Reviving Islamic Discourse.
A Muslim Podcast Facilitating Intellectual Discourse & Dialogue with Academics, Activists, Shaykhs & Influencers from all around the world.
Site
RSS
Apple
Data updated on 09/09/2026
Recent rankings
Latest chart positions across Apple Podcasts and Spotify rankings.
Shared links between episodes and podcasts
Links found in episode descriptions and other podcasts that share them.
Boys In The Cave, a podcast by Boys In The Cave - Stats, Episodes and Rankings - My Podcast Data
RSS feed quality
To improve
Score global : 48%
Related Shows Based on Content Similarities
Discover shows related to Boys In The Cave, based on actual content similarities. Explore podcasts with similar topics, themes, and formats, backed by real data.
Ep 142 - Is Your Halal Meat Really Halal? | The UK's First Halal & Tayib Farm
Sunday, July 26, 2026 • Duration 01:30:30
What does halal truly require from us? Is it only about how an animal is slaughtered, or should it also include how that animal lived?
In this episode, Nadeem sits down with Khalil from Willowbrook Farm, the UK's first Halal and Tayib farm, for a powerful conversation about food, farming, animal welfare, sustainability and our responsibility as Muslims toward the earth.
Khalil shares the remarkable Willowbrook story, beginning in 2002 when his parents left their careers, sold their home and committed themselves fully to building an ethical farm from empty land.
The family faced years of opposition and planning difficulties, living in camouflaged caravans on their own land while raising thousands of chickens and working toward permission to build a permanent home.
The conversation explores why a halal stamp may tell us very little about the life an animal experienced. Khalil explains the difference between traditional chickens raised slowly over 12 weeks and commercial chickens produced in as little as four weeks, as well as the uncomfortable realities behind intensive, "free-range" and organic farming.
They also discuss:
• The difference between halal and Halal and Tayib • Why cheap meat always carries a hidden cost • Animal welfare before the moment of slaughter • The problems with intensive and industrial farming • Whether ethical farming can remain financially sustainable • Foraging, mushrooms and reconnecting with nature • Eating seasonally and using the whole animal • Self-sufficiency and the limits of modern sustainable living • Needs, wants and escaping consumer culture • Repairing, reusing and delaying unnecessary purchases • Islamic stewardship and our duty as caretakers of the earth • Eco-camping, farm visits and activities at Willowbrook Farm
This is not simply a conversation about farming. It is an honest examination of the way we eat, consume and live, and whether our everyday choices reflect the values we claim to hold.
The goal is not perfection overnight. It is to become more conscious, eat less but eat better, ask where our food comes from and begin making small, meaningful changes.
00:00 Introduction 01:27 The Willowbrook Farm story 03:06 Selling everything to build the farm 08:58 Sustainability over endless growth 11:16 Self-sufficiency and ethical living 15:30 The problem with intensive halal farming 20:00 12-week chickens vs 4-week chickens 27:39 The truth about free-range and organic labels 28:57 Is halal only about slaughter? 29:50 Foraging, mushrooms and reconnecting with nature 38:54 Our responsibility for what we eat 42:06 Veganism, monoculture and hidden harm 44:33 Halal, tayyib and greenwashing 49:25 Modern farming, biodiversity and drought 52:49 Needs, wants and consumer culture 58:48 Why changing our habits feels uncomfortable 01:02:23 Eat less meat, but eat better 01:05:00 Whole-animal and seasonal eating 01:07:34 Living alongside nature 01:09:16 Luxuries, food and long-term health 01:14:49 Camping and visiting Willowbrook Farm 01:20:14 Making necessities ethical and sustainable 01:22:03 Small steps toward ethical living 01:23:57 Living a peasant life 01:27:34 Why buying cheap can cost more 01:29:51 Closing thoughts
Ep 141 - "Drones Are Buzzing Around As We Speak": Live From the Flotilla Boat with Kaleem Bullivant
Saturday, May 16, 2026 • Duration 55:20
In this unreal episode, we were joined by Kaleem Bullivant, who spoke to us while literally being on the flotilla boat.
This was not a normal studio conversation.
Kaleem joined us from the sea, in the middle of a real journey, giving us a raw and personal insight into what it is like to be part of the flotilla, why he chose to be there, and what the experience meant to him on a human, spiritual and emotional level.
We discuss the reality of life onboard, the motivation behind the mission, the emotions that come with being part of something bigger than yourself, and the courage it takes to physically put yourself in that position.
A truly unique conversation, recorded in a moment that felt bigger than just a podcast.
Kaleem was not just talking about the flotilla. He was on it.
Don't forget to like, comment and subscribe for more deep conversations.
Ep 140 - Dr. Yakoob Ahmed on How Modernity Rewired the Muslim Mind & The Myth of Modern History
Saturday, February 14, 2026 • Duration 02:13:14
We sit down with Dr Yakoob Ahmed for a deep conversation on how modernity quietly reshaped the Muslim mind, and why so much of what we call "modern history" is built on myths, assumptions, and power.
We explore how colonisation and the nation state rewired Muslim memory, identity, and imagination, how the idea of "objective history" can become a trap, and what it takes to recover a more honest, grounded way of understanding our past without nostalgia, propaganda, or performative outrage.
We discuss:
- How modernity changed the way Muslims see themselves and their history
- The nation state, colonisation, and the editing of collective memory
- The myth of "neutral" history, and who gets to define what is true
- Why progress narratives can distort the Muslim past
- How to study history with adab, humility, and intellectual honesty
- Practical ways to rebuild historical consciousness today
Timestamps
00:00 Intro
00:10 Welcome, meeting Dr Yakoob Ahmed
01:23 Why this conversation matters, Muslim historians, background
04:15 Studying history in the West, "leaving God outside the classroom"
09:39 "History from above", centering Allah, hidden assumptions in academia
15:37 What is history, memory, identity, lived experience
23:14 Man orientated vs iman orientated history, nuance, darkness, realism
26:49 Romantic visions of the past, hero narratives, Salahuddin, Mahdi
29:32 Can we write history about recent events, Palestine and living memory
32:41 Erased local Muslim histories, Far East examples (Philippines etc)
Ep 139 - Sunnah-Centred Manhood vs Online Masculinity Culture, Dawah Bros & Feminism | Habeeb Akande
Monday, February 2, 2026 • Duration 02:25:40
Habeeb Akande, British-Nigerian writer, historian, and sex educator, joins us to unpack topics many Muslims argue about loudly, but rarely discuss with depth, nuance, and real principles.
We talk about the modern crisis of masculinity in Muslim spaces, why "Red Pill vs feminist" has become a rigid false binary, and how figures like Andrew Tate and Jordan Peterson slot into a deeper identity struggle for some Muslim men.
We also explore how Islamic terms get weaponised in online discourse, including misusing concepts like fitrah to baptise personal opinions as "Islam", and flattening ghayrah into coercive control rather than principled, loving boundaries.
Throughout the conversation, we return to a core theme, prophetic masculinity is not a performance, it is integrity, responsibility, and protecting the vulnerable, not exploiting religious language to justify manipulation or abuse.
Topics that we cover:
- The "tribal" pull of sport, and why it bonds men so intensely
- Why the manosphere appeals to Muslim men, identity, insecurity, and performative masculinity
- "Red Pill vs feminist" as a trap, and how Islam pushes a more mature middle path
- Ghayrah, translation, boundaries, and how language can mislead
- Fitrah being used like a debate weapon, and why that's dangerous
- Intimacy in the Islamic tradition, and why we turned it into a taboo topic
Timestamps:
0:00 Football banter, sports as the male soap opera
11:42 Intimacy in Islam, why it became a taboo topic
15:20 Polygyny, ethics, and exploitation
36:13 Calling out hypocrisy, double standards with women vs men
37:17 Who we "expose" vs who we excuse
Ep 139 - Professor Joel Hayward on The Ghatafān, Sawiq Raids & Banū Qurayẓah
Monday, January 19, 2026 • Duration 02:39:02
In this deep-dive conversation, Professor Joel Hayward returns to unpack one of the most misunderstood periods of the Prophet Muhammad's ﷺ life, the politics of Medina under pressure.
We explore the Ghatafān confederation and their leader ʿUyaynah ibn Ḥiṣn, how tribal power actually worked in the Ḥijāz, and why the Prophet ﷺ practiced diplomacy even with deeply unreliable figures.
The discussion moves through the Battle of the Trench, coalition warfare, and how the Prophet deliberately fractured enemy alliances without unnecessary bloodshed.
A major focus is the Sawiq raid, a small but decisive event after Badr that exposed internal vulnerabilities within Medina.
Professor Hayward explains why Banū al-Naḍīr's role in the raid marked a permanent rupture, how insider knowledge mattered more than battlefield force, and why this episode leads directly into their later expulsion.
The episode also challenges common assumptions about "polytheists," Jews, and alliances in early Islam.
Drawing on sīrah criticism, archaeology, and comparative history, Professor Hayward shows why later narratives often oversimplified seventh-century belief, tribal identity, and treaty structures.
This is a conversation about statecraft, realism, and moral restraint, and why the Prophet ﷺ governed with strategy rather than slogans.
If you want a serious rethinking of Medina's covenants, treaties, and power dynamics, this episode is essential listening.
Professor Joel Hayward is the Dean of the Sycamore Leadership Academy in Istanbul, and repeatedly listed in The Muslim 500. Al Khaleej called him a world authority on conflict and strategy, and Kirkus says he is one of academia's most visible Islamic thinkers.
He has ijazat in Islamic sciences, focuses on ʿaqidah and sirah, and has led major programs at King's College London and the Royal Air Force College, as well as serving as chief executive of Cambridge Muslim College.
His 18 books include The Leadership of Muhammad, which won the 2021 Sharjah award, and The Warrior Prophet.
Ep 137 - How We Got IDF Soldiers Detained in Europe | Haroon Raza Shares Legal Blueprint
Monday, December 29, 2025 • Duration 01:31:50
In this episode of Boys in the Cave, we sit down with Haroon Raza, a Dutch criminal defence lawyer and human rights advocate based in Rotterdam.
We unpack the legal strategy behind pursuing accountability for Gaza, the rise of state overreach across Europe, and how activism shifts when the "rules" stop protecting people.
Haroon shares how investigators gathered open source evidence and compiled an indictment covering 1,000 IDF soldiers across multiple nationalities, based largely on what was posted publicly online, and how that work fed into efforts taken toward international accountability.
We also discuss a major "first" moment, the arrest and interrogation of two IDF soldiers in Belgium and what it reveals about the shifting legal landscape in Europe.
Plus, we get into the darker side of modern "rule of law", secret evidence, surveillance, infiltration, profiling Muslims in local municipalities, and why Haroon warns that if law fails to protect legitimate advocacy, societies head into dangerous territory.
Sponsor: This episode is sponsored by Human Appeal Australia, supporting Palestinians with hot meals and vegetable baskets:
Ep 136 - From Morocco To Senegal: How Spiritual Travel Transforms Your Faith With Filmmaker Zoheb
Friday, November 28, 2025 • Duration 01:18:03
What does it mean to travel for Allah and not just for content or vibes In this episode of Boys In The Cave, Tanzim sits down with filmmaker and Revival Retreats founder Zoheb to unpack how spiritual travel reshapes the heart.
From his first work trip to Morocco, to documenting floods in Pakistan, to walking in the streets of Istanbul and the zawiyas of West Africa, Zoheb shares how travel became a mirror that showed him who he really was before Allah.
They discuss the ethics of charity media, not romanticising poverty, how to hold Palestinian and global suffering in your heart, and why sohbah and righteous companions may be the most important part of any journey.
Along the way, you will hear stories of hidden Moroccan homes, bustling Senegalese streets, and the teachers and scholars who quietly keep the light of the ummah alive.
If you have ever felt the urge to pack a suitcase for Umrah, retreats, or a trip that is more than tourism, this conversation will help you make your journeys intentional and rooted in love of Allah, His Messenger and His awliya.
What we talk about in this episode
• Why "your suitcase is a mirror" is the perfect metaphor for spiritual travel
• How filmmaking and faith came together in Zoheb's life
• Pakistan, Lebanon, Palestine and the ethics of charity campaigns
• How Revival Retreats began and what makes a retreat truly transformative
• Istanbul, Morocco and Senegal as lived expressions of Islamic civilisation
• Colonisation, travel etiquette and leaving your privilege at the door
• Sohbah, righteous companions and making every journey a journey to Allah
Zoheb is a UK born filmmaker now based between Cairo and the UK, with a an Hons in Digital Media and Film Production.
Ep 135 - Misyar, Secret Wives, Polygamy, Mut'ah: Halal or Haram? | Habeeb Akande
Friday, October 24, 2025 • Duration 02:25:03
Habeeb Akande joins BITC to talk misyar, secret wives, polygamy, passport wives, sex negative culture, and the nafs.
We unpack how some men cherry pick fiqh to justify secrecy, how praiseworthy aims differ from loophole hunting, and what real justice and consent look like in practice.
We also ask the question, have Muslims adopted a Christian style suspicion of pleasure and projected it onto Islam.
Habeeb speaks from classical learning and lived research, Maliki fiqh, usul, erotology, African and Muslim cultures.
We cover consent, maintenance, time rotation, publicity, and the harm rule, then end with a practical justice audit couples can use today.
Key topics
• Misyar, valid form versus wise practice, rights that are commonly waived, housing, maintenance, scheduled nights, publicity
• Secret nikah and ghosted maintenance, predictable harm patterns, how to prevent them
• Polygamy, justice in time and spending, financial readiness, disclosure, consent, children and custody
• Sex negative culture, what Islam actually says about pleasure, reciprocity, privacy
• The harm rule and maqasid, when legal form must give way to justice
• Online masculinity scripts, cherry picked texts, how to read responsibly
6:20 Sham marriages and travel examples, Morocco and Indonesia
22:12 Secrecy and first wife, why that is wild
33:30 Utopia myth, gender tension is not new
47:40 Legal versus ethical, muhallil and misuse
Ep 134 - Professor Joel Hayward on Rethinking Medina's Covenant, Treaties & Statecraft
Sunday, October 5, 2025 • Duration 02:08:36
Professor Joel Hayward unpacks how Medina actually worked, the Sahifat al Madinah, parallel pacts by clan, covenant enforcement, and the Prophet's statecraft in moments like the Sawiq raid, the Qaynuqa crisis, the Nadir siege, and the Trench.
We dig into source criticism, what the early texts really say, and why the dominant narrative needs a rethink.
What we cover:
• Sahifat al Madinah, what the charter says and how it functioned inside a web of bilateral pacts
• The Prophet's statecraft, treaties, arbitration, measured enforcement, generosity in terms
• Banu Qaynuqa, cause of the confrontation, order to depart, who stayed under protection and why
• Banu al Nadir, the meeting about blood money, the alleged assassination plot, the short siege, relocation to Khaybar
• Banu Qurayza, covenant breach during the Trench, arbitration by Sad ibn Muadh
• Sawiq raid at al Uraiyd, why it mattered, possible local complicity, stress test for the covenant
• Kaab ibn al Ashraf, incitement, poetry as power, targeted security response
• Al Mukhayriq at Uhud, a reminder that alliances cut in unexpected ways
• Abdullah ibn Ubayy, promises to the Nadir, hypocrisy in belief versus action
• How historians weigh isnad, matn, and hindsight bias when reading seerah reports
Professor Joel Hayward, dean at Sycamore Leadership Academy in Istanbul, award winning author of The Leadership of Muhammad and The Warrior Prophet, listed in The Muslim 500, scholar of sirah, strategy, and leadership.
00:00:00 Introduction 00:06:16 Sahifat al Madinah focus 00:15:17 Bilateral pacts and who was named 00:24:30 Ibn Ubayy politics and leadership 00:33:03 Separate pacts versus one charter 00:38:06 Renew your pact, Banu Nadir example 00:48:52 Numbers on arrival, wealth balance, Ibn Ubayy still the premier leader 00:52:02 Minority status and oasis power map 00:56:24 Upper and lower Medina, early pact geography 01:03:03 Kinship politics, Khazraj links and acceptance 01:07:51 Qaynuqa reappraised, cause and corporate penalty 01:13:47 Expulsion accounts versus later returns and traces 01:25:46 How the sources work, scarcity and overlap 01:33:37 Method and edits, reading Ibn Hisham critically 01:43:51 Nadir stone plot, revelation or prudence 01:48:15 Weighing possibilities, cautionary analogies 01:52:58 Kaab and Abu Sufyan, hospitality and timeline 01:57:09 Response as realpolitik, proportion and restraint 02:04:26 Historiography wrap, assembling the mosaic
Ep 133 - Shaykh Asim Yusuf on Ghazali's Ihya: Timeless Wisdom for Modern Seekers
Monday, September 22, 2025 • Duration 01:55:49
Shaykh Dr Asim Yusuf joins Boys in the Cave for a deep dive into Imam al Ghazali's Ihya Ulum al Din, how to read it in our time, and how its spiritual psychology maps onto modern clinical insights.
We cover decontextualizing and recontextualizing sacred texts, the metaphysics of eating, marriage and companionship, contentment in a consumer world, and why spirituality is the ruh of the religion.
What you will learn
• Why an Ihya commentary speaks to today's seekers, and how to apply it, context first, then decontextualize, then recontextualize
• Metaphysics of eating, turning sunlight into worship, tasbih into ibadah
• Reading Book of Marriage through Book of Companionship for modern couples
• A common good economy, contentment as a cure for hyper capitalism
• Where Islamic and secular psychologies meet, origin, nature, purpose of the human
• Why spirituality is not a niche, it is the breath of the deen
If this episode benefits you, like, comment, and share. Subscribe for more conversations at the intersection of scholarship, spirituality, and performance psychology.
