The Muslim training manual for Gender Champions in the Masculinities, Faith and Peace (MFP) project
This Masculinites, Faith and Peace (MFP) manual introduces the training for Muslim Gender Champions and faith leaders. It provides a detailed activity guide for use in training, and includes guidelines to support the community dialogues that the Gender Champions will lead and facilitate.
It is designed to be used in parallel with the Christian version which draws out similar messages from Christian holy texts.
The goal of MFP is to see a reduction in sexual and gender-based violence, an increase in the healthy timing and spacing of pregnancies, and improved inter-religious relationships.
This document is an update of the same title published by WHO on 15 April 2020. Updates reflect the latest guidance on COVID-19 published by WHO since then, with focus on areas of transmission of SARS-CoV-2, critical preparedness, public health and social measures (PHSMs)/precautionary measures, ventilation, high-risk and vulnerable groups, vaccination, and use of masks. The advice included in this publication has been tailored to the Ramadan context.
This document provides public health advice on religious and social gatherings taking place during Ramadan that can be applied across different national contexts. Its target audience includes health authorities and religious institutions involved in the organization of events related to Ramadan, although the advice it proposes can also be used by the general public and communities.
Islam aur Takreem-e-Insaniyat ke Usool (Islam and Humanitarian Principles) is a new Urdu publication jointly produced by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) Islamabad and the ICRC. Based on discussions held during a two-day National Round Table arranged by IPS and the ICRC in 2019, this book has been compiled by Senior Researcher IPS Nadeem Farhat and Senior Programme Officer ICRC Dr. Ziaullah Rahmani.
This is the first publication in Urdu that investigates the subject and it aims to ignite discussions on relevant themes within religious/academic circles. Themes discussed in the book include: the evolution of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and the importance of its Fundamental Principles, putting humanitarian values into practice; principles, standards and practical examples of humanitarianism in Islam; and public welfare and humanitarian principles in Pakistan.
Among the conclusions reached in the book are that humanitarian principles are strongly anchored in Islam, arguably even more than in the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. God-consciousness is central to the Islamic faith and humans are believed to be the family of God. That is why for a Muslim it is a matter of fundamental faith to consider humanity and neutrality while he/she engages in humanitarian affairs. This is proven on daily basis by the conduct of faith-based Islamic humanitarian organizations who serve those in need on a neutral basis and do not discriminate between those who are Muslims and those who are not.
A new Kiswahili language publication called “Utangulizi wa Sheria ya Kimataifa ya Kibinadamu ya Kiislamu” (“Introduction to International Humanitarian Law in Islam” / “muqaddimah fi ‘l-qanun ad-duwali al-insani fi ‘l-islam”), a reference work that was authored in Arabic by Professor Zaid Abdel Karim Al-Zaid, Al-Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University, Riyadh. This Kiswahili translation, also available in print, was prepared by the Dar es Salaam and Nairobi Delegations of the ICRC and provides an important reference resource to the many millions of Kiswahili speakers around the world.
The publication explores such important topics such as how to deal with victims of armed conflict in accordance with Islamic Shariah, looks at lessons learnt from the early Islamic battles like Badr, and lays out what Islamic law says about the treatment of Prisoners of War, women, children, dead bodies and the protection of property. It also talks about the protection of those who offer services on the battlefield but are not directly involved in fighting, such as medical personnel and reporters.
On March 11, 2021, JLI held a webinar where Dr. Riham Ahmed Khafagy (Assistant Professor, Department of International Affairs, Zayed University) presented her paper ‘Faith-based Organizations: Humanitarian Mission or Religious Missionary’. In her presentation, Dr. Ahmed Khafagy compared the British Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW) and the Kuwaiti Direct Aid Society (DAS) to examine the influence of social settings on the humanitarian experiences of Islamic faith-based organisations. A response was provided by Dr. Amjad Mohamed Saleem (Manager for Inclusion, Protection and Engagement at the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent and JLI Board Member), followed by an engaged discussion with the audience, which included academics, NGO researchers and practitioners.
“Prayer was the rope of survival.” “Religious needs are my primary needs.” “I wish I had been asked.” These statements were shared by displaced women in Iraq, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey in three independent, coordinated research studies in 2019 led by University of Birmingham, Queen Margaret University and Syria Bright Future in collaboration with Islamic Relief Worldwide and the Humanitarian Academy for Development. The studies examined the role of faith in coping and recovery of women in forced migration and conflict contexts.
The women in this study, like many forced migrants, suffered unspeakable hardships, experiencing loss of relatives and belongings, war and violence (including sexual and gender-based violence), lifethreatening journeys, separation from family, and powerlessness. Having once belonged to a local faith community, now, on the move, they had held onto the religion, faith and spirituality that move with them. Faith resilience and spiritual suffering – often difficult to comprehend for outsiders – influenced women’s wellbeing in varied ways. Throughout their experiences, religious identity, religious practices and religious beliefs had a profound impact on mental health, both buffering and contributing to psychological distress.
The Asian Muslim Action Network (AMAN) – Indonesia
How this story represents an international-local faith partnership in Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL): Internationally operating German Protestant faith-based donor organisation. Coordination by national Islamic faith inspired organisation, partnerships with Muslim and Christian local faith actors in Indonesia.
The Asian Muslim Action Network (AMAN) is an Indonesian interfaith organization that has been working in the areas of peacebuilding, development, and humanitarian aid for 20 years.
From October 2017 to September 2020, AMAN implemented a project aimed at promoting gender justice from within an Islamic framework. The project ‘Amplifying the voices of interfaith women groups – asserting the values of gender justice, peace and tolerance in nation-building’ was run in six provinces of Indonesia (Jakarta, West Java, East Java, Central Java, Yogyakarta and Central Sulawesi).
AMAN has a designated Design, Monitoring and Evaluation (DME) Manager who oversees the organisation’s MEAL work, which is informed by three principles.
A Result Mapping approach
A participatory approach
Appreciative Inquiry (AI)
Click here for the Compendium of Good Practices on Conducting MEAL and Faith
This handbook accompanies The Mosque Management Handbook previously developed by Faith Associates. It is intended as a clear guide to help Madrassah and Mosque management successfully run their Madrassah and contains practical advice including the legal requirements, for the United Kingdom, that must be observed when dealing with young people.
Faith Associates understands the conflicting pressures and demands made on staff and volunteers in Madrassahs and often the lack of time and resources they have available. This handbook provides guidance and advice on how to instigate good management styles, how to improve record keeping and how to build on good teaching and learning practice.
What can we learn from Islamic teachings that will take us closer to addressing today’s most pressing development challenges, including forced migration and refugees, safeguarding and child welfare, gender-based violence, climate change, and peacebuilding and conflict resolution?
How can the mechanisms of charitable giving in Islam, such as zakat, sadaqah and waqf be used to fund development programmes?
Islam and International Development is the culmination of extensive grass-roots experience of working among Muslim communities in developing countries, coupled with the commentary of academics and researchers. It includes analysis of successful projects that have respected and incorporated Islamic teachings into their design and delivery, so that development professionals and Muslim communities can work together to effect meaningful and sustainable change.
On the occasion of the Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha, WHO has issued interim guidance entitled “Eid al-Adha safe practices in the context of COVID-19 pandemic”. The document highlights public health advice for social and religious practices and gatherings during Eid al-Adha that can be applied across different national contexts.
The guidance informs individuals, families, communities and governments on how to make this religious occasion safer and encourages adoption of key measures to prevent and minimize the spread of the COVID-19 infection. The guidance focuses on social gatherings, physical distancing, animal-human interface and sacrificial slaughter, prayers and charity.
The guidance recommends avoiding large numbers of people gathering in public places, strictly maintaining a distance of at least 1 metre between people, and/or to wearing a fabric mask, discouraging slaughter at home and increasing the number or capacity of slaughter facilities, and encouraging good hygiene practices.
WHO recommends that any decision to restrict, modify, postpone, cancel, or proceed with a mass gathering during Eid al-Adha should be based on a standardized risk assessment exercise, taking into account current epidemiological trends, capacities and resources.
