The International Interfaith Peace Corps (IIPC)’s previous TWCF-supported project successfully developed a comprehensive curriculum on forgiveness, integrating Islamic theology and scientific research for Muslim religious leaders in the United States. The goal was to strengthen the ministry of Imams and other Muslim religious leaders and benefit Muslim communities more broadly.

The initial phase of the project was completed ahead of schedule and trained 81 religious leaders through four regional workshops, exceeding original targets. The 16-hour curriculum was developed early, and evaluation results showed strong gains in key competencies, especially participants’ familiarity with scientific research on forgiveness and their ability to explain the alignment between theological and scientific perspectives. Participant response was overwhelmingly positive, with all attendees reporting high satisfaction and saying they would recommend the workshops to peers.

Building on this success, this project led by Abdelrahim Ali and co-directed by Imrana Ahmad Umar at IIPC, will support a nine-month expansion designed to deepen and extend the program’s impact. The project team will enhance the curriculum by incorporating qualitative feedback from the initial workshops, translate materials into Arabic to broaden linguistic and cultural accessibility, and deliver four additional workshops for diverse audiences, including young professionals and Arabic-speaking religious leaders. Each workshop will include evaluation to assess effectiveness and support continuous improvement.

The project will also produce a comprehensive evaluation brief to capture and share findings from the expanded workshops. By strengthening and localizing a successful curriculum and extending it to new audiences, this project aims to expand the reach of forgiveness education among Muslim religious leaders in the United States and support more culturally responsive, practically useful engagement with forgiveness in their communities nationwide.