Name: Zahraa El Sayed Ahmed
Location: Cairo, Egypt
Religion: Muslim
Programme: Emerging Peacemakers Forum 2018 (EPF18)
Reflection by Zahraa, 3 years on from her participation in EPF18.
My journey in peacemaking and conflict transformation started when I took part in the Emerging Peacemakers Forum under the supervision of Al-Azhar El-Sharief, Muslim Council of Elders, and the Rose Castle Foundation.
The forum, held in Churchill College, Cambridge University and Lambeth Palace in London, was like a small utopia on earth where young people from different faiths and nationalities gathered together in one place, shared their thoughts, beliefs and worries freely without being afraid of misunderstanding or controlled by certain rules.
We were like one big family as we used to listen deeply to each other, respond respectfully and disagree well. We have built our friendship on trust and love. Yes we were different in nationalities and faiths. But we were one in having the same human values, ethics, and compassions. We had various workshops about interfaith dialogue, conflict resolution, restorative justice, mediation between conflicting groups, and forgiveness through presenting real examples from the ground.
Moreover, we had amazing scriptural reasoning sessions where we used to have two scripts, one from Quran and another from the Bible, and tried to contemplate the meanings of the two scripts, find the similarities that connect the two religions together, and respect the differences. We also tackled the role of religious leaders in presenting the real image of religion, correcting the misconceptions, and gathering people together.
Zahraa reflects on her experience of EPF18.
Zahraa during the Emerging Peacemakers Forum 2018.
The concepts I first encountered on the RCF programme were the drive for me to participate in 3 important global conferences.
The first two conferences, 'Islam and the West: Diversity and Integration' in Cairo, and 'Human Fraternity' in Abu Dhabi, called for peace building and coexistence between religions.
A new chapter in my journey then started when I had the honour to travel to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to represent Egypt as the only Egyptian Muslim Azhari girl in the 3rd Intercontinental Youth Forum on Preventing Violent Extremism, held by the African Union in collaboration with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit.
I had the pleasure to meet more than 40 amazing future leaders from Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. We together built a safe space where we shared a lot of thoughts and experiences and discussed many critical issues freely and respectfully. Similarly to the Emerging Peacemakers Forum, we had the time to discuss how to use interfaith dialogue as a way to connect people together and how to work on correcting the misconceptions about religions.
At one conference, we tackled the phenomenon of violent extremism. We agreed that young people join these violent groups for ideological beliefs but the majority join them because of the political and economic marginalization, non-coherence in communities, and for what these groups offer to them. Accordingly, we discussed the role of religious leaders, government, media, communities, and families in preventing violence and protecting children from these radical thoughts.
Most importantly, we triggered an important issue which is how to integrate and rehabilitate foreign fighters and returnees in their home countries again when they decide to leave these extremist groups. How can we accept them as a part of our society and give them another chance.
Finally, we had the time to learn project management and how to design, manage and pitch for our projects. We had some brave stories of real examples who were extremists themselves and then left their groups and integrate again in their communities. We came up with a lot of thoughts and initiatives that we can work together on achieving them to promote peace and unify the youth in this world together hand in hand against radicalization and brainwashing.
We need to work together on making the African continent stronger and explore the vast opportunities that the African continent holds. I have also increased my faith in the power of African Arab women and their rights to be heard, to have dreams, to believe in their abilities, enhance their skills, take part in their societies, have equal opportunities, and make actual changes in this world.
From my experience I can conclude "Never say it’s impossible until you have given it your best shot". God rewards you well every time you pursue making a change. Your journey will start to be much more valuable when you get out of your comfort zone, try, risk sometimes, strive and never yield. When you let your smile shine on with love and understanding and when you overcome tough times and stand up again with your intention to make a difference. Here your journey starts!