The Center’s reform effort has been well received by the more than 2,000 madrasa leaders (from 1,300 madrasas) who have been involved to date.   

- ICRD President Douglas Johnston and Board members John Sandoz and Harold Jacobi address Deobandi madrasa leaders from Balochistan -

After attending the training workshops, many madrasa leaders have asked for similar programs to be conducted within their own madrasas for all of their teaching staff.  They have also asked for ICRD’s assistance in securing resources to modernize their schools, including computers, textbooks, and salaries for teachers in the new disciplines.  

Graduates of these teacher-training workshops have demonstrated a commitment to the principles of peacemaking and have asked for training in conflict resolution skills that will enable them to reach out in peace to other sects and to other countries as well. Notably, certain madrasa leaders who formerly preached the need to fight America are now preaching the need for reconciliation and peaceful coexistence.

It is important to note that our Center’s role is one of helping the madrasas to help themselves. Toward this end, it has been essential that the madrasa leaders view this effort as their own and not as something imposed from the outside. Another important ingredient has been appealing to their own heritage by reminding them periodically that many of the pioneering breakthroughs in the arts and sciences – including religious tolerance - took place under Islam a thousand years ago.  As madrasa leaders begin to internalize this fact, it is providing added incentive for them to expand their horizons by reshaping their curriculums. 

Quotes and Anecdotes from Madrasa Project