The Hiwar committee was established in June 2004. At that time Faisal Nabulsi and 'Abd al Hayy Weinman started a relationship that focused on the use of communication methods to benefit the Muslim community in Albuquerque. Originally, Faisal wanted to incorporate methods of dialogue to achieve more organized, more creative, and more productive board meetings. Soon the Hiwar committee began to consider how to apply communication methods and especially community dialogue to support community building. How to create more ownership and more feelings of empowerment among community members? How to support more participation among Albuquerque Muslims in their Mosque and in their community, and how to bring in people who are on the fringes?

Our first activity was the ICNM Muslim Dialogue Workshop. That is when we adopted the name 'Hiwar' to acknowledge the Muslim perspective of our dialogue. It was a half-day workshop on June 26, 2004 with a lunch provided by the board. We invited all board members, a few of the sisters, and some members of the MSA, including their president. We held the meeting in a conference room at the UNM Department of Communication, with the intention of creating a neutral and safe environment for all the participants.

After the workshop, those who wished to actively work toward a community dialogue continued meeting on regular bases at weekly lunch meetings. The ICNM board designated sister Habiba Akhil to head the Hiwar committee and 'Abd al-Hayy acted as a consultant/member. These weekly meetings took place at UNM where we discussed our activities, studied methods of communication, and practiced small group dialogue. This activity continued until Ramadan (and then stopped).

In early January 2005, Habiba informed the board that she was not interested in continuing to head the Hiwar committee. At this point the board appointed 'Abd al-Hayy to continue the Hiwar activity. At this time we understood that a community dialogue project would be a slow and on-going process that required much patience.

Hiwar committee activities that were and are ongoing up to this point:

1. The Envision Islam in America (EIIA) project was initiated at the Salam Academy.
2. An appreciative inquiry workshop and follow-ups with the MSA and their board.
3. Some small focus group meetings.
4. In-depth interviews with various community members.
5. A public presentation about Hiwar in the Masjid.
6. A serious of group dialogues by members of the ICNM community.

By mid-2005 only Faisal and `Abd al-Hayy were active participants in the Hiwar project. We kept meeting nearly every week. We discussed how meetings were conducted and how to improve them. Faisal was especially concerned about the new masjid project process, how to best arrive at a community agreement about the project, and how to foster membership support in the leadership. We discussed activities that would bring more unity and more active involvement of members in their masjid and their community. Faisal successfully applied many such communication skills.

Activities that the Hiwar committee (i.e. Faisal and 'Abd al-Hayy) initiated since the beginning of 2006 were:

A. An ongoing series of group dialogues by ICNM members with the hope of continuing, expanding and developing these formats to benefit the entire community and its governing board of directors.

B. A role-play debate about perspectives fostered by various groups within our community as a basis for creating deeper relationships and beneficial dialogues among the Muslim brothers and sisters [comment: Brother Faisal conceptualized this project but it hasn't manifested yet].

Topics of past dialogues:

1. Seeking unity through welcoming environments
2. A Muslim community - looking into the future
3. A community seeking for an imam
4. Communicating with non-Muslims
5. Dialogue about dialogue: where do we want to go from here?
6. Improving relationships between Muslim immigrants and native-born American converts
7. Relationships between Muslim Immigrants and Converts

As we look into future activities of the Hiwar committee, we need input and participation from additional community members. Please contact brother 'Abd al-Hayy with your comments, suggestions, and tell us how you wish to participate in future hiwar activiteis.