Musa Furber

United States of America

Website

Biography

Musa Furber is a Research Fellow at the Tabah Foundation. He studied
the various Islamic Disciplines in Damascus, where he received a license
to teach the Shāfi‘ī school of law. He then studied at Dar al-Ifta in
Cairo, where he received a license to deliver legal edicts (fatwas) from
Sheikh Ali Gomaa. He also has a BA in Applied Linguistics from Portland
State University (Oregon, USA), and a Masters in Public Administration
from Dubai School of Government.

Muslim Usage of the Internet

This study explores how Muslims use the Internet for religious purposes and whether usage patterns vary between Muslim minority and Muslim majority states.

Beauty and the Sacred Law

It is for the purpose of securing all that is beautiful that God revealed the Sacred law. Any attempt to modify or implement it in a piecemeal fashion only distorts it, leading to ugliness rather than beauty.

Intensive Animal Farming: Wrongs & Responsibilities

This essay addresses the welfare of animals farmed industrially for consumer markets, from the perspective of the Sacred Law.

The Public Understanding of Islamic Scholarship in Society

In this piece, Musa Furber offers a hypothesis to express reasons of faux fatwa “fiqhtion addiction”, and propose activities to address the problem.

Rights and Duties Pertaining to Kept Animals

A case study in Islamic Law and Ethics by Musa Furber.

Animals are at the heart of many of today’s heated ethical and legal debates. This paper presents a survey of Qur’anic verses and prophetic narrations related to kept animals, and a study of one school’s application of this evidence to the topic of kept animals. This ethical and legal study will also throw into relief some of the mechanism of madhhab based jurisprudence and fiqh reasoning. This study serves as a basis for understanding and applying Islamic moral theology to the numerous contemporary issues related to kept animals.

Elements of a Fatwa & Their Contribution to Confidence in Its Validity

This exploratory study examines the confidence Sunni Muslims place in the validity of fatwas based on their elements. It recommends that institutes which issue or disseminate fatwasdisseminate fatwas ensure that their muftis are known to the public they serve.

Ranking Confidence in the Validity of Contemporary Fatwas & their Dissemination Channels

The present exploratory study examines the confidence Sunni Muslims place in the validity of contemporary fatwas communicated through a variety of communication scenarios.

It recommends that newspapers and others reporting on fatwas change their focus in the types of legal opinions they choose to communicate.

Obligations to Future Generations: A Shari‘ah Perspective

Actions of an earlier generation affect whether later generations will exist at all as well as the quality and type of life they will have. Discussions concerning the obligations earlier generations owe later generations have proven to be useful when thinking about the environment, economics, sustainability, and other issues.

Western thinking about obligations to future generations has become very sophisticated since the 1970s. Western ethicists consider it a litmus test for evaluating ethical theories, and expect it to be a main recurring theme in the new century.

The Shari’ah already provides the fundamentals for thinking about obligations to future generations. These basic fundamentals are not developed enough to shed light on these issues within the Muslim Community, let alone compete in the open market of ideas. Shari‘ah experts will need to develop these fundamentals before a Shari‘ah-informed conception of obligations to future generations can be offered.

Reducing The Role of Decision-Making Biases in Muslim Responsa

The role of decision-making biases in the fatwa process.

Muslims often consult a legal expert (a mufti) concerning legal issues and to mediate intra-personal situations. A consultation with a mufti follows a process which includes conception, adaption, evaluation, and, finally, the response. While reviewing fatwas for errors, the author observed that many of the errors encountered could be explained as errors resulting from rules of thumb employed to facilitate information processing and decision making – that is: decision biases resulting from employing heuristics.

This brief introduces the fatwa process, as well as decision-making heuristics and biases. It then presents an analysis of how biases come into play during the fatwa-delivery process. It concludes that there is a need to better understand decision-making heuristics and biases, and the negative impact of relying upon heuristics in Islamic disciplines. It also recommends that muftis be informed of decision-making biases, and that mufti training programs include decision-making biases in their curriculum so as to improve the quality of the services they provide. It is hoped that examining these errors in this way might help reduce future errors and improve the impact that fatwas have on petitioners’ lives.

Alternative Dispute Resolution: Arbitration & Mediation in non-Muslim Regions Alternative Dispute Resolution: Arbitration & Mediation in non-Muslim Regions

Shari‘ah-based personal dispute resolution for Muslims living in non-Muslim regions.

Dispute resolution remains a difficult issue for Muslims living in non-Muslim regions. While Muslims within Muslim regions do usually have access to Shari‘ah-based personal dispute resolution through settlement in court by an appointed judge (qāḍī) whose judgments are binding and enforceable, the absence of such judges in non-Muslim regions leaves Muslims residing in such lands without this option. The problem is augmented by the widespread belief that an Islamic state’s courts are the only acceptable means by which to obtain binding dispute resolution for Muslim litigants. The current state of affairs is particularly harmful to Muslim wives in abusive marriages, since it leaves them no means within the Shari‘ah to rectify their situation.

This Analytic Brief will show that the classical schools of Islamic Law provide other options relevant to the current situation. The first part of this Brief will introduce the various models for personal dispute resolution which are covered in classical Islamic law. The second part of this Brief will then discuss the applicability of each model and present a possible strategy for their application in a manner that respects and is harmonious with both the Shari‘ah and the legal environment of Muslims living in non-Muslim regions. The Brief will close by demonstrating how these models might be applied to the problem of Muslim wives caught in abusive marriages.

Ethics & Virtual Worlds: Second Life as a Case Study

An introduction to Linden Lab’s Second Life and virtual worlds, the ethics of virtual worlds, and an outline of related issues in need of informed Shari‘ah reflection.

Linden Lab’s Second Life is one of the many interactive virtual worlds where people spend a great deal of time and money. Virtual worlds include online metaverses, online computer games, and video games (e.g. Second Life, Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft, and Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto). Participants in these increasingly-realistic life-like virtual universes engage in activities ranging from simple conversations and financial transactions, to simulated sex, violence, and rape, or even marriage and divorce. There is a real need to examine the legal status and ethical standing of interactions within these virtual worlds.

The first section of this Analytic Brief introduces Second Life and its applications, followed by a summary of criticisms and concerns that have already been raised.

The second section gives a summary of how ethicists have analyzed virtual behavior in the context of computer games and virtual worlds.

The third section of this Brief presents issues related to virtual worlds which are in need of informed Shari‘ah reflection from scholars and opinion leaders, and shows how classic Islamic legal reasoning already provides answers to many of the relevant issues.

Ethical Dimensions of Nanotechnology

This brief paper introduces the subject of Nanotechnology and its ethical implications as an applied technology. It goes on to explore and present a blueprint for the theological, legal and ethical issues which Muslim scholars may need to address, as well as a framework through which scholars can determine relevant solutions.

Nanotechnology comprises several fields where matter is viewed and manipulated at the extremely small scale of billionths of a meter. At this scale matter exhibits phenomena and properties that can be used for new applications. Nanotechnology has already made its way into common consumer products such as stain-free cloth, sunscreen, and computer chips. Unfortunately, nothing conclusive is known about the additional health and environmental risks of matter at such a small scale. Concern about these risks, and about how nanotechnology will be used and its impact on society have prompted several invitations for public discussions on the ethical dimensions of nanotechnology. Religious perspectives have been requested. Muslim scholars and opinion leaders have yet to respond.

This brief introduces the topic of nanotechnology and its ethical dimensions. It then presents a blueprint of the theological, legal, and ethical issues which Muslim scholars and opinion leaders may need to address, as well as a framework through which scholars can begin working out some of the answers.

Seminar: Rights and Duties Pertaining to Kept Animals

A seminar organized by Tabah Foundation for Research and Consultations was held in Cairo, Egypt. The seminar focused on one of the foundation's research papers titled "Rights and Duties Pertaining to Kept Animals" discussing the appropriate treatment of owned or domesticated animals...

Sheikh Musa Farber, writes two articles on fatwas and the demolition of shrines.

Two articles by Sheikh Musa Furber (senior research fellow at Tabah Foundation) entitled “What is a Fatwa? Who can give them?” and “Libyan Graves” appeared in Washington Post and Egypt Independent...

The Islam women were promised – Article posted by Musa Furber in Washington Post

Article posted by Sh Musa Furber, research fellow at Tabah Foundation, published by The Washington Post in January 2012: The horrific and heartbreaking news from India is tragic enough on its own...

Islam’s Ban on Child Combatants, Latest Article by Musa Furber

Tabah Fellow Musa Furber wrote an article concerning children serving as combatants. Children have been used as combatants by certain Muslim parties in recent and current conflicts, including...