Freshly Grounded

Kaya and Faisal get into a new business Faisal has quietly launched, a second business idea Kaya is sitting on, and the usual relaxed chatter that started FG in the first place.
Key topics covered:

- Whether ten years is a natural finishing point for a podcast and why the mission has shifted
- The pressure of competing in the Muslim content space and why FG was never meant to play that game
- Why low views might actually be fine and what Joe Rogan's early episodes have to do with it
- Faisal's new product launch, Recon Padel, a magnetic towel built for padel
- A squishy toy business idea, localising global trends for regional markets
- Kaya's app update, Apple developer approval delays, and repositioning a Shopify AI tool for enterprise customers
If this is the kind of content you have been coming back to FG for, subscribe and we will keep showing up.

He launched an Islamic AI tool and within hours his email provider suspended him, trolls were faking screenshots, and his bill hit $1,200 an hour. Then a stranger offered to pay it.
Abdellatif is an ex-Twitter engineer and co-founder of Tarteel. Two weeks ago he launched Qaf, an AI that answers Islamic questions by searching over 8,000 books from the Shamila library and shows you exactly which scholar, which book, and which page every answer came from. The launch video hit 4.5 million views almost immediately. In this episode he breaks down how Qaf works, why ChatGPT falls short for Islamic research, and what it actually looks and feels like when the entire internet lands on your product at once.
Key topics covered:
- Why ChatGPT is unreliable for Islamic questions and what Qaf does differently
- The moment the $26,000 Microsoft bill arrived and how a stranger stepped in with funding
- How Islamophobes raided the launch thread with fake screenshots and how the team responded
- The use cases Abdul Latif did not expect, including converts, blind users, and under-resourced language communities
- Why Qaf will not give fatwas and what it does instead when you ask one
- The mission to make Islamic knowledge accessible to every Muslim regardless of language or background
If this kind of honest conversation about faith, tech, and building something that matters is your thing, subscribe and join the Freshly Grounded community.

He went from boiling plain pasta for dinner to quitting his teaching job and becoming one of Dubai's most recognised food bloggers. This conversation will make you hungry.
Faisal joins the pod to talk about how he built his food page from scratch in Abu Dhabi, what it actually took to go full-time as a content creator with a young family, and why he believes Dubai has the best food scene in the world. Along the way we get into the hidden restaurants he genuinely rates, the moment he made dua at the Kaaba and went viral shortly after, and what raising your palate really means when you are eating professionally.
Key topics:
- Starting a food diary page with 200 followers and scaling it to a full-time income in under two years
- Teaching in the UK versus the Gulf, the salary differences and why he could not go back
- His top three restaurants right now and what makes each one special
- How fasting most weekdays by accident turned into a deliberate routine
- Cultural differences in healthcare, raising kids abroad, and building a life without family nearby
- The dua he made at the Kaaba and the viral moment that followed

A Muslim doctor walks into a podcast and talks about the soul. No, really, this conversation will change how you think about your health, your prayers, and your heart.
After a three month break, Freshly Grounded is back. In this first episode, host Faisal sits down with Dr. Daanish, a medical doctor and content creator known for weaving Islam into honest conversations about health and life. They cover why Western medicine is missing a core piece of the puzzle, what actually happens when you step into the presence of Allah in your Salah, and why the four basics of health matter more than any supplement you can buy. They also get into parenting, parents, language learning, the state of Muslim households, and a Quranic framework for personal growth pulled from the story of Musa that is better than any self-help book.
Freshly Grounded is back to regular episodes, covering faith, life, relationships, and culture with honesty and without the filters. Subscribe so you do not miss what is coming next.

Former Bad Boy rapper Loon (Amir Muhadith) returns to Freshly Grounded for one of the deepest conversations we've ever had.
From growing up on the streets of Harlem to becoming Muslim, serving as an imam in prison, studying in Egypt, and now building one of the most ambitious Muslim animation projects we've seen, Amir reflects on the lessons that shaped his life.
We discuss prison culture, why so many people return after release, the role Islam played in giving him freedom and purpose, marriage and family, the importance of knowledge, masculinity, brotherhood, and the responsibility of being a positive influence in your community.
Amir also gives an exclusive insight into "The Amir of Harlem" — a high-quality animated series tackling the real challenges facing Muslim youth today.
Topics include:
• Why prison became his greatest classroom
• The mistake that keeps people trapped long after prison ends
• How Islam transformed his understanding of freedom
• Leadership, brotherhood and serving your community
• Marriage, family and choosing the right spouse
• The forgotten wisdom of our grandparents
• Why young Muslims need better stories and role models
• The vision behind The Amir of Harlem
• His upcoming book: From Harlem to the Harem
Enjoy.
— Freshly Grounded
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Follow Amir:
https://www.instagram.com/loon.tv/