If you’ve ever listened to the podcast “Me and My Muslim Friends,” you’ll know that host Yasmin Bendaas usually has a co-host. She invites members of the community to join her for whatever topic is at hand. But when the topic was sexual health and education, the interest in co-hosting dried up. And yet, many folks Yasmin reached out to said they were interested in listening to the episode — and wanted to learn more about sexuality and Islam.
The idea that sexuality and religion are in conflict has been around for a long time, but the curiosity of how to align spirituality and sexuality is out there — and more folks are crossing invisible lines to talk about both.
In this collaborative episode from “Embodied” and “Me and My Muslim Friends,” which is produced in partnership with WUNC, hosts Anita Rao and Yasmin Bendaas talk with two folks in the Muslim community about sexual health, sexuality and Islam.
Yasmin speaks with Sameera Qureshi, a therapist and the founder of “Sexual Health for Muslims,” about how she aligns sex ed with concepts in Islam, bringing spirituality to sexual health. And Anita has a conversation with author and activist Lamya H, whose memoir “Hijab Butch Blues” tells stories from their life and their journey with queer identity alongside stories from the Quran.
Special thank you to the team behind “Me and My Muslim Friends” for their collaboration and work on this episode!
