ABOUT DR. TASLEEM FIRDAUSEE

A woman sitting outdoors reading a book, surrounded by decorative items including a red parasol with floral design, a golden ornament, and plants, with a wooden fence and sun and moon wall art in the background.
A collage of various photographs featuring African women, traditional clothing, cultural events, and natural scenery, including a desert, a fountain, and outdoor gatherings. 
Dr. Tasleem Jamila Firdausee, is an internationally award-winning poet, multidisciplinary artist, interdisciplinary scholar, and holistic wellness practitioner whose work bridges art, spirituality, education, and healing. Rooted in Black southern, African diasporic, and Islamic traditions, her heart-centered storytelling examines the intersections of culture, faith, gender, race, and social justice, with a special focus on Sufism and Black Muslim women’s lived experiences.
Dr. Firdausee is the founder and CEO of My Soul Speaks Institute, a global platform curating courses, retreats, and educational experiences grounded in sacred art and holistic healing, and the Executive Director of the Art As Sacred Initiative, which centers the metaphysical journeys of artists. She is also the host of the Art As Sacred Podcast. Her work has been presented across the United States and internationally in Senegal, Ghana, South Africa, Canada, England, and Malaysia, where she continues to tour as a speaker and performer.
A sought-after public intellectual and educator, Dr. Firdausee designs performance lectures, keynotes, and interactive workshops for universities, corporations, healthcare facilities, and community organizations. Her teaching and speaking topics include Black Religion, Sufism, West African Sufi traditions, Black Muslim women leaders, Hip-Hop and spoken word as pedagogy, sacred art as healing, interfaith dialogue, youth empowerment, and holistic approaches to wellness. Her innovative programming weaves together scholarship, poetry, storytelling, meditation, dhikr, sound, and embodied practices to create transformative learning spaces.
Dr. Firdausee is the author of three books—From Mississippi Clay to African Skies in Search of Sacred Presence, Black Baptist Muslim Mystic: From the Cosmos, and The Women’s Guide to Holistic Healing—as well as the acclaimed play Portals Open. Black Baptist Muslim Mystic is currently used in classrooms across the United States alongside her accompanying curriculum. Her artistic works include two studio albums, most recently Activated, created in collaboration with Professor Griff of Public Enemy and jazz virtuoso Reginald R. Robinson. Her play Portals Open was featured at the Chicago Hip-Hop Festival and selected for the Pan African Arts Festival in South Africa.
Academically, Dr. Firdausee holds a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Studies from Western Michigan University, with a concentration on Black women, healing, Sufism, and religion in the African Diaspora. She earned a Master of Arts in Spirituality, Culture, and Health and a graduate certificate in Holistic Approaches to Mindfulness, along with a bachelor’s degree in Complementary and Alternative Health. She is also a certified yoga teacher and holistic health practitioner and has studied Islam and Arabic with traditional master teachers.
Her work has been featured by ABC News, NPR, BBC, the Chicago Tribune, and numerous international media outlets. Known for her warmth, intellectual rigor, and ability to connect across differences, Dr. Tasleem Jamila Firdausee brings a powerful, culturally grounded voice to campuses seeking meaningful dialogue, healing-centered education, and inspiration for the next generation of Muslim leaders.
Cover of Spokeszions magazine featuring a woman with a headwrap and scarf, sitting outdoors with street and sidewalk background, and headlines about Joy Elan and Tasleem Jamila.
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MY STORY

I grew up on the Southside of Chicago in a family with five girls, with parents from Mississippi and Alabama. As long as I can remember, I was imitating actors on TV, playing with worms in the dirt, dancing and twirling in the living room, playing the piano, and being loved on by extended family and neighbors on my block. I’ve been writing creative stories since I was nine years old and developed a deep love for fashion, creating several fashion lines for clients and artists in Chicago, as well as major record labels in New York, by the age of 19.

I have always had a deep and intimate relationship with God, witnessing both my father’s and mother’s personal religious and spiritual journeys, which influenced me to talk to God daily. Throughout our home were healing herbal books and a garden in the backyard, which—today, as a holistic wellness coach and educator—became the foundation of what I still practice in my personal life and what I teach, guide, and share with others through my courses and events.

Over the years, many women in my family experienced health challenges that led me to take a deeper dive into my own health journey, first for myself and later for thousands of others through coaching, events, poetry, art, retreats, and scholarship.

Welcome to my space in this cyber world!

Let me know how I can serve you and how we can work together.

With Divine Love,
Dr. Tasleem

Across her art, scholarship, and spiritual praxis, Dr. Tasleem Jamila Firdausee embodies the merging of the sacred and the scholarly. Her vision is to activate divine remembrance and communal restoration—illuminating a path where creativity, consciousness, and compassion converge.


Let’s Work Together