WhatsApp us 
This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
The Halal Report is Precedent-setting, but…
THE recently published report of the Independent Halal Review Panel (IHRP) on the Cape Town-based Muslim Judicial Council (MJC) Halal Trust is a precedent-setting one. This is because there is no record of Islamic judiciaries anywhere in the world in modern history allowing themselves to be publically audited on procedural[…]
The final Malaysian blog: the "Surfing behind the Wall" book tour
THE morning after the successful launch of Surfing behind the Wall in Penang it rains. Huge, black clouds disgorge torrents of water. The clouds clear a little, and Georgetown comes to life. Youths on mopeds with their jackets back-to-front, buzz through the traffic. My flight is at 10, 30 a.m.[…]
Mandela "magic" still shines from afar
HAVING just spent a fairly protracted period out of the country, it was interesting coming home. I’d been based in Malaysia on a book tour where I did not encounter South African news. But that is not to say I was unaffected by events in my host country. I was[…]
"Spirituality", more than just a word
THE other day a local cleric argued from the mimbar that the word “spirituality” did not exist in the Arabic language. That point in his talk (on which I will focus) certainly caused a measure of consternation in the community. This surprised me because I’d heard Islamic scholars using the[…]
Really understanding Shariáh
IT is my view that two of the most over-worn words in the English vocabulary today are “democracy” and “jihad”. Democracy has gained currency through the aspirations of people everywhere, whether it be my home country, South Africa, or Egypt after the “Arab Spring”. Most of us understand the theoretical[…]
Penang and the Patani problem
30/4 – 2/5/11 AFTER the book launch at the Park Hotel, we sell out of Surfing behind the Wall. It’s an encouraging sign. My friend Iskander takes me to visit the tomb of Habib Nuh al-‘Attas, the famous saint of Singapore. His tomb, once atop a hill, now nestles against[…]
Surfing behind the Wall book tour: Singapore 2 (the narrative of the unbalanced narative)
THAT night I give a talk at the Park Hotel in Singapore hosted by the Arab Network Society. They’re organised, and the room is full of people, including diplomats from the Middle East. Before my presentation, I quote from Surat ul-Hujjarat in the Qur’an where God created us into tribes[…]
Launch of Surfing behind the Wall: Singapore 1
Saturday 27th April: Cape Malay book found in Singapore On Saturday morning I meet with Dr Chandra Muzaffer, director of the NGO JUST (the International Movement for a Just World). He’s a softly-spoken man in a wheel-chair. Once in the opposition political frame, he’s since beaten a retreat from the[…]
Chinese tea in the garden…
Perfect harmony after the Surfing behind the Wall book tour…Chinese tea in a beautiful garden.