ASMA SOCIETY | American Society for Muslim Advancement

The 2010 Clinton Global Initiative recognizes ASMA’s commitment to action

“Training Imams on Women’s Rights in Afghanistan”

Daisy Khan, the Executive Director of ASMA, The American Society for Muslim Advancement, participated in the 2010 Annual Meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), making a commitment to mobilize Imams to work toward women’s rights in Afghanistan. The commitment was featured on stage during a session focused on one of CGI’s topic areas, Empowering Girls and Women.

The Clinton Global Initiative brings together influential individuals and organizations from around the world in order to build partnerships and make commitments for addressing the world’s most pressing problems, in short to moving from intention to action.

For the past year, ASMA’s WISE program (Women’s Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality) has been working with the Noor Educational Capacity Development Organization to implement a pilot project, educating and mobilizing Imams, or religious leaders, on women’s rights in Kabul. Imams attend training sessions pointing out that numerous harmful traditional practices against women result from distorted scriptural interpretations. The sessions also utilized the Afghan constitution, other national and international legal treaties and the WISE Compact, which encapsulates the mission of WISE and defends gender equality through the objectives of Islamic law.

Working with the project team, the Imams developed a series of booklets about women’s rights and 25,000 copies in Dari were distributed. The Imams spoke about women’s rights during Friday sermons, which were monitored by university students hired for the project. In their monitoring reports of 240 people who attended the Imams’ sermons, 97 percent of interviewees said they felt Islamic human rights for men and women are equal and the same. Through widespread media attention for the project, almost 9.5 million people have been exposed to the Imams’ sermons on women’s rights in Islam.

Through this new CGI commitment, the project will be expanded to 10 mosques in Jalalabad, and establish formal women’s sections in 10 mosques in Kabul—to be coordinated by 20 women mosque leaders who will also receive the same training as the Imams.

“We are honored that the Clinton Global Initiative has recognized the influential role that Imams play in advancing women’s rights in Afghanistan,” said Daisy Khan. “A comprehensive discussion of women’s rights including the Islamic framework is critical for creating change on the ground.”

For more information please contact Nancy Shihadeh at ASMA: 212.870.2552 or nancy@asmasociety.org. For more information on WISE: www.wisemuslimwomen.org

About the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI)Established in 2005 by President Bill Clinton, the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) convenes global leaders to devise and implement innovative solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges. Since 2005, CGI Annual Meetings have brought together nearly 150 current and former heads of state, 15 Nobel Peace Prize laureates, hundreds of leading CEOs, heads of foundations, major philanthropists, directors of the most effective nongovernmental organizations, and prominent members of the media. These CGI members have made more than 1,900 commitments, which have already improved the lives of nearly 300 million people in more than 170 countries. When fully funded and implemented, these commitments will be valued at $63 billion. The CGI community also includes CGI University (CGI U), a forum to engage college students in global citizenship, MyCommitment.org, an online portal where anybody can make a Commitment to Action, and CGI Lead, which engages a select group of young leaders from business, government, and civil society. For more information, visit www.clintonglobalinitiative.org.