The blast left a massive hole in the family living room, tore off the bark from a nearby tree and was heard for several kilometers. While neither Moosa, his wife, Nisa, or their two young children, now 13 and 8, were injured in the explosion, the vestiges of the trauma they experienced are with them today. And although some of the terrorists suspected in the bombing are in jail awaiting trial, Moosa has returned to South Africa for only brief periods. Gregg and Arnold Eisen, then chairman of the Religious Studies Department, invited Moosa to visit Stanford and give a lecture. Moosa was subsequently offered a position as a visiting faculty member in the department in Autumn Quarter 1997 to teach two courses on Islam.
Freedom means to be engaged in a spiritual and ethical liberation.
It had been a long time since Islamic courses or specialists in that field had been available at Stanford, Gregg explains. His humor and humanity enrich our community and enable us to learn a great deal about Islam and its influence in the world. Moosa says he aims to cultivate international sensibilities and sensitivities at Stanford, where he reaches a more diverse audience than in previous assignments. While back home distribution of economic resources and social justice were front-burner issues, here in this more affluent environment, he'd like to advance broader human goals. He wants the Stanford community to be aware of its responsibility to the rest of the planet.