuinely offer — while warning against uncritically importing assumptions and ideologies from modern therapeutic culture into an Islamic framework.

Can a man be strong and still admit he is struggling? How should husbands communicate when stress begins damaging their marriages? What does useful therapy actually look like? And how can Islam, family, community and professional support work together before somebody reaches breaking point?

A candid and practical conversation about what Muslim men may be going through behind closed doors — and why simply saying “I’m fine” may not be enough.

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
02:30 Meet Ahmed Tomal
03:39 Can mental-health language be weaponised?
06:34 Why focus on Muslim men?
07:12 What Muslim men are struggling with
09:33 Depression and suicidal ideation
10:44 How anxiety is treated
15:55 Exposure-response prevention and Prophet Musa
22:06 Hamza’s experience with boxing anxiety
27:32 Childhood experiences and coping mechanisms
34:39 Suppressed emotions, anger and relationships
47:53 Understanding depression
59:19 Responding directly to suicidal thoughts
1:00:08 What happens during therapy?
1:08:00 Therapy, ideology and Islamic values
1:12:42 Suicide rates in Muslim communities
1:16:59 Is “toxic masculinity” the right term?
1:24:46 Islamic guidance on emotions and grief
1:30:52 Why Muslim men avoid seeking help
1:37:48 Final advice: hold on and seek support
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Is modern therapy really neutral?
Imam Abdullah Hasan argues that beneath many popular approaches to psychology, counselling and psychotherapy lie assumptions about what a human being is, what suffering means, what constitutes illness, and what healing should look like.
And when Muslims adopt those frameworks wholesale — then simply add Qur’anic verses, hadith or Islamic terminology — are we actually producing “Islamic psychology”? Or are we importing an entirely different worldview into Islam?
In this fascinating OnGuard conversation, Dr Hamza Andreas Tzortzis sits down with Imam Abdullah Hasan, who combines traditional Islamic scholarship with formal study in psychology, counselling and psychotherapy.
They explore the philosophical foundations of Freud, Carl Rogers and modern therapy; why Imam Abdullah believes Muslims must build from an Islamic understanding of the qalb, nafs, rūḥ and fiṭrah; the development and criticism of psychiatric diagnosis; the “chemical imbalance” narrative around depression; pharmaceutical influence; grief and human suffering; trauma culture and self-diagnosis; the effect therapeutic language can have on families; and what an authentically Islamic approach to human flourishing might look like.
Imam Abdullah also shares the deeply personal experience of losing his mother, and explains why Islam does not promise us a life without pain — but gives suffering meaning, purpose and a path through it.
This is not an argument to ignore genuine suffering or deny people support. It is a challenge to Muslims to examine the assumptions underneath the solutions we are being offered — and to rediscover the extraordinarily rich understanding of the human being already contained within our own tradition.
Chapters
00:00 Coming up
02:44 Meet Imam Abdullah Hasan
04:47 Is modern psychology harming Muslims?
14:00 Building psychology from an Islamic worldview
28:52 What’s wrong with “Islamic CBT”?
31:46 Who decides what counts as mental illness?
43:11 The chemical imbalance theory and antidepressants
50:46 Can secular psychology really be “Islamised”?
65:00 Grief, depression and the meaning of suffering
75:51 Trauma, suicide and turning back to Allāh
84:10 Has therapy culture made us more fragile?
86:16 Should Muslims study psychology?
90:48 What is actually causing the mental health crisis?
95:05 Where to learn more from Imam Abdullah Hasan
99:54 A final warning to the Muslim community

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