PeaceQuest Centre for Human Excellence

Islamophobia and Anti-Semitism: Roots and Remedies ~ Abid Ullah Jan To address hatred of a people, one needs to understand its root causes of its origin and how it became mainstream after centuries of deliberate efforts to propagate the same lies and misconceptions. Once that is understood, one can clearly see how over a period of time that prejudice actually got translated into a collective psyche, reflected in individual attitudes and behaviours as well as policies, laws and even in international relations in so many ways. The more we become aware of these facts and factors, the more we can hope that the latent hatred and prejudiced in our society will not get activated to the point of violence and destructions we have witnessed in not too distant past. Intro 00:00:00 Chapter 2: Ancient Roots of Prejudice: Well In Play Today 05:44:00 Chapter 3: Minorities: Facing the Dangers of Mainstream Hatred    10:18:10 Chapter 4: Signs of Hatred We Ignore at Our Peril 13:06:17 Marker 5:...

  Watch the video at https://goo.gl/BGb1eN    About PeaceQuest About the Author Stop getting attracted to the extremes Why do Muslims go to the extremes? Muslims HAVE to be moderate by default The power of being in the Middle Moderation in a nutshell Does the Quran inspire extremism? Nugget: The Point We are Missing About Extremism How to avoid losing your life? Islam’s Framework for Ensuring Human Rights and Liberties

  The Motivation Behind the PeaceQuest Content for Muslim Parents ~ Abid Ullah Jan   Abid Ullah Jan   /    January 18, 2016  /   Education Save   The Motivation Behind the PeaceQuest Content for Muslim Parents By Abid Ullah Jan As a father of six children raised in Canada and working in the community development field for years, I have some observations to share with Muslim parents. These observations are all the more important in light of the recent killings and arrests of Muslim youth in Ottawa. First, we need to dispel some myths. For example: 1) the high rates of crimes and incarceration of Muslim youth are not real – in fact, they are. 2) Muslim youth are confused because they learn in the family one thing and they are expected to behave differently outside. In fact, the basic standards and norms of human decency are the same all over the world. 3) Social adjustments while keeping the family/cultural values are significant challenges. They ar...

  Ideas for Muslim parents to Nurture Excellence ~ Abid Ullah Jan Your children upbringing is a matter of great importance and responsibility. Physical, social, emotional, and intellectual development of your children depend on the environment you provide to your children as they grow up. Muslim parents need to understand the significance of the parenting role because Allah (SWT) says;  O you who believe, protect yourselves and your families from a Fire whose fuel is people and stones, over which are [appointed] angels, harsh and severe.  [Qur’an 66:6] Here are the top 6 ideas for Muslim parents: Take time out for your children: A few video on youtube or an acivity in the local mosque from time to time is not enough. Allah will ask parents how they raised their children. Thus, parents should take parenting more seriously than anything else. This is probably the time to learn and educate yourself if you feel not fully equipped to educate your children.Making money for the ...

  The link between mental health and our attitude to life   ~ Abid Ullah Jan Work life, home life, social life – the compartmentalised life is already hard enough for many of us. Amid tight schedules and time-consuming activities rationalising your existence or the purpose of your life isn’t exactly high up on your to-do list. Teetering on the brink of a meltdown, who cares about where we came from and what will happen to us after we die. However, this affects our mental health seriously. Research suggests that not asking yourself deep, meaningful, existential questions about life lead to serious depression. Studies show that people who ask themselves these brain-teasing questions everyday and engage in meditation  have lower levels of anxiety . It may even i ncrease the gray matter .

  Faith-based Approach to Hate and Violence Prevention Abid Ullah Jan In the 1990s, youth violence connected to gangs and drug-related crimes was escalating to unprecedented levels in many neighbourhoods within the city of Boston. A record of 152 homicides and 1,000 aggravated assaults were reported in 1990. Religious organisations formed a coalition called TenPoint and changed the situation dramatically. The number of homicides in Boston dropped dramatically from a high of 152 in 1990 to 31 in 1999. Between August 1995 and January 1998, Boston had not one teenage homicide victim. Homicides during the 1990s declined by 80 percent. Further, complaints against police dropped by over 60 percent during the same period. Two and a half years with no teenage homicides looked very much like a miracle to most reasonable observers. The dramatic results that followed received national attention, and Rev. Rivers, one of the visible leaders of the  TenPoint Coalition , would find himself o...

  Published on November 26, 2018 by   Abid Ullah Jan Save   Abid Ullah Jan “We” first approach is the key ingredient for the success of the evolving collective Impact work for P/CVE in Ottawa. In the wake of rising extremism and hate crimes, the Chief of Ottawa Police, the Mayor’s office, Yasir Naqvi – the then MPP – and the chair of OLIP Network approached United Way Ottawa in February 2017 for a mechanism: 1) to respond to groups and organizations in the community who are active in preventing hate crime through diversity, inclusion and integration of services perspective, 2) to find ways to support and champion that work, 3) to engage those who not currently involved, 4) to engage passive supporters who need information and opportunity and 5) to identify disenfranchised and vulnerable groups who stand in opposition to efforts at diversity and inclusion. United Way has since taken a lead on convening and engaging the right partners. We have made considerable progress. We...

  A Note to TST and CVE Training Designers and Facilitators Abid Ullah Jan Content from PeaceQuest could be used for Muslim Youth Resilience projects to avoid a disproportionate number of them ending up in the criminal justice system. The themes that PeaceQuest has picked up and the relevant research that has been done will be helpful in building knowledge and capacity to develop the right training/workshop material for children as well as youth which might be at risk of criminal involvement. Adding the faith factor to the evidence-based Trauma Systems Therapy (TST) sessions for at-risk youth to address anti-social behaviour and preventing criminal inclement is necessary. The content on PeaceQeust shows which theme and what specific info needs to be incorporated for a deeper impact. Adding these Islamic concepts to the TST and other resilience-building programs add inspiration, hope and motivation to act moderately; to improve sense of safety, permanency, and wellbeing among the vu...

How to develop a counter narrative to address hate and violence ~ Abid Ullah Jan Protecting youth through the most powerful motivating and behaviour shaping concepts The content on PeaceQuest is also intended to help develop messages and narratives that counter the misconceptions that incite violence and hatred. Some individuals become so preoccupied with a misperceptions about Islam and Muslims that they join an extremist groups that promises to use violence to make change happen. Parents, teachers and youth workers are in best position to understand the content we are sharing through PeaceQuest because a direct message from Muslims and Islamic sources is viewed as having a hidden agenda. It is not possible for “outsiders” to share a counter narrative because these groups — especially if they experience opposition from mainstream society—to isolate themselves, where they increasingly rely on their own members for information, confirmation, and justification. Ignoring outside voices, e...

  Protecting youth through the most powerful motivating and behaviour shaping concepts Abid Ullah Jan The most disappointing moments are the ones when we hear the news about homicide and gun violence and find out that both the perpetrators and victims are Muslim youth. Or when we visit Ottawa police service and almost all wanted people are Muslims. These facts become even more disappointing when we come to know from  credible research  that religion and parental involvement plays a key role in shaping positive conduct of youth exposed to violence and crime. Other studies  have concluded that religion is a key protective factor in the severity of crimes committed by juveniles with sexually offending behaviour. There is no denying the fact that faith factor does reduce deviance and cut crimes. However, no research has systematically investigated the positive impact of Islamic concepts on children and youth. Anyone who understands the basics of Islam can tell that Islam...