Opinions
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[…]
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