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Abdul Nasir reads from the Quran. Image courtesy The Spiritual Edge
Becoming Muslim — from The Spiritual Edge
April 02, 2022
The Spiritual Edge podcast brings us stories that explore the motivations and challenges facing converts to  Islam in the United States.
Abdul Raoof April 02, 2022
This week we are featuring a radio documentary from KALW’s The Spiritual Edge. Host and Reporter Hana Baba explores the motivations and challenges of converts as they carve out a uniquely American path for being Muslim in the United States.

As a student and basketball player at the University of California at Berkeley in the 1960s, Abdul Raoof Nasir joined the Nation of Islam. In the years that followed, he was forced to make a choice: stay with the Nation or go with one of the groups that splintered away from it.
Raul April 02, 2022
Raul Gonzalez lives in the Chicago area and converted to Islam twenty years ago. He has been trying to answer the question of how to reconcile his identity as a Latino — and Muslim — ever since.

A longer version of this story, including more about Aaron Siebert-Llera can be found at The Spiritual Edge website.

Natasha Haverty. Independent journalist. Her work has appeared on NPR, Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting, and the New York Times.
Sofie April 03, 2022
Sofie Lovern is a Latina convert and comedienne who learned the difficulty of trying to merge two very different cultures in a marriage, even when their religions were the same.  Her struggle with marriage is not uncommon with new convert women who are often rushed into marriage. Her marriage fails, but her comedy brings her through it all. She emerges unmarried but still Muslim.

Hana Baba. Radio journalist — host of Crosscurrents — the award-winning daily news magazine KALW Public Radio in San Francisco. She reports on immigrants and communities of color, health, education, race, identity, culture, religion, and arts. Her work also appears on NPR, PRI, BBC, OZY, and she is a TED speaker.



Our theme Breath Deep is copyright MC Yogi.

All additional music by Blue Dot Sessions.

Remixes and sound design by Dissimilation Heavy Industries.