The Travelers Podcast with Brother Ali · Travelers Media

Laughter and Tears with Omar Regan

·1 hr 19 min·3 clips

You might not believe these stories, but the truth is stranger than fiction.

This episode features Brother Ali in conversation with his close friend, the comedian, actor, and filmmaker Omar Regan. They explore the profound beauty and pain within the Black American Muslim communities they were raised in, sparked by the recent passing of two community leaders. The discussion centers on the legacy of faith, family, and resistance against systemic oppression. Omar shares the story of his mother converting to Islam in Detroit in the late 1970s, finding purpose and a supportive community on 52 Ferris Street. He details how his stepfather, Imam Luqman, married his mother and embraced her three children as his own, creating a cohesive polygamous family unit. Omar describes a thriving, self-sufficient community where men were merchants, families lived together in a five-floor apartment building, and the core teaching was simply to "produce good people." He references an article stating polygamy was outlawed in the Americas to control the growing population of people of color. The conversation contrasts this with what they see as a "counterfeit" version of Islam, influenced by unprocessed cultural trauma from colonization, which sometimes replaced care for women with control. A memorable moment is Omar recounting how, as a teenager, he was assigned to care for an elder named Brother Howard Tawwab, performing weekly wellness checks and even eating his spaghetti with salsa. He recalls Imam Luqman's distinctive large turban, which the Imam said signaled he was "not on nothing you on," and a confrontation at Dunkin' Donuts where Luqman turned a stranger's mockery into a lesson on confidence. The tone shifts as Omar reveals his father, Imam Luqman, was set up and murdered by the FBI in 2009, falsely labeled a radical. He describes obtaining footage showing his father surrendering before being attacked by a dog and shot over 20 times. Omar explains the connection to Imam Jamil Al-Amin (formerly H. Rap Brown), who was wrongly imprisoned, stating the FBI linked the two men to justify targeting his father. He shares a deeply personal story of Imam Luqman later apologizing for being "too hard" on the family in his religious zeal, which Omar saw as the ultimate sign of a real man. The episode is conversational, intimate, and emotionally raw, moving seamlessly between laughter and tears as it unpacks personal and communal history. Listeners interested in untold American stories, the intersection of faith and social justice, or profound personal narratives will find this captivating. Those seeking light entertainment or a strictly theological debate might find the emotional weight and political context too intense.

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