Meet an innoFaither is our series to introduce the inspiring optimists in the innoFaith world and what they’re working on and thinking about. We hope it helps you find and engage with each other across the network to advance faith-rooted social innovation and interfaith collaboration for social impact. Or just meet some cool people.
Meet Ambereen Khan, executive producer and host of Inspired, a production of Interfaith Voices, an award-winning independent public radio show that fosters interfaith understanding through exploring how faith intersects with news, politics, and culture. Ambereen is a beautiful interviewer and also a longtime interfaith advocate and innovator. Among many other things, she was co-founder of Muslim Advocates and the first Muslim to chair the Interfaith Alliance Foundation. We are honored to count her as an ally and advisor to innoFaith.
What faith(s), if any, do you practice? Is your faith or practice bringing special inspiration or insight for you in this current moment?
I was raised by Muslim parents and consider myself a practicing Muslim who is drawn to the rituals that elevate the spirit. I have a daily meditation and yoga practice that keeps me grounded emotionally. It combines the physical movements of ritual with a spiritual grounding informed by the Vedas.
In a strange way, the simpler aspects or rituals, like quietly saying Inshallah or God-willing before I make plans, has become a daily practice. To be honest, I was not always like that, something my kids point out! On reflection, I think the utterance is a daily acknowledgment of life’s uncertainties and things beyond my control. It started during the pandemic. When I would end conversations with my parents especially, I would say “inshallah will talk to you tomorrow.” It was a way for me to remember to be present and not take the simplest thing, like hearing a parent or child’s voice for granted.
I am also blessed to get the opportunity to meet and talk to interesting people from lots of faith traditions, and I often get inspired by their practices and will try new rituals, from walking meditation to Shinto inspired forest bathing.
Where do you live?
I live in Maryland close to Washington, DC. It’s now the state I have lived in the longest!
What's your favorite pastime?
Playing Bananagrams with my family or listening to music and dancing in the kitchen. It’s a way to connect, create and more often than not, laugh. I can get stuck in my head very quickly. Sometimes conversations or interviews will stay with me, and I will find it hard to let go and transition to other things that need my attention. When my kids were younger, I rediscovered the power of play and have tried to integrate play time—be it games or dancing or coloring or whatever—into each day. My kids are older now but I don’t think I will grow out of this pastime. It is a practice that helps me widen my lens instead of focusing only on the crisis or issue of the day (a hazard in media), but most importantly, play gives me space and permission to be present.
What are you working on currently?
I host a public radio program that explores the beliefs shaping our world. We were started by a feisty nun who got tired of hearing misinformation about religion and it has since evolved into a national program that airs weekly. I’m always working on a couple of shows at a time each week. Right now, I’m reading about the future of spiritual leadership and chaplaincy. I’m also working on a show about refugees and attitudes based on religious identity and whether that is influencing faith-based political advocacy. Finally, I’m also looking at how our collective understanding of religion is changing. The word doesn’t fit the contemporary reality of most people, especially millennials and Generations Z and Alpha. Pollsters are struggling, and sociologists are paying close attention. I’m exploring what it means for schools, workplaces, and civic life.
What question are you thinking about these days?
Simply put, the future of pluralism and what role spiritual leaders will play in constructing a path that unites and builds bridges.
My bookshelf is filled with titles that warn of the end of democracy and a breakdown of civil society and the way faith leaders are responding. So many more are making the case for faith in general, not just their faith. It’s a sign of the times.
This question is rooted in my interest in history, political science and religion–disciplines that push us to look closely and who gets power and why. These questions often bring me back to thinking about theologian Howard Thurman’s liberation theology, along with the mystic Jalaluddin Rumi.
When I think about how we move forward despite the uncertainty of what lies ahead, my thoughts revisit my own family story that traces back to South Asia. My husband’s parents were born in present-day Pakistan and fled to New Delhi after partition. My parents did the opposite, leaving India for Pakistan. And then both sets of parents (and me) immigrated to the United States after 1965. One day in 1994, their kids met hiking on a path near the Potomac River. When I look at our boys, I think about how I can fortify the value I see as central to knitting all of us together.
How can people find you?