Praying in Secret: What It Really Costs to Be Muslim in America

About this episode

The episode explores the challenges and costs of being a Muslim in America through a conversation between Saadia Khan and Salman Khan.

Apply for the Vilcek Foundation Creative Promise Awards in Culinary Arts to win $50,000 in unrestricted grant money. Click on ⁠Vilcek.org⁠ for more information. What does it feel like to leave your faith at the door, not because you're ashamed, but because you're exhausted? In this episode of Immigrantly, host Saadia Khan sits down with Salman Khan, a journalist, composer, and Executive Producer of More Muslim, a narrative podcast that tells Muslim stories from the inside out. Salman grew up Pakistani in Qatar, moved to New York in his late twenties, and found himself sneaking away to pray between classes — not because anyone told him he couldn't, but because the silence around him said enough. The conversation unpacks the exhaustion of being the only Muslim in the room, how colonialism built the "Muslim aggression" myth, why the mosque became a lifeline in New York in a way it never was back home, and what it costs to be the unofficial spokesperson for 1.8 billion people. This one is for anyone who has ever code-switched their way through an identity. Muslim or not. Join us in creating new intellectual engagement for our audience. You can find more information at…

People in this episode

Host: Saadia Khan

Guest: Salman Khan

Topics covered

• Muslim identity
• faith and culture
• colonialism
• personal experience
• community support

Keywords

• Muslim
• identity
• faith
• New York
• colonialism
• community
• exhaustion

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Vilcek Foundation, More Muslim

Places: Pakistan, Qatar, New York

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