Israel is Losing - and They Know It | Imam Tom Live
How to Fight the Israeli Backlash | Imam Tom Live
On the Gaza Ceasefire | Imam Tom Live
Courage in the Face of Israeli Censorship | Imam Tom Live
How To Become A Strong Muslim Leader | Imam Tom Live
How to Develop Better Habits | Imam Tom Live
Does Protesting Work? | Imam Tom Live
Michigan Mosques Say NO! | Imam Tom Live
Musk's Take, Columbia's Skunk Surprise, Islamic Unity, and India's Ram Revelation | Imam Tom Live
The Lives of Imams, Hate Crime in Texas, Israeli Humiliation, Ceasefire Resolutions | Imam Tom Live
Israel Bombs Rafah During Superbowl, that Biden Tweet, and Constructive Conversations | Imam Tom Live
What Will Ramadan be Like in Rafah? A Conversation About Sha'aban and Leadership | Imam Tom Live
Unveiling Truths: Aaron Bushnell, NYT's Agenda, & Stopping Military Aid to Israel | Imam Tom Live
Biryani Diplomacy: The Illusion of Political Influence & the "Flour Massacre" | Imam Tom Live
Live Revolution: The West Rallies for Gaza | Imam Tom Live
University Raids, Fake Negotiations, Holocaust Remembrance? | Imam Tom Live
Do Influencers Owe their Followers Advocacy? | Imam Tom Live
Israel's Ceasefire Rejection, Nurse Fired for Gaza, and the Law of Sacrifice | Imam Tom Live
Muslim Influencers Profiting from Apartheid | Imam Tom Live
The Real Guise of 'Islamophobia' | Imam Tom Live
What France & UK's Electoral results mean for Muslims | Imam Tom Live
No Limits: Israel’s Growing Atrocities and Global Indifference | Imam Tom Live
Falsehood is Bound to Vanish | Imam Tom Live
Hypocrisy at the DNC | Imam Tom Live
Empowering Student Activism | Imam Tom Live
Remembering Aysenur's Courage | Imam Tom Live
Muslim Votes Swing 2024 | Imam Tom Live
All Praise Be to Allah in Every Situation | Imam Tom Live
Oct 7th Changed Everything | Imam Tom Live
Allah Will Ask: What Did You Do With Your Freedom? | Imam Tom Live
Surah Al-Kawthar & Atomic Habits | Imam Tom Live
Atomic Habits: Why Most Quit Early | Imam Tom Weekly
Surah An-Nas & Atomic Habits | Imam Tom Weekly
Why You Can't Resist Cravings (and How to Take Back Control) | Atomic Habits | Imam Tom Weekly
Surah Al-Ikhlas & Atomic Habits | Imam Tom Weekly
Surah Al-Masad & Atomic Habits | Imam Tom Weekly
Why Reps Matter More than Time | Imam Tom Weekly
What Does Trump's Second Term Mean for Muslims? | Imam Tom Weekly
The Islamic Cure for Overconsumption | Imam Tom Weekly
Doomscrolling is Rewiring Your Brain | Imam Tom Weekly
Trump Wants to Take Over Gaza | Imam Tom Weekly
Will Celebrity Muslims Save Us? | Imam Tom Weekly
Why Don't Muslims Just Leave? | Imam Tom Weekly
When Did Ramadan Become a Festival | Imam Tom Weekly
Muslims Are a People of Principle | Imam Tom Weekly
The Dark Truth About Secularism | Imam Tom Weekly
The Secret Cost of Individualism | Imam Tom Weekly
How Islamic History Was Frozen and Forgotten | Imam Tom Weekly
The Ummah or the Nation? | Imam Tom Weekly
Debunking the 'Islamic Dilemma' | Imam Tom Weekly
How Music Impacts Your Brain | Imam Tom Weekly
Malcolm X's Legacy We Forgot About | Imam Tom Weekly
Hajj is the Great Equalizer | Imam Tom Facchine
The Multi-Million Dollar War on Islam | Focal Point with Imam Tom Facchine
How Islam Completed what Christianity Began | Imam Tom Facchine
Why the Islamic Calendar Matters | Snapshots with Imam Tom Facchine
How Colonialism Hijacked the Muslim World | Focal Point with Imam Tom Facchine
What Activism Is Missing Today | Snapshots with Imam Tom Facchine
How to Stop Chasing Validation | Snapshots with Imam Tom Facchine
Representation Isn’t Working. Here’s Why. | Focal Point with Imam Tom Facchine
Is This Da’wah or Entertainment? | Snapshots with Imam Tom Facchine
Islam Isn’t Just Therapy | Snapshots with Imam Tom Facchine
The Hidden Bias in Every History Book | Focal Point with Imam Tom Facchine
How Your Victim Mindset is Destroying You | Snapshots with Imam Tom Facchine
Modesty Is More Than What You Wear | Snapshots with Imam Tom Facchine
Will Recognition Help Palestine? | Snapshots by Imam Tom Facchine
Israel’s Link to U.S. Anti-Terror Policy | Focal Point with Imam Tom Facchine
Living Up to the Prophet’s ﷺ Final Speech | Snapshots with Imam Tom Facchine
How Should We View Gaza’s Celebrity Support? | Snapshots with Imam Tom Facchine
How to Stop Falling for Fake Mahdis | Snapshots with Imam Tom Facchine
Columbus Wasn't Just After Gold – He Wanted Jerusalem | Focal Point with Imam Tom Facchine
Why Some Scholars Critique Resistance | Focal Point with Imam Tom Facchine
Why You Can’t Escape Organized Religion | Snapshots with Imam Tom Facchine
Kings Chased Thrones. He ﷺ Chased This Instead | Snapshots with Imam Tom Facchine
What Islam Reveals About Socialism and Capitalism | Focal Point with Imam Tom Facchine
What Real Masculinity Looks Like | Snapshots with Imam Tom Facchine
Amazon's Kill System & the Network Behind Sami's Detention | Focal Point with Imam Tom Facchine
The Truth About AI’s Intelligence | Snapshots with Imam Tom Facchine
What the Qur’an Says About Christianity | Snapshots with Imam Tom Facchine
How Does the Qur’an View the Bible? | Snapshots with Imam Tom Facchine
What ‘Allahu Akbar’ Really Means (And Why It Scares Them) | Snapshots with Imam Tom Facchine
Debunking the Myth of the ‘Oppressed Muslim Woman’ | Snapshots with Imam Tom Facchine
Why Not Every Seat is One Worth Taking | Focal Point with Imam Tom Facchine
What Sharia Law Actually Means | Snapshots with Imam Tom Facchine
Does Islam Actually Oppose Science? | Snapshots with Imam Tom Facchine
How ‘Taqiyya’ Became an Islamophobic Talking Point | Snapshots with Imam Tom Facchine
Who's Your Real Enemy? | Snapshots with Imam Tom Facchine
Sunnis vs. Shias | Deep Dive: Iran Ep. 1 | Focal Point with Imam Tom Facchine
The Promise and Paradox of the Islamic Republic | Deep Dive: Iran Ep. 2 | Imam Tom Facchine
Imam Tom Live
The Promise and Paradox of the Islamic Republic | Deep Dive: Iran Ep. 2 | Imam Tom Facchine
Can an Islamic Republic be genuinely Islamic or does the logic of the modern nation state inevitably subordinate religion to political power?
In Episode 2 of Deep Dive: Iran, Imam Tom Facchine applies the lens of political theory to the Iranian state, examining how Khomeini's doctrine of Wilayat al-Faqih (Guardianship of the Jurist) represented both a bold innovation within Shia tradition and a continuation of centuries-old patterns of political legitimation.
The episode draws on classical Shia jurisprudence, the work of contemporary scholar Wael Hallaq, and a careful reading of Iran's constitution — including Articles 11 and 12 — to assess where the Islamic Republic's stated pan-Islamic commitments have held, and where national and sectarian interests appear to have taken precedence.
This episode covers:
— The foundational divergence between the Sunni concept of the Khilafa and the Shia Imamate
— The doctrine of occultation and the political crisis it generated within Shia thought
— Khomeini's theory of Wilayat al-Faqih and its place within Shia intellectual history
— The tension between Islamic governance and the structural logic of the modern nation state
— Wael Hallaq's critique of sovereignty and its implications for evaluating the Islamic Republic
This is Episode 2 of a 4-part series examining Iran through four distinct lenses.
