The Inland Echo

By Calvin Dark

Visiting ‘mourchidates,’ or women religious counselors, share views at Interfaith Forum on women’s role in strengthening communities, combating domestic violence, building more progressive societies

Moroccan women religious counselors visiting the US shared personal experiences and perspectives with American Muslim and Jewish women leaders at an interfaith forum Wednesday in Washington, DC, to discuss how advancing women’s rights is building stronger families and safer communities, across continents and around the world.

“In Islam, women have always served a vital and multi-faceted role,” said Ilham Chafik, a visiting mourchidate and PhD in Arabic Linguistics, who coordinates outreach programs for the blind in Rabat/Sale, Morocco. “The mourchidate program in Morocco institutionalizes the role that women have always played, by inviting, training, and recognizing women as leaders in our communities responsible for providing spiritual support as well as health and wellness assistance.”

The interfaith breakfast panel discussion was organized by the Moroccan American Cultural Center (MACC) to highlight Morocco’s mourchidate initiative, begun in 2006, to elevate the status of women and promote religious tolerance by training and certifying female religious counselors to work alongside imams (traditional male religious leaders in Islam) in the 40,000+ mosques in Morocco.

The lively panel discussion noted the significant progress already made and challenges still facing communities in Morocco, the US, and the Arab/Muslim world. Among the panelists were Loribeth Weinstein, Executive Director of Jewish Women International, a leading Jewish organization empowering women and promoting healthy families, and Salma Abugideiri, Co-Director of The Peaceful Families Project, an organization devoted to ending domestic violence in Muslim families by facilitating awareness workshops for Muslim leaders and communities.

“All of us assembled here are focused intently on how to most effectively address the serious problem of domestic violence and struggling families in our communities,” said Weinstein, whose organization leads the Interfaith Domestic Violence Coalition, a national effort for faith-based organizations from 20+ faith traditions to provide policy and legislative guidance on domestic violence issues. “All of us share a common goal and common ground with the mourchidate program in Morocco, which is to increase leadership roles for women in our religious communities as an effective preventive tool.”

Also in attendance at the breakfast were representatives from leading government agencies and NGO’s, including USAID, Peace Corps, National Endowment for Democracy, AMIDEAST, National Democratic Institute, the International Monetary Fund, and the Heritage Foundation as well as members of the press.

“We’re proud to welcome the mourchidates in Morocco and help them share their fascinating story of women’s and faith-based community empowerment with US government, community, and religious leaders,” said Jean AbiNader, executive director of the Moroccan American Cultural Center (MACC). “This is an appropriate time and great opportunity to highlight the mourchidates, whose overwhelmingly positive example of tolerance and leadership is elevating the role of women in Muslim societies.”

Earlier this month, the White House announced that President Barack Obama would deliver his much-anticipated address reaching out to the Muslim world in early June during a stop in Egypt, which has initiated its own mourchidate program similar to Morocco’s initiative.

During their visit to the US, the visiting mourchidate delegation from Morocco has met with US State Department officials, Members of Congress and their staffs, and attended worship service at Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church, home of Washington, DC’s oldest African-American AME congregation. On Thursday, the delegation were the guests for a panel discussion in New York City on “Women’s Spiritual Voices – Crossing Continents, Finding Common Ground: Exploring the roles of women religious leaders in Islam, Judaism, and Christianity,” co-sponsored by MACC and the American Jewish Committee.

The Moroccan American Cultural Center (MACC) is a not-for-profit 501 c(3) organization which works to build stronger cultural and educational ties between Morocco and the US through its support of programs that enhance bilateral relations and cooperation. Created in 2003 as an initiative of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, MACC has undertaken a range of projects which include hosting events that celebrate and share the rich diversity of Moroccan culture, and supporting programs that enhance cultural and educational ties between the US and Morocco as well as across the Maghreb. For more information, go to www.moroccanamericanculture.org. 

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