'Preachers receive training on dialogue, tolerance'

AMMAN — Male and female preachers have received training on dialogue, tolerance and religious rhetoric during a workshop organised by the Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies (RIIFS). 

The three-day workshop focused on dialogue, elocution, enhancing the culture of tolerance, pluralism in Islam, renewing religious rhetoric and human rights and freedom, the RIIFS said in a statement on Sunday. 

The workshop is part of a training programme for preachers run by the RIIFS in cooperation with the Awqaf Ministry and funded by the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC).  Preachers are usually chosen in coordination with the ministry.

The programme is part of the RIIFS' project to promote the contents of the Amman Message, implemented in cooperation with the ministries of awqaf and planning, and funded by the EU, the statement said. 

RIIFS Director Majeda Omar said that "tolerance and accepting the other cannot be achieved except through dialogue and communication, as it creates a suitable environment for constructive criticism leading to peace, stability and co-existence despite ethnic, religious or cultural differences".

The institute aims at enhancing mutual respect, understanding and co-existence within the community, she added.

Awqaf Ministry's representative Hassan Karirah commended RIIFS' activities, noting that the cooperation between the ministry and the institution in the fields of training courses and initiatives.  

The recent training workshop aimed at improving the skills of the preachers, he added.

Several professors from universities and other institutions have participated in the training course.

RIIFS was established in 1994 in Amman, Jordan, under the patronage of HRH Prince Hassan, who chairs its board of trustees.

It is a non-profit, non-governmental organisation that provides a venue for the interdisciplinary study of intercultural and interreligious issues with the aim of defusing tensions and promoting peace, regionally and globally.