Exciting free online double programme

11-19 July 2020

 

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS EVENT IS NOW OVER! 

 

If you are aged 18-30 and passionate about global change and Muslims’ contribution to it, then the Learning to be a Peacemaker programme is for you! The programme offers 50 available places!

The 8-day online programme, 11-19 July 2020 combines two unique elements:

  • 11-15 July – Learning to be a Peacemaker, a five-day course for young European Muslims and their non-Muslim peers on Islamic approaches to peacemaking
  • 16 July – Free day between the two programmes

 

Discover the detailled programme here.

Read the 2020 report here

 

LPM flyer 2020

 

 

Learning to be a Peacemaker (LPM) is a training course designed by Imam and broadcaster, Ajmal Masroor.

Its aim is to offer:

  • Knowledge – providing factual information about the peacemaking culture in Islam and the wider context
  • Connection – offering relationship-building opportunities between young European Muslims and their counterparts in wider society
  • Dialogue – empowering young European Muslims and their peers of other beliefs to hold honest conversations
  • Networking – connecting young people across Europe who may find shared inspiration to take initiatives for peacemaking and building trust across divides

Peace and justice are the two most sacred principles which underpin every aspect of a Muslim’s life. Therefore becoming a peacemaker is the most important role a Muslim can play. Learning about peace and justice is the first step towards this goal.

This programme believes that learning to be a peacemaker is key to developing a confident European Muslim identity and contributing towards global change.

 

  • Knowledge – providing factual information about the peacemaking culture in Islam and the wider context
  • Connection – offering relationship-building opportunities between young European Muslims and their counterparts in wider society
  • Dialogue – empowering young European Muslims and their peers of other beliefs to hold honest conversations
  • Networking – connecting young people across Europe who may find shared inspiration to take initiatives for peacemaking and building trust across divides

Peace and justice are the two most sacred principles which underpin every aspect of a Muslim’s life. Therefore becoming a peacemaker is the most important role a Muslim can play. Learning about peace and justice is the first step towards this goal.

This programme believes that learning to be a peacemaker is key to developing a confident European Muslim identity and contributing towards global change.

 

Young European Muslims were either born or brought up here. Their parents straddle ethnic and European cultures and often have an expectation that their children will be culturally more ethnic. However, many young Muslims are more familiar and at home with European culture, and Europe is ‘home’.

This programme defuses that tension and helps make young Muslims’ European and Islamic identities symbiotic. In the current environment of increasing hostility towards Islam, Muslims are often viewed with suspicion. It is imperative to help young Muslims form a confident European Muslim identity. Islam requires Muslims to be at peace with themselves and others.

We are currently witnessing the proliferation of terrorism, extremism, death and destruction all over the world. Many cities across Europe have suffered terrible attacks and many lives have been lost. Most of these recent attacks have been attributed to terrorism inspired by Islam. However, terrorism has no religion, race or colour. It is simply evil. The most serious consequence has been the fissure that has developed between communities.

This course will help young Muslims to understand that they can play an important role in bringing communities together. It will help them engage in honest conversation which brings root causes of conflict to light, builds trust and heals. In the same way, those who are not Muslims will gain a better understanding of their friends and neighbours who are Muslim, build better relationships and friendships, and consequently create a more cohesive society.

  • An introduction to issues of war and peace in today’s world: the origins and dynamics of conflicts, and processes of containment and reconciliation

 

  • The Jurisprudence (fiqh) of Peacemaking: the Islamic principles of peacemaking, examination of Islamic texts and their application in context

 

  • War and Peace: examining Quranic texts and prophetic traditions in relation to averting war and building peace

 

  • Prophets and Peacemaking: an inclusive study of other prophets’ and traditions’ peacemaking initiatives

 

  • Violence and Extremism: dismantling the dominant narrative which associates violence and extremism with Muslims as people and with Islam as their religion

 

  • Loyalty and Citizenship: learning to think globally but act locally; examining responsibility and belonging in the light of changing realities

 

  • Inner Dimensions of Peace: a spiritual realignment of Muslims’ beliefs and practices, developing social and political conscience, and sharing inner contentment

 

  • The Characteristics of Peacemakers: qualities and attributes needed to become peacemakers and effect global change

 

The training style is interactive, with introductions to the subject matter by Muslim and other authorities, whole-group and small-group discussions and presentations.

At the end of the course, participants will plan a practical project to undertake at home to demonstrate learning and commitment to peacemaking.

 

Discover the 2020 programme

 

  • ‘I have learned that if you have no peace within yourself, you can’t make peace.’
  • ‘I learned how to acknowledge and appreciate others for what and how they are, without requiring them to change as I want.’
  • ‘It was only when I met people from all over Europe who held me in their hearts, that I came to hold Europe in my heart.’
  • ‘I have learned the importance of being a good citizen from an Islamic viewpoint and that it is important to serve your community where you live.’
  • ‘The session on Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) the Peacemaker was the most valuable lesson. Following and understanding his actions, would definitely make one a better peacemaker.’
  • ‘As a non-Muslim, whilst my knowledge of Islam grew, conversations with friends from France, Sweden and the UK widened my understanding of what it means to be a Muslim today in a sometimes hostile society.’
  • ‘Through the two programmes, I have seen the world better through the prism of Islam as a Muslim trained in peacemaking, and through the eyes of non-Muslim Europeans and how they see the challenges we face with immigration, identity and multiculturalism in the future.’

 

 

The programme is free of charge, but voluntary donations are requested, particularly as IofC Switzerland, which is responsible for the Caux Conference and Seminar Centre, is facing severe financial difficulties.

Applicants for the programme are expected to:

  • Be aged 18-30
  • Be resident in Europe
  • Have a good standard of spoken and written English
  • Have a serious interest in the subject
  • Be actively involved in serving your community at community, national or international level
  • Actively participate in the whole programme
  • Email your CV

 

For further information please email us.

 


organizing team

Iman Ajmal Masroor

Ajmal Masroor

Programme Designer and Trainer of Learning to be a Peacemaker
Peter Riddell

Peter Riddell

Programme Coordinator

Omayma Soltani

Assistant Coordinator
Laila Serroukh

Laila Serroukh

Assistant Coordinator

related stories

YAP 2021 article square

Young Ambassadors Programme 2021: Learning to listen

When Indonesian law student Agustina Zahrotul Jannah discovered the Young Ambassadors Programme (YAP) on Google she felt both excited and hopeless: excited because she hoped it might give her the skil...

YAP goes online

The Young Ambassadors Programme goes online

The Young Ambassadors Programme (YAP) went online for the first time this summer, after six years of continuous growth and development and a pause in 2020 for reflection and adjustment to the new real...

Books for changemakers

Books for Changemakers

A bi-monthly drop-in book club to resource you and fellow change-makers. Dive or dip into important and inspiring resources and ideas, connect with kindred spirits and explore your inner wisdom. ...

Geneva Peace Week T4C square teaser

The Courageous Listener: Bearing Our Own Discomfort

Listening is a powerful tool that can have powerful effects on its recipient. It is also a difficult one to master. On 5 November 2020, Initiatives of Change Switzerland led an online workshop on the ...

Mohammed Abu-Nimer

Mohammed Abu-Nimer: Dialogue – Weaving peace into the fabric of society

Mohammed Abu-Nimer is Professor at the American University’s School of International Service in International Peace and Conflict Resolution in Washington DC and a Senior Advisor to the International D...

Sabica Pardesi

Learning to be a Peacemaker 2020

"I am really thankful to the person who introduced me to the Initiatives for Change programme "Learning to be a Peacemaker". It was life-changing in so many ways. It opened my eyes to things we know i...

SCreenshot keywords T4C 2020

Tools for Changemakers 2020 – Shaping the future together through dialogue

Can you truly listen? What if we all had the power to make our communities more cohesive and inclusive by starting to deeply listen to each other? The Tools for Changemakers conference was a three-day...

YAP 2019 congratulations

Fresh air for Young Ambassadors

This year’s Young Ambassadors Programme (YAP) brought 39 young people from across Europe to Caux for four intensive days of training in how to work for change in their communities. They then took part...

Armenian-Kurdish-Turkish Dialogue 2019

It takes more courage to love than to hate

The Armenian-Kurdish-Turkish Dialogue 2019 took place during the Tools for Changemakers conference, bringing together people of Armenian, Kurdish and Turkish backgrounds to explore sensitive issues th...

LPM 2019

Healing the alienation of young European Muslims

How can the alienation felt by so many young Muslims be healed? Imam Ajmal Masroor believes that the alienation stems largely from the inner conflict generated by feeling caught between two value-syst...

Jens Wilhelmsen

Jens Wilhelmsen: IofC values as a practical tool for change

After fighting against the German occupation of his country, Norway, Jens Wilhelmsen worked with Initiatives of Change (IofC) in Germany and Japan. In over 70 years of fulltime work for IofC on three ...

Marc Isserles

How storytelling can foster healing and reconciliation

Marc Isserles’s poignant one-man show, We Must Save the Children, comes to life when you discover that his grandparents sought shelter at the Caux Palace in 1945 as Jewish refugees. The play took plac...

Tools for Changemakers 2019

Rebuilding Trust in Europe: An Overview

The first edition of the ‘Tools for Changemakers’ conference took place from 14-18 July 2019 at the Caux Forum. It was based on the conclusions from the conference ‘Addressing Europe’s Unfinished Busi...

back

Learning to be a Peacemaker 2020 - Programme


programme

Saturday, 11 July

10:00 - 12:00 (CEST)
Session 1

Introduction & Peacemakers' Jurisprudence

Ethics of Disagreement

15:00 - 17:00 (CEST)
Session 2

Islamic Law and its Objectives

Maqasid of Shari’ah

19:00 - 20:30 (CEST)
Relationships

Sunday, 12 July

10:00 - 12:00 (CEST)
Session 3

War and Peace

Jihad

15:00 - 17:00 (CEST)
Session 4

Overview of Peacemaking

Global context

19:00 - 20:30 (CEST)
Relationships

Monday, 13 July

10:00 - 12:00 (CEST)

Prophet the Peacemaker

Treaty of Hudaibiya

15:00 - 17:00 (CEST)
Session 6

Violence and Extremism

The concept of Islah (reconciliation)

19:00 - 20:30 (CEST)
Gossiping, backbiting and slandering

Tuesday, 14 July

10:00 - 12:00 (CEST)
Session 7

Loyalty and Citizenship

Understanding Citizenship

15:00 - 17:00 (CEST)
Session 8

Inner Peace

The contentment of the heart

19:00 - 20:30 (CEST)
Unpacking Anger

Wednesday, 15 July

10:00 - 12:00 (CEST)
Session 9

Characteristics of Peacemakers

Makarim al-Akhlaq

15:00 - 17:00 (CEST)
Session 10

Project Design & Implementation

Design your own project

19:00 - 20:30 (CEST)
Closing Session