Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research

Juz’ 21: Dr. Hassan Elwan and Dr. Rania Awaad | Wisdom, Leadership and Awareness

How do we live lives always in awe of Allah? How can we practice the wisdom of Luqman? What traits do we need to become pious leaders?

Dr. Rania Awaad and Dr. Hassan Alwan join Sh. Abdullah Oduro and Dr. Omar Suleiman to explore the answers to these questions and more within the 21st juz.

0:00 – Intro
2:25 – Dr. Omar Suleiman reflects on the flow of each surah in this juz
10:11 – Dr. Rania Awaad reflects on the wisdom of Luqman
19:41 – Sh. Abdullah Oduro reflects on the concept and traits of leadership
27:41 – Dr. Hassan Alwan reflects on being in awe of Allah
36:38 – Final reflections

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Dr. Hassan Elwan

Dr. Hassan Elwan

Senior Fellow | Dr. Hassan Elwan holds a doctorate in Electrical Engineering from the Ohio State University. He holds numerous patents and has extensively published in the field of microelectronics. He is currently a Distinguished Engineer at Marvell technology. Dr. Elwan also has a Master's degree in Clinical Psychology and is currently leading the counseling department at the Rahma Center in Lake Forest, California. He regularly lectures about Islam and spirituality in Southern California and provides professional counseling services to the community that are grounded in both psychology and spirituality.

Dr. Rania Awaad

Dr. Rania Awaad

Senior Fellow | Dr. Rania Awaad, M.D. is a Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the Stanford University School of Medicine where she is the Director of the Muslim Mental Health Lab and Wellness Program and Director of the Diversity Clinic. She pursued her psychiatric residency training at Stanford where she also completed a postdoctoral clinical research fellowship with the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). Her research and clinical work are focused on the mental health needs of Muslims. Her courses at Stanford range from teaching a pioneering course on Islamic Psychology, instructing medical students and residents on implicit bias and integrating culture and religion into medical care to teaching undergraduate and graduate students the psychology of xenophobia. Her most recent academic publications include an edited volume on "Islamophobia and Psychiatry" (Springer, 2019), Islamic Psychology (Routledge, 2020) and an upcoming text on Muslim Mental Health. She has also produced a toolkit, fact sheet, CME course, and is now editing a clinical textbook on Muslim mental health for the American Psychiatric Association. Dr. Awaad is particularly passionate about uncovering the historical roots of mental health care in the Islamic intellectual heritage. Through her outreach work at Stanford, she is also the Clinical Director of the San Francisco Bay Area branches of the Khalil Center, a spiritual wellness center pioneering the application of traditional Islamic spiritual healing methods to modern clinical psychology. She has been the recipient of several awards and grants for her work.
Prior to studying medicine, she pursued classical Islamic studies in Damascus, Syria and holds certifications (ijaza) in Qur’an, Islamic Law and other branches of the Islamic Sciences. Dr. Awaad has also served as the first female Professor of Islamic Law at Zaytuna College, a Muslim Liberal Arts College in Berkeley, CA where she taught courses on Shafi'i Fiqh and Women's Fiqh and Qur'anic sciences for nearly a decade. In addition, she serves as the Director of The Rahmah Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to educating Muslim women and girls. At Rahmah, she oversees the Murbiyyah spiritual mentoring program for girls. Dr. Awaad is a nationally recognized speaker, award-winning teacher, researcher and author in both the Islamic and medical sciences. Follow her on I/T: Dr.RaniaAwaad

Sh. Abdullah Oduro

Sh. Abdullah Oduro

Fellow, Head of Convert Resources | Abdullah Oduro is a first generation Ghanian native that converted to Islam in 1997. He graduated from the College of Islamic Law from the University of AlMadinah in 2007. He conducts public speeches, sermons, lectures, and workshops around the US on Islamic Law, self-improvement, and convert life. He is currently the Imam at the Islamic Center of Coppell and Lewisville in Dallas, TX. He resides in Dallas, TX with his wife and four children.

Having recently joined Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research as a Scholar, Shaykh Abdullah leads a team providing unique and comprehensive resources for new Muslim converts and institutional convert care.

Dr. Omar Suleiman

Dr. Omar Suleiman

President | Imam Dr. Omar Suleiman is the Founder and President of the Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research, and an Adjunct Professor of Islamic Studies in the Graduate Liberal Studies Program at Southern Methodist University.