Peacemaking in Iran

Abstract

The questions of whether religion can contribute toward resolving and preventing conflict, and to what extent a modern nation can balance culture, politics, and tradition, were raised at the one-day conference on “Dialogues of Peace in Islam” hosted by the UNESCO Chair for Human Rights, Peace and Democracy at Tehran’s Shahid Beheshti University. The conference provided interaction with the seven-member delegation of Muslim American scholars of Islam and conflict resolution who traveled in Iran for ten days during October 2007. They met with Iranian experts to better understand their approaches to peacemaking, conflict prevention, dialogue, and conflict resolution. They also met with lawyers, human rights experts, nongovernmental organizations, academicians, university students, social scientists, senior religious leaders, and theologians. Ayse Kadayifci (professor of conflict resolution studies,American University), and Amr Abdalla (professor and vice rector for academic affairs, University for Peace in Costa Rica) presented various western and Islamic models of conflict assessment and areas where thesemodelsmay ormay not converge. The Iranian academicians focused on religion’s role in defending human rights, democracy, and promoting equality. Abdul Hayy Weinman (professor, University of New Mexico) spoke about the Sunni-Shi`ah dialogues, areas for reconciliation, and effective practices in dialogic ...