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Islam promotes world peace via a large range of organisations and initiatives. The World Council for Muslim Interfaith Relations (WCMIR) works at an international and local level to implement a number of programs including peace building in targeted conflict areas; eradicating poverty; implementing health and welfare for children; youth leadership; peace education; social and economic justice; and women’s empowerment programs. The Council on American-Islamic Relations is the largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organisation in the US and it is working on a number of proposals to end the violence in Iraq.
Fethullah Gulen is an Islamic scholar and peace activist and the mentor of a movement (initiatives for peace in the contemporary world) that has inspired many Turkish (and other) Muslims to be involved in charitable and educational activities. The movement is considered to be one of the most influential and effective Muslim peace movements this century as it encourages intercultural dialogue and understanding so as to promote harmony and cooperation between different faiths and cultures.
The Alexandria Process is an initiative that brings together senior Muslims, Jews and Christians to work together for peace in the Holy Land and to continue interfaith dialogue. The Muslim Pease Conference was held in Cairo in 2004 as part of the Alexandria process and brought together Muslim, Jewish and Christian, Baha’i and Druze organisation in the Holy Land and the Middle East which promotes interfaith study and dialogue.
The Sulha Peace Project is a Middle Eastern reconciliation project and offers ceremonies for feuding families and organises three-day festivals for Muslims, Christians and Jews with shared prayer, religious studies etc. The Bereaved Families Forum includes 500 Israeli and Palestinian families who have lost loved ones in the conflict. The Jewish Palestinian Living Room Dialogue Group is an American group bringing together Palestinian and Jewish American citizens. Islam is a member of the Australian Partnership of Ethnic and Religious Organisations (APERO).
The Jewish- Arab Centre for Peace at Givat-Haviva in Israel is run by both Muslim and Jewish staff, and trains over 15 000 students annually. Neve Shalom/Wahat El Salaam (‘Oasis of Peace’ in Hebrew and Arabic) is a village of Jews and Arabs within Israel living cooperatively since 1970. Its School for Peace has trained 35 000 Arabs and Jews in peace-making skills. The village also offers humanitarian aid to West Bank and Gaza Palestinians. Ta’ayush (Arabic for ‘life in common’) is a roup of Islam and Jewish volunteers who perform daily tasks of solidarity with West Bank and Gaza Palestinians, including organising convoys to bring food and supplies to Arab villages. The Geneva Spiritual Appeal of 1999 was attended by Muslims and other representatives of religions and addressed the religious causes of human suffering. The Muslim Prayer for Peace and Religious Tolerance, aims to guide humanity ‘to the right path’ while the Muslim-Christian Initiative of the Nuclear Weapons Danger is a joint initiative between the Islamic society of North America and the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship of America.