In this episode of the Interfaiths podcast, we are joined by historian Dr. Ibrahim Al-Marashi for a fascinating journey through a family history that defies modern geopolitical borders. We trace his lineage from his grandfather—a cleric fighting the British in the 1920s Iraqi insurgency who fled to become a spiritual leader for the Khoja community in Zanzibar—to his mother’s hidden Syriac Orthodox Christian roots in Lebanon.

Dr. Al-Marashi discusses the concept of the "Monsoon Winds" as a historical connector between the Middle East, East Africa, and India, challenging the artificial boundaries of area studies. He also shares the surreal and cautionary story of how his doctoral research on Iraq was plagiarized by the British government to create the infamous "Dodgy Dossier" used to justify the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

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