# RPP Colloquium: Islam, Tradition, and Resources for Nonviolent Conflict Transformation #### calendar\_today Date and Time **March 23, 2017** 06:00PM - 08:30PM EDT #### pin\_drop Location **Harvard university, Sperry Room, Andover Hall, 45 Francis Ave.** Religions and the Practice of Peace Colloquium Dinner Series Space is limited. [RSVP is required](https://harvard.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cPbdtkb6xhfmS0Z). The Islamic tradition and Muslim communities have rich and long legacies of teachings, practices, and precedents for prioritizing nonviolent approaches to conflict transformation. Join us as two leading scholar-practitioners discuss theological, spiritual, and practical resources for peace in Islamic scripture and tradition, historical cases, and implications for our contemporary world. Speakers - Dr. A. Rashied Omar, Research Scholar of Islamic Studies and Peacebuilding, Kroc Institute, University of Notre Dame; MA, Kroc Institute; MA, PhD, University of Cape Town, will speak on **“Justice and Compassion: Embodying the Core Values of Peacebuilding in Islam”** - Afra Jalabi, vicechair, Board of the Day After Association; PhD student, Concordia University; MA, Carleton University; BA, McGill University, will speak on **“In Search of the Lost Hero: The ‘Muslim’ as a Peace-Maker: Reflections on the Theory and Practice of Islamic Nonviolence and its New Possibilities”** Moderator - Prof. Jocelyne Cesari, Professor of Religion and Politics, director of research, Edward Cadbury Centre for the Public Understanding of Religion, Birmingham University; Senior Fellow, Berkley Center, Georgetown University; lecturer, Harvard Divinity School **Speakers** **A. Rashied Omar** earned an MA and PhD in religious studies from the University of Cape Town, South Africa, and an MA in peace studies from Notre Dame’s Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, where he is now a core faculty member. Omar’s research and teaching focus on the roots of religious violence and the potential of religion for constructive social engagement and interreligious peacebuilding. He is coauthor with David Chidester et al. of *Religion in Public Education: Options for a New South Africa* (UCT Press, 1994), a contributor to the *Oxford Handbook of Religion, Conflict and Peacebuilding* (Oxford University Press, 2015), and a contributor to the Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World (Macmillan Reference USA, 2016). During Notre Dame’s spring semester, Omar teaches a popular course on the Islamic ethics of war and peace as well as peace studies courses. For the remainder of the year, he serves as field research advisor to Kroc Institute’s master’s students in Cape Town, South Africa. In addition to being a university-based researcher and teacher, Omar serves as Imam (religious minister) at the Claremont Main Road Mosque in Cape Town, South Africa, a trustee of the Healing of Memories Institute in South Africa, a member of the Interfaith Council for Ethics Education, Arigatou International in Japan, and an advisory board member for Critical Investigations into Humanitarianism in Africa. **Afra Jalabi** is a member of the Syrian Nonviolence Movement. She is the vice-chair of the Board of the Day After Association—a Syrian NGO that created a transitional plan with a group of Syrian academics and human rights activists for a post-regime Syria.She is currently doing her Ph.D at Concordia University in the Department of Religion, writing her dissertation on Quranic hermeneutics and nonviolence in Islam. She has been working closely with her uncle, Jawdat Said, a prominent Islamic scholar who has been writing on peace and nonviolence from a Muslim perspective since the 60s. She is a frequent lecturer on issues related to Islam, nonviolence and gender, and was the first woman of an Arab background to lead public prayers and give Jum'a and Eid sermons. She has participated in many international conferences and appeared in Arab, American and Canadian media. Jalabi is also a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Law and Religion at Hamline University, and has worked as a columnist in the Arab Press for the last 16 years. Before the Syrian revolution she was a signatory in the Damascus Declaration and was one of the founding members of the Syrian National Council. She has a master's degree in journalism from Carleton University and a B.A in Anthropology and Political Science from McGill University. **Moderator** Jocelyne Cesari holds the Chair of Religion and Politics at the University of Birmingham, UK. She is senior research fellow at Georgetown University’s Berkley Center on Religion, Peace and World Affairs. She teaches on contemporary Islam at the Harvard Divinity School and directs the Harvard interfaculty program “Islam in the West”. Her most recent books are: *The Awakening of Muslim Democracy: Religion, Modernity and the State* (Cambridge University Press, 2014) and *Why the West Fears Islam: An Exploration of Islam in Western Liberal Democracies* (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013). Her book *When Islam and Democracy Meet: Muslims in Europe and in the United States* (Palgrave Macmillan, 2006) is a reference in the study of European Islam and integration of Muslim minorities in secular democracies. She edited the 2015 Oxford Handbook of European Islam. She coordinates a major web resource on Islam in Europe: Cosponsored with the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Islamic Studies Program at Harvard University. With generous support from the Rev. Karen Vickers Budney, MDiv ’91, and Mr. Albert J. Budney, Jr., MBA ’74. **Recommended Readings** Recommended readings from A. Rashied Omar - Omar, A. Rashied. "Islam and Peacebuilding" in *Trialogue and Terror: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam after 9/11* edited by Alan L. Berger (Cascade Books: Eugene, Oregon, 2012), pp. 201-210 - Omar, A. Rashied. “Ta’aruf: Islam beyond ‘Tolerance’” in *Hermeneutical Explorations in Dialogue: Essays in Honor of Hans Ucko* edited by Anantanand Rambachan, A. Rashied Omar, and M. Thomas Thangaraj (New Delhi: Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge: 2007) - Omar, A. Rashied. “Opportunities and Challenges for Islamic Peacebuilding after September 11” in *Interreligious Insight* (Vol. 1: No. 4, October 2003) - Shah-Kazemi, Reza. "From the Spirituality of Jihad to the Ideology of Jihadism" in *Islam, Fundamentalism, and the Betrayal of Tradition* edited by Joseph E. B. Lombard (World Wisdom Inc., 2009), pp. 45-68 Recommended readings from Afra Jalabi - Johansen, Robert C. "Radical Islam and Nonviolence: A Case Study of Religious Empowerment and Constraint among Pashtuns" in *Journal of Peace Research* (Vol 34:1, 1997), pp. 53-71 - Kadayifci-Orellana, S. Ayse. “Muslim Perspectives on War and Peace” in *Peace-Building by, between, and beyond Muslims and Evangelical Christians* edited by Mohammed Abu-Nimer and David Augsburger (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2009), pp. 19-47 - Kadayifci-Orellana, S. Ayse. “Religion, Violence, and the Islamic Tradition of Nonviolence” in *The Turkish Yearbook* (Vol. 34, 2003), pp. 23-62 - Kadayifci-Orellana, S. Ayse. “Islamic Tradition of Nonviolence: A Hermeneutical Approach” in I*dentity, Morality, and Threat: Studies in Violent Conflict* edited by Daniel Rothbart and Karina V. Korostelina (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2006), pp. 211-237 - Khan, Maulana Wahiduddin. “Non-Violence and Islam,” in *The True Jihad: The Concepts of Peace, Tolerance and Non-violence in Islam* (New Delhi: Goodword Books, 2002), pp. 46-95 - Omar, Irfan A. “Toward an Islamic Theology of Nonviolence: A Critical Appraisal of Maulana Wahiduddin Khan’s View of Jihad (Part 1)” in *Vidyajyoti Journal of Theological Reflection* (Vol. 79: No. 9, September 2008), pp. 671-680 - Sa‘id, Jawdat. “The Conditions for Violence in Islam”: [http://www.jawdatsaid.net/en/index.php?title=The\_Conditions\_for\_Violence\_in\_Islam](http://www.jawdatsaid.net/en/index.php?title=The_Conditions_for_Violence_in_Islam) This [monthly public series](http://rpp.hds.harvard.edu/programs/colloquium), convened by HDS Dean David N. Hempton, brings together a cross-disciplinary RPP Working Group of faculty, experts, graduate students, and alumni from across Harvard University and the local area to explore topics and cases in religions and the practice of peace. A diverse array of scholars, leaders, and religious peacebuilders are invited to present and engage with the RPP Working Group and general audience. A light dinner is served and a brief reception follows the program. Join RPP’s [mailing list](http://rpp.hds.harvard.edu/join-our-mailing-list) and visit the [RPP Initiative](http://rpp.hds.harvard.edu/home). Share on:- [ Facebook ](#) - [ Twitter ](#) - [ Linkedin ](#) Save: [ Add to calendar calendar\_today ](https://africa.harvard.edu/node/1032891/event-feed.ics) Copy link link