Browsing by Author "Moosa, E"

Now showing 1 - 8 of 8

Open Access
Aesthetics and Transcendence in the Arab Uprisings
(Middle East Law and Governance, 2011-10) Moosa, E
Politics is regarded as a science for it tells us what to do, when it deals with measurable concepts. But politics is also an art—a form of practice, telling us how and when to do things. Lest we forget, the arts of persuasion and inspiration are part of politics. And, every art also produces an aesthetic. By aesthetics I mean, the ways by which we think about art: recall, art is what we do and how we do things. Th ose things and acts that become visible when we do and produce certain actions—jubilation, conversations, speeches, greetings, protests, banners, deaths, wounds and other expressions—all constitute the means by which thought becomes visible, effective, and sensible. These forms and visible expressions of the sensible constitute the aesthetics of politics. Only the patient will know where the momentum for change in the Arab world is heading. But, if the outcome of the Arab uprisings is unclear, then there is one certainty: the people have changed the order of the sensible. Thanks to peaceful protests in the face of regime brutality, tens of millions of people have performed change in myriads of expressions: aesthetics. Their feelings have cumulatively changed, and how people feel about governance is ultimately what politics is all about.
Open Access
Children’s Rights in Modern Islamic and International Law: Changes in Muslim Moral Imaginaries
(2012-10) Moosa, E
This essay explores the overlaps and discontinuities in Islamic law and international conventions on the rights of the child. It also explores perspectives in contemporary Muslim moral imaginaries centered on the child.
Open Access
Genetically Modified Foods and Muslim Ethics
(2009) Moosa, E
Genetically modified foods has been the subject of great controversy. How lay Muslim communities and religious experts view the technology is di.scussed in this article
Open Access
History and Normativity in Traditional Indian Muslim Thought: Reading Shari`a in the Hermeneutics of Qari Muhammad Tayyab (d.1983)
(2010-11-01) Moosa, E
Traditional forms of Islamic thought have a particular understanding as to how norms and values stand in relation to time and change. This article explores the view of a prominent thinker Qari Muhammad Tayyab, affiliated to the Deobandi school, a prominent traditionalist franchise of seminaries (madrasas) in South Asia.
Open Access
Muslim Ethics and Biotechnology
(2012-03) Moosa, E
This essay surveys how Muslim perspectives and practices in biotechnology is justified within discrete norms and values of Muslim ethics. At the same time it also points out some of the challenges in trying to balance development in biotechnology with concerns of social justice.
Open Access
Muslim Family Law in South Africa: Paradoxes and Ironies
(2010) Moosa, E
The recognition of Muslim family law in South Africa is embedded in a long history of political struggle by the country's Muslim minority. With constitutional recognition for religion-based family and human rights safeguards, the proposed Muslim family law bill has landed in a quagmire of intra-Muslim disputes. The stand-off is between orthodox and ultra-orthodox Muslim clerics, the latter who find a human rights-friendly regime of Muslim family law to be antithetical to their view of religion, while orthodox and progressive Muslim groups find such accommodation to be acceptable to their religious convictions.
Open Access
Muslim Political Theology: Defamation, Apostasy and Anathema
(2012-08) Moosa, E
Exploration of the recent history of blasphemy related issues in Muslim societies and the underlying theological debates that fuel political outrage.
Open Access
Post 9/11: America Agonizes over Islam
(2012-10) Moosa, E
Overview of developments affecting Muslim community in America after 9/11 attacks.