500 Moderate Religious Leaders Trained in Burkina Faso “When we first asked them as part of the pre-test whether Islam allows for you to share in the joys and pains of life with your neighbors of other religions – participating in a Baptism, visiting the sick, donating food – [most of the two dozen religious leaders from Dori] said ‘no’,” recalls Cissé Nassirou. He then proceeded to lead them through a three-day workshop introducing the project Peace through Development II, exploring the meaning of conflict, and discussing peaceful co-existence, conflict prevention and resolution from an Islamic perspective. “Islam is like a treasure, but they don’t know what is inside, I told them.” Cissé takes participants past a superficial reading of the Quran, even beyond the verses that speak against hate and violence, to have them reflect deeply on Islam’s ultimate and affirmative message, “it is our mission to preserve life and Earth.” When it came time for the post-test, it was clear to the religious leaders that Islam encourages them to go out and share in the joy and pain of others regardless of their beliefs. Cissé is one of 20 Burkinabe trainers who carried out 23 trainings for imams, preachers, Quranic schoolteachers, and heads of Islamic associations throughout the central, north, and Sahel regions of Burkina Faso between August 12 and September 29, 2014. The Salam Institute equipped the core of these local trainers through a six-day training of trainers in Djibo at the beginning of the year. They were reconvened in March 2014 to reinforce capacity and adapt the training content to their particular regions. The trainers themselves largely hail from the very communes where the trainings took place, thereby meaning they are familiar with the local actors and dynamics and able to facilitate in the local languages Moore or Fulfulde. One trainer from Gorom Gorom, Chafi Hussein, recounts, “the training went very well. I think the material has been very useful, as they are now better able to deal with conflict then before.” One participant had been an imam since 1972 and this is the first time he said he had ever received a training like this. This was more true for the three cohorts of female religious leaders in Dori and Ouahigouya than anyone else. They are responsible for conducting prayers, delivering sermons, and leading ceremonies for the separated female congregations. When word got out about this opportunity, one woman came uninvited from a village 40km away to attend. In Dori, the women had not collaborated with one another on account of their differing Muslim sects. By the end of the workshop, they decided to form an intra-faith association to address this dis-connect. Similarly reflecting the intra-faith tensions in the country amongst men, the Arbinda participants initially refused to attend the training for fear of mixing with other streams of Islam. The trainers went to each of their communities to pray with them at their mosques. By the second day, they came. Out of 41 expected participants for the two workshops in Arbinda, 43 completed the training. In Djibo, the participants emerged from the training having formed an intra-faith committee to coordinate use of mosques, dates of religious holidays, and the sharing of points of view. In Dori, the participants were hesitant and suspicious when they first arrived never having engaged so closely with Muslims from other stream. “This dissipated and they left as if they had always worked together,” concluded Cissé proudly.
Posted on: Tue, 30 Sep 2014 22:34:29 +0000
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