1000 Abrahamic Circles

The 1000 Abrahamic Circles project aims to improve the centuries-old uneasy antagonistic relations among Muslims, Christians and Jews (the Abrahamic religions, or the “Peoples of the Book”) at the grassroots level, especially at a time when these relations have become increasingly challenged. The idea to form these 1000 Abrahamic Circles grew out of personal experience (explained in the concept paper) where we witnessed hard sentiments (from an Islamic cleric towards Jewish rabbis) softened after direct and sustained personal interactions between them. Learning from the limitations of high-level international inter-faith conferences to affect sentiments of the mass down below, the 1000 Abrahamic Circles aim to innovate peace from the ground up by creating “circles of threes”. Each circle would engage three grassroots religious leaders (Islam, Judaism, Christianity) coming from three different “countries of concern”. All of them would spend a week or two in each other’s homes and communities, learning the host’s religious routines, meeting their families, congregations and local community. Once they complete the mission (about 3 weeks or more), a circle is completed, and a bond is expected to emerge, along with changed stereotypes. The process is then replicated until it reaches 1000 circles, perhaps in 7 - 10 years. By that time, there will be 30,000 members of the 1000 Abrahamic Circles, all coming from “areas of concern”. The peace dividends on the ground will be considerable