WORDE
World Organization for Resource Development & Education
Programs
US Government Outreach
WORDE specialists collaborate, advise and provide resources to the US Government on a number of foreign and domestic issues from countering violent extremism, homeland security, civil rights, to Muslim-community outreach and engagement. WORDE strives to engender trust between the government and Muslim American communities through several avenues.
Counter Radicalization Initiatives
As America faces a growing threat of homegrown terrorism, it is increasingly essential that Muslim communities and policymakers collaborate to undercut radical ideologies that lead to violent extremism. With input from law enforcement agencies, Muslim community leaders, and youth in America, WORDE developed a series of projects to counter radicalization.
Empowering Traditional Muslim Networks
Across the world, WORDE is actively engaged with empowering traditional Muslim networks to strengthen their communities against the rising threat of violent extremism. Our strategy includes investing in human capital, facilitating linkages with local and international public policymakers, and establishing international networks of moderate Muslim scholars, cultural groups, and thought leaders that empower one another to generate positive … More
Cultural Competency Training
WORDE educates policymakers and law enforcement officials about the differences between mainstream Islamic ideologies, and radical ideologies promoted by violent extremists. Our programs are designed to facilitate US government efforts to identify credible Muslim partners, and engender mutual trust between the government and Muslim … More
International Cultural Center (ICC)
In 2011 WORDE established a new cultural center for the greater Washington, DC metropolitan area. Located in Gaithersburg, MD, the ICC is a forum where people from all traditions can converge to promote principles of peace, social harmony and plurality through prose, music, meditation and … More
Commentary
Evicting the Taliban from Swat
November 2, 2011 | By Specialists Mehreen Farooq and Waleed Ziad
Swat’s success hinged on an integrated approach, which should be replicated at the epicenter of Pakistan’s war against extremism, the tribal belt. There as in Swat, civil society actors, including religious and political leaders, elders, and educators, lead daring resistance efforts against all odds. We visited a flagship madrasa within a network of anti-Taliban educational institutions in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).
WORDE Specialists Contribute to “Countering Violent Extremism,” a White Paper for the US Department of Defense Strategic Multilayer Assessment Team
October 2011 | By Dr. Hedieh Mirahmadi
Although mainstream Muslims worldwide wholly condemn radical ideologies, a sect of extremists has been working for almost a century to use religion as a weapon of war. This enemy is not an individual or group, but rather a complex transnational network of organizations that share a common ideology.
Pakistan’s most powerful weapon
October 21, 2011 | By Specialists Waleed Ziad and Mehreen Farooq
In a pristine, remote valley in Kashmir, far from the theaters of war, some families are abandoning their religious and cultural traditions in favor of extremist ideologies.
The Battle for the Soul of Pakistan
September 1, 2011 | By Specialists Waleed Ziad and Mehreen Farooq
In southern Punjab, a fierce battle rages for the future of Islam. For the first time in this region’s history, its 700-year-old blue tiled Sufi shrines are being challenged and overshadowed by hundreds of new mosques and madrassas espousing jihadi ideologies.
Events
USIP Event: The Challenges for Pakistan’s Civil Society Actors
On January 19, 2012 WORDE Specialist Mehreen Farooq joined a panel of experts at USIP to examine the ways in which diverse civil society actors confront real conflicts with collaborative problem-solving approaches.
WORDE Reports
The Prohibition of Domestic Violence
In fifteen centuries, Islam has never sanctioned any form of family violence. How then did this scourge become widespread in the Muslim community? As in other religions, Islamic law forbids such practices has been systematically decontextualized by patriarchal scholars whose dogma dismisses the socially inclusive, inalienable rights bestowed upon women by Islam.