The International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) hosted Professor Mohammed Abu-Nimer on Wednesday, April 13, 2022, for its Human Development webinar series. The title of his talk was, “Forgiveness and Reconciliation: Theory and Practice.” It was moderated by Kareem Makhlouf, Executive Director of the Newlines Institute.

Prof. Abu-Nimer is a professor at American University who has conducted interreligious conflict resolution training and interfaith dialogue workshops in conflict areas around the world, including Egypt, Northern Ireland, the Philippines (Mindanao), Israel, Palestine, Chad, Nigeria, and Sri Lanka. He is also the founder and president of Salam Institute for Peace and Justice, a research-based non-profit organization dedicated to teaching and implementing best practices in peacebuilding and nonviolence.

Prof. Abu-Nimer grounded his presentation in his own empirical research as well as scholarly evidence curated over 35 years. He maintained that contrary to some perceptions, interpersonal and collective forgiveness and reconciliation are similar in nature. He acknowledged that while there are many examples of interpersonal resolutions, there are very few instances of interstate reconciliation. Nonetheless, justice remains at the core of any reconciliation efforts: one must be willing to redefine and reframe their notion of justice in order to reach reconciliation with another person or entity. Prof. Abu-Nimer added that reconciliation, whether collective or individual, is impossible without forgiveness and feeling assured that the injury will not happen again. In the context of the Arab and Muslim world, he cautioned that often politicians hijack terms and concepts and manipulate them, making reconciliation more difficult.

Participants attended the virtual talk from all over the world, including Thailand, Malaysia, Iraq, Palestine, Egypt, Switzerland, Argentina, Nigeria, US, and Canada. The diverse attendees were very engaged during the talk and asked many questions, such as who should initiate reconciliation, how forgiveness and reconciliation can be incorporated into the school curriculum, and whether colonialism is to blame for much of the challenges faced by the Arab and Muslim world. In his responses, Prof. Abu-Nimer emphasized the importance of resolving conflicts closer to the time of injury so that deep-seated animosities do not become institutionalized and normalized. He also underscored the significance of taking responsibility for one’s predicament and seeking collaborative action involving a range of state and nonstate actors in implementing change.

The video recording of the webinar may be viewed here.