Our Story

SoulFood began humbly as a small discussion circle at the Muslim Chaplaincy at the University of Toronto. We gathered with college students at one of the most critical junctures of their lives to explore classical Islamic texts and make them relatable to their everyday struggles, hopes, and questions.

The response was overwhelmingly positive. Students were hungry for guidance that felt both authentic to the Islamic spiritual tradition and practical in their daily lives.

That experience sparked an idea: if these conversations could touch hearts in person, perhaps they could connect with even more people as a podcast. 

So we launched SoulFood and, alhamdulillah, it resonated. 

What started on a university campus has now grown into a global platform with over 1.2 million plays, connecting knowledge seekers around the world with the beauty of Islam.

Why We’re Raising Funds

Even with the growth of SoulFood, we face some real limitations:

• We don’t yet have a dedicated website to host SoulFood episodes, transcripts, guides, and new resources. This makes it harder for people to find and share our content.
• Our early episodes (Season 1) were created with beginners in mind, but many listeners are eager for deeper explorations.
• We lack a platform for storytelling beyond the podcast, such as blogs, mailing lists, and interactive learning tools.
• Families have asked for meaningful content for children, and we’ve seen firsthand how big this gap is. (This vision was inspired by long road trips with our kids, searching for uplifting stories that simply didn’t exist.)

With the right tools, SoulFood can become more than a podcast. It can be a true educational and storytelling platform that nurtures faith across generations.

What We Need

We’re raising $50,000 to take produce more episodes and SoulFood content:

• $25,000 – Develop and produce more engaging special episodes of the SoulFood Stories. This requires scripting, recording, editing, and creating beautiful story-based content for young hearts. We also plan to have more SoulFood Conversations episodes, where we have heartfelt conversations with a diverse group of guests to engage certain topics at a deeper level.
• $20,000 – Build and launch a dedicated SoulFood website: search past episodes, read transcripts, join a mailing list, and access blogs, guides, and resources.
• $5,000 – Outreach and accessibility tools to ensure SoulFood reaches as many people as possible. So many people are searching for meaning, and we pray that SoulFood can open doors for people who are yearning for a connection to Allah.

How Your Support Helps

• For families & children: New episodes will bring engaging, spiritually uplifting stories to life for kids everywhere.
• For college students & seekers: SoulFood continues its mission of making timeless Islamic wisdom relatable in a modern context.
• For the global community: A stronger platform will make SoulFood’s content more accessible, easier to share, and more impactful, even for people exploring Islam for the first time.

Why It Matters

From a small circle at U of T to a worldwide community, SoulFood has always had one purpose: to help people connect with Allah ﷻ through the beauty of Islam’s spiritual tradition. In a world of constant noise and distraction, the need for accessible, meaningful content is greater than ever. SoulFood has already inspired thousands, but with your support, we can:

• Dedicate more time to producing quality content consistently
• Fill a critical gap in children’s programming
• Create a platform where knowledge seekers, families, and future generations can find guidance and inspiration

Our listeners say it best

“Soul Food helped change my life and the lives of many I shared it with.”’ 

— Oyinkan, Lagos, Nigeria

“The short episodes with powerful reminders make it easy to apply teachings in my daily life.” 

— Sara, Montreal, Canada

A Heartfelt Ask

If SoulFood has touched your life, or if you believe in the power of stories to nurture faith and hearts, we ask for your support. Please consider donating generously and sharing this campaign with your loved ones. Together, we can build SoulFood 2.0: more engaging episodes including interviews and stories that inspire, uplift, and guide our community for years to come; a website with show notes, transcripts, and a blog; and a more dynamic platform for sharing the beauty and wisdom of the Islamic spiritual tradition.

Help us reach more people. Become a SoulFood Supporter today.