Every Ramadan, Muslims recite all 114 chapters of the Qur’an. That’s more than 6000 verses, all in classical Arabic. But some will not have to read it from the page – they will have it memorised. They’re known as Hafiz, and they commit years of their lives devoting their holy book to memory. Professor Halim Rane teaches Islamic Studies in the School of Humanities, Languages and Social Science at Griffith University. Imam Ensar Cutahija is imam of Rochdale Mosque in Brisbane and so far the only hafiz among Bosnian Muslims in Australia. Amr Ahmed memorised the Qur’an at age 10. He is now in year ..read more

Disney is one of the world’s most pervasive story telling corporations – the creator of iconic films, beloved characters, and the most popular theme parks in the world. After 100 years of operation, Disney has become a cultural phenomenon. For its biggest fans – sometimes called “Disney adults” – it evokes something like devotion. Dr Jodi Eichler-Levine is Professor of Religion Studies and Berman Professor of Jewish Civilization at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, USA. She also writes Faith in Disney, an online newsletter about the intersection of Disney and religion. She is writing a book o ..read more

Join Meredith Lake and Brother Phap Hai on a mindful walk around Mountain Spring Buddhist monastery – a community of mostly Vietnamese monastics in the Plum Village tradition, founded by the late Zen master Tich Nhat Han in 2020. Brother Phap Hai is the senior teacher at Mountain Spring Buddhist monastery and author of The Eight Realisations of Great Beings. Originally from Australia, Brother Phap Hai has been a Buddhist monk since 1997. Further listening: Remembering Thich Nhat Hanh: Founder of engaged Buddhism and father of mindfulness ..read more

Dr Muneera Bano and Mariam Mohammed are two incredible leaders who’ve each embraced an unconventional education. Working in vastly different fields, they are both examples of women who have broken through the “concrete ceiling” and are making a world more hospitable to women. Dr Muneera Bano is Principal Research Scientist within the Diversity and Inclusion in Artificial Intelligence Program at CSIRO’s digital data arm, Data61. Mariam Mohammed is a speaker, facilitator, entrepreneur and coach. In 2019 she co-founded Moneygirl, a social enterprise fostering the financial literacy of young ..read more

The digital revolution has transformed our lives, including those of the world’s nearly two billion Muslims. How are Muslims using the internet to enrich their religious practise, and how can Islam help us develop more ethical ways of developing this technology further? Hussein Kesvani is a media producer, podcast host and author of Follow Me, Akhi: The Online World of British Muslims. Dr Junaid Qadir is Professor of Computer Engineering at the Qatar University in Doha ..read more

In our cultural moment, the relationship between religion and sexuality is fraught for a lot of people. In public and political discourse, even the terms religion and sexuality suggest conflict, pain and difficulty. But is that the end of the road? Well not always, in lived experience. Karl Hand is a community support worker, and the pastor of Crave MCC in Sydney – a congregation affiliated with perhaps the oldest international network of queer-affirming Christian churches. AJ Jensen is cofounder of Queers Be With You, which helps Churches and Christian organisations to be more LGBTIQ inclusiv ..read more

It has to be said a lot of our public conversation about religion and sexuality assumes that faith and queerness are separate – even antagonistic aspects of human life. But where does that leave queer people of faith? Queer theology has been an active field of study for decades, but may not be well known outside divinity schools, and is only just now being taught formally in Australia. Rev Penny Jones is an Anglican priest and currently serves at Pitt Street Uniting Church in Sydney. Together with her wife Josephine, they ran the first tertiary unit on queer theology in Australia at the Univer ..read more

Why is rest such a challenge in our culture, in our time? Tricia Hersey has made it her life’s work to advocate for rest – developing a rest practice herself, and guiding others in the same direction. Tricia’s work isn’t about self-care or individual wellness, and there’s no neat hack for recalibrating your work/life balance. Instead, she advocates for a radical, countercultural form of rest grounded in a theology of Black liberation. Tricia Hersey is a performance artist, community organiser and founder of The Nap Ministry – an organisation devoted to the liberating power of rest. Her book is ..read more

The first interview in this episode with Anne Pattel-Gray first aired 29 May 2022. The Mabo decision was a legal and cultural milestone in Australia, but thirty years on, how has it changed theology? For decades Dr Anne Pattel-Gray has been calling for racial justice in and through Christian churches. She says Mabo “shifts our whole perspective of how we interpret the Bible, of how we do theology.” Aunty Dr Anne Pattel-Gray is a Bidjara activist and theologian who has been a key figure in the movement to decolonise Australian theology for decades. She is the author of The Great ..read more

This episode originally aired 22 May 2022. Have you ever found yourself in a place where heaven and earth seem to meet? Sacred architecture and aesthetics can make a person experience the numinous, even in a building not set aside for a religious purpose. Also, Papua New Guinea’s Baha’i community, are about to open a new house of worship in Port Moresby. Watch The Architect and the Mosque on Compass. Read Ayla Lepine’s article about sacred architecture on The Architectural Review. Ayla Lepine is the author of Gothic Legacies: Four Centuries of Tradition and Innovation ..read more