Engaging Extremism with Muslims' Nonviolence

September 19 - 22, 2016

Penang, Malaysia

Extremism and Muslim Nonviolence

Chaiwat Satha-Anand, Senior Research Fellow of the Toda Peace Institute together with Omar Farouk from the Center for Policy Research and International Studies (CenPRIS) at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) organized a policy workshop on "Engaging Extremism with Muslims' Nonviolence" in Penang, Malaysia, September 19-22, 2016. The workshop was facilitated by Kevin Clements and Paula Green. They designed an experiential process to enable Muslim researchers and practitioners to understand violence from a Muslim perspective and then reflect on how justice might be pursued by Muslim nonviolent actors. Participants explored cases of extremism and deadly conflicts within the Muslim world, and then explored the relationship between Islam and nonviolence and how this might mitigate the violent effects of extremism. The organizers will be producing a book or a journal issue on the subject based on selected papers in 2017. On September 21, 2016, CenPRIS and the Toda Peace Institute organized a public forum with selected conference participants, members of the public and the policy community on "Violent Extremism: Islam and Nonviolent Policy Alternatives." This forum generated lively discussions between local intellectuals, members of the media, diplomats and representatives from the policy community.