“We do lots of exercises, many projects, in this class,” said Sabereh Ahmadi Movaghar, referring to “” taught as a seven-day intensive by , PhD, and Roxann “Roxy” Allen Kioko ’04, MA ’07.

Movaghar holds two master’s degrees – one in Shi’a Islam studies and the other in Islamic jurisprudence – which took a total of four years to earn. “I love studying; I am hungry to know,” she said by way of explaining her hope of continuing through a PhD and then teaching. For this reason, she has been an alert observer of the teaching methods employed in her current class at SPI and her previous one, “,” taught by , a Mennonite scholar and pastor.

Movaghar also praises “the very good friends I have made here, who I’ve invited to come to Iran,” as well as the opportunity to learn more about conflicts in the world, along with post-conflict reconciliation processes, especially those occurring in Africa.

Movaghar is one of nine women from Qom, Iran, who are taking classes at 91����Ƶ’s annual Summer Peacebuilding Institute (SPI). Their home institution, Jamiat al-Zahra, is the world’s largest Islamic seminary for women, with 5,000 Iranian students, 1,000 international students and 10,000 enrolled in distance learning. The nine students at SPI are all linked to the postgraduate section of the seminary’s international department.

 “These women are excellent, diligent students,” said executive director of 91����Ƶ’s . “They are devoutly religious as well as delightful – with great personalities, warm laughs, and deep insights. The friendships being built are priceless.”

The group is led by , an internationally known scholar of Islam and dean of postgraduate students at Jamiat al-Zahra. Shomali has designated the women’s English-language instructor, who wishes to be known as “Zainab,” as the coordinator for the women when he is not present.

Reflecting on her methods of teaching English at the Iranian seminary, Zainab cited the “practical strategies used at SPI” as a key take-away from her two SPI classes. She said she also appreciates the “rich experiences” enabled by having highly diverse classmates from different parts of the world. The atmosphere at SPI is “warm, open, and friendly,” she said. “Everyone is respectful of everyone’s beliefs.”

Zainab is often mistaken as one who comes from outside the United States, given her fully covered appearance in loose black clothing, except for her face. Actually, though, she is an American of Lebanese heritage, who completed most of her foundational education in public schools in Michigan. She holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in English from the University of Michigan, plus a teaching certificate.

In addition to directing the English as a Second Language program at Jamiat al-Zahra – in which about 45 women are enrolled each year – Zainab is completing a PhD. For her dissertation, she is working on a textbook that will use religiously and culturally appropriate text as the basis for teaching English to non-native speakers within the Shi’a Islamic tradition.

In her first SPI class, “” taught by Dr. , Zainab joined participants from 10 other countries to explore the social, psychological, neurobiological, physical, and spiritual processes of moving from violence to healing and transforming trauma. “I’ve studied sociology before, but never with a focus on the psychosocial aspects of trauma,” she said, “and rarely in a class as filled with activities. … Al was a great professor.” �ܲ����Բ���’s second class was “” taught by , PhD, and , MA ’09.

Movaghar and Zainab were part of two earlier educational trips to another Mennonite institution, Canadian Mennonite University in Winnipeg. In the summer of 2011, they took a one-week course on Christian understandings of peace and justice, followed by “Introduction to Christianity” in June 2012.

These women are the latest in a chain of Muslim-Mennonite interactions that goes back to 1991, when responded to a devastating earthquake in Iran. Educational exchanges followed that first contact.

Relations have grown to be highly collaborative. For instance, Shomali was a guest instructor in “Faith-based Peacebuilding,” which focused on identifying sources of conflict and resources for peacebuilding found in several faith communities and traditions, along with interfaith engagement.

During a break between SPI sessions, Shomali and most of the women went to Washington D.C., where they visited the , met with some Muslim women lawyers at the office of the , and had a meeting at organized by CJP graduate Rasoul Naqavi. They also visited the Capitol Hill offices of Mennonite Central Committee.

, director of the at 91����Ƶ, has visited Iran more than two dozen times since 1991 and will be returning to Iran later this month for the 6th Mennonite-Shi’a dialogue. In addition to Martin, the 91����Ƶ delegation includes Christian Early, a professor of philosophy and theology, and several students.

On an earlier two-day trip, they visited MCC’s headquarters in Akron, Pennsylvania, met with an Amish bishop, and attended a service and Sunday school class at in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Shomali told an 91����Ƶ reporter that he hoped for better relations between the people of Iran and people of the United States and noted similarities between Quranic and Christian teachings about the importance of peace. “God says about the Quran in the Quran itself that God guides with the Qur’an those who seek His pleasure to the ways of peace (5:15).” There are “lots of things we can learn from each other,” he added. Iranians are rational people and “when you are rational, you tend to dialogue with people of other faiths and other cultures.”

Shomali welcomed more exchanges of Americans and Iranians from a variety of fields, including artists and professionals. He said that to reduce mutual misperceptions and encourage peace, “Nothing can replace face-to-face encounters. Our first Imam, Imam Ali, is quoted as saying: ‘People become hostile towards what they don’t know.’”

As the first session of 91����Ƶ’s (SPI) comes to a close this week, guest lecturer reflected warmly on the past 10 days among fellow international peacebuilders.

In more than 20 years of participating in interfaith dialogue, Shomali has travelled widely. He is the director of international affairs at the world’s largest Shi’a Islam seminary for women, Jami’at al-Zahra, as well as director of the International Institute for Islamic Studies (IIIS). He resides in Qom, Iran.

“I feel at home in many places in the world,” Shomali said, “but 91����Ƶ is one of those places where I really feel at home.”

Shomali has met Mennonites in a variety of contexts in both North America and around the world, and has developed friendships with many of them. “The Mennonites are people who are loyal to their faith, and they want to live the gospel, but not in a rigid way,” he said. “They don’t just want to live this on Sunday, but throughout the week, they want to be like Jesus. I respect this. I love this. They are interested in being forces of good in the world, whether it is in helping people with development or peacebuilding or relief.”

Peace and peacebuilding, along with interfaith dialogue, is one of the core Quranic principles, Shomali says. This was one reason why nine female students, staff, and graduates from Jami’at al-Zahra are studying at SPI this summer, escorted by Shomali and his wife, Mahnaz Heidarpour, who also teaches at the seminary. In prior years, SPI has hosted a total of 10 students from Iran, but never a group of this size all at once.

The nine women have joined 130 international students until May 24 to learn concepts and practices of peacebuilding, trauma, conflict analysis and resolution, and restorative justice. The students are being co-hosted by 91����Ƶ’s (CJP), as well as its , both based on 91����Ƶ’s main campus in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

Shomali was a guest lecturer in the Faith-based Peacebuilding course, facilitated by , a Mennonite pastor who has lived in the Middle East. The interfaith course helps participants identify sources of conflict and resources for peacebuilding found in various faith communities and traditions. Five of the Iranian seminarians chose to take this course.

Interactions with SPI students from around the world provide a practical complement to required seminary coursework in comparative peace studies, Shomali said. “Theoretical knowledge can come through books, but when the students eat and talk together and go to churches, this is different. They learn about the way people think, live, behave, and plan. This is very valuable.”

In addition to daily classes, the group made two special trips dedicated to interfaith dialogue. One weekend, they visited the (MCC) headquarters in Akron, Pennsylvania, met with an Amish bishop, and attended a service and Sunday school class at James Street Mennonite Church in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. A later day trip to Washington D.C. included a meeting with MCC Washington office staff and a visit to the , which promotes understanding of Islamic values of peace and respect for diversity. At the El-Hibri office, they met with the leaders of . In the evening, the group had a meeting at , organized by CJP graduate Rasoul Naqavi.

Most of the women in the group had participated in previous trips, led by Shomali in 2011 and 2012, to study Anabaptist and Christian theology at in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

The exchange continues later this month in Qom with the 6th Mennonite-Shi’a dialogue. A delegation from 91����Ƶ includes professor , Center for Interfaith Engagement director and several students.

Shomali has also cultivated friendships and dialogue with other faith communities, most notably the Catholic Church. He has been a key contributor to five Shi’a-Catholic dialogues, the first taking place in England in 2003 and the most recent in Qom in 2012.

His interest in interfaith dialogue grew from his religious and philosophical studies as a seminary student in Qom. He holds a B.A. and an M.A. in western philosophy from the University of Tehran, as well as a doctorate in philosophy from the in the United Kingdom. While in the U.K., Shomali developed an interest in the , an organization devoted to encouraging unity and brotherhood among the practitioners of Christian religions, among followers of other world religions, and, more broadly, among all of humanity.

The unity of God and of man is also an important Quranic principle, Shomali says. “God has created you from one man and one woman, but made you into different tribes and nations so that you know each other, not that so you fight each other. We should not see these differences as barriers, but extra reasons to know each other.”

Those of the Abrahamic faiths have a “joint responsibility for brotherhood,” he said. “Muslim-Christian dialogue for me is a way to reunite or unite a family which is unfortunately sometimes broken. Sometimes you have cousins that you stop communication with or who you lose touch with. Muslim-Christian dialogue is a reunion of the family of Abraham and the children of God.”

Shomali is also resident Imam and director of the . His books have been published in a number of languages, including Malay, Kiswahili, Spanish and Swedish.

The ten women—doctoral students at the seminary—will join 130 international students on the campus of 91����Ƶ (91����Ƶ) in Harrisonburg, Va., to learn concepts and practices of peacebuilding, conflict analysis and resolution and restorative justice.

“Our goal is to train Iranian women seminarians to become ambassadors of friendship and voices for unity and dialogue,” says Dr. Mohammad Shomali, the director of international affairs at Jami’at al-Zahra who will escort the group.

The students are being co-hosted by as well as its Center for Interfaith Engagement. They will also visit Amish and Mennonite communities in Lancaster Co., Pa., and the in Washington, D.C.

Since 1994, SPI has attracted more than 2,700 students of diverse faiths from 120 countries for academic instruction and cultural exchange. More than 90 percent of former students work in peacebuilding-related disciplines, including , of Liberia.

Ten Iranian students have attended SPI, and two have continued their studies to earn master’s degrees in conflict transformation.

However, hosting a large group of accomplished women scholars is “a rare opportunity,” says , executive director of the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding at 91����Ƶ. “This is a unique step in our long history of interfaith dialogue. We look forward to the theological and cultural insights they will bring.”

Shomali has previously led two groups of women in 2011 and 2012 to study Anabaptist and Christian theology at Canadian Mennonite University in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

The academic exchanges build on more than 20 years of Mennonite-Shi’a interfaith dialogue fostered by the , a partial sponsor of the upcoming trip. MCC first reached out to Iran after a devastating earthquake in 1990, offering relief supplies in partnership with the Iranian Red Crescent Society. The organization’s outreach has since focused on “understanding, friendship, and interfaith connections between the people of Iran, Canada, and the U.S.,” as well as “peacebuilding through shared knowledge,” according to a press release.

Major funding has been provided by the .