Hawzah (Seminary) Liason

A fourth core function of I.M.A.M. can be seen in its capacity as a Hawzah Liaison, namely in:

• Establishing a connection, by bringing the messages of the Marjayea to the North American Community
• Inviting senior scholars from the Hawzah to visit North America to gain a better understanding of our community’s daily challenges and issues
• Creating a platform between local scholars and experts with those in the Hawzah to exchange scholarly expertise in order to enhance religious and social development

Hawzah Liaison – Online Resources:

Hawzah Liaison – An Overview

This function has played a significant role in many different ways, particularly in facilitating the visitation of noteworthy scholars and distinguished personalities from the seminaries in Najaf and Qom to the North American community.  Additionally, visiting academicians and intellectual thinkers, have also taken part in many interfaith initiatives and outreach programs, creating a bridge, for the first time, between the seminaries in Najaf and Qom, to the western world. This has served in greatly enhancing the understanding and context for Jurists in the seminaries, thus enabling them to provide richer and more relevant advice to their followers in the west.

I.M.A.M. is also working with scholars and community leaders to develop case studies in matters of education, social services, and humanitarian services. Such findings are then relayed by a delegation to experts to the seminaries in the hopes of advancing the ability of the seminaries to serve their communities. The result is a multicultural collaboration on community service experiences that seeks to uplift communities all over the world, together.

The East-West Bridge Project

The East-West Bridge Project provides the cultural and scholarly grounds needed for discussion and the exchange of ideas. This exchange occurs among religious and intellectual scholars, as well as all those interested in religious affairs from different religions, sects, and schools of thought.

The origins of the project are rooted, in part, to the recognition of an absence of strong relations between the seminaries of the East and West which may lead to unintended ignorance of one another and the need to establish communication to face the challenges of coexistence in a global community, to name a few.

The goals of the East-West Bridge Project are to present Islam in its true form, as a mercy sent to the world, to introduce think tanks and research centers to distinguish the global Shia view, establish global academic pacts that can help spread the true message of Islam, and establish a global culture of awareness, stability, and security that can pave the way to a just and equitable world. Click here to learn more.