New Iraqi school spans chasms between religions

The problem with much of Islamic teaching, he says, is that it is too introverted. Muslims needed to learn from other faiths and be exposed to other ideas in order to better understand their own faith and avoid the sectarian squabbles that have been taking over the faith in recent years.

"Islam, in our view, embraces all education," Quzwini says. "Islam is humanity and humanity is Islam. That's not the Islam we have come to know, but a far broader idea of what the faith is."

It was the kind of talk neither the regime nor the Hawza could tolerate for long. Quzwini was arrested by Saddam's Fedayeen and held for several weeks in 2001, he says. The authorities attempted to assassinate him shortly after but ended up killing Quzwini's father and brother. In his darkest hour, he claims, none of the Hawza elders came to his rescue. "Millions were spent to destroy this idea," Quzwini insists. "They see me as crossing their boundaries. They want people to see the differences between Sunni and Shiite."

When the regime fell, Quzwini and his students seized on the recently completed Saddam mosque and moved in. Townspeople welcomed the school, Quzwini says, though none would comment on the matter.

"I came to Hilla and removed Saddam's name," Quzwini says. "We called it the Hilla School of Religion because we aim to speak to all faiths."

The school's curriculum ranges from Arabic to science, ethics, philosophy, and, of course, comparative religion. The school is largely funded by Quzwini's earnings from a family farm as well as by donations. Students pay a nominal tuition.

"Some employees, mainly from Kut, started putting aside part of their salaries for this university and we receive about 900,000 Iraqi dinars [$450]."

The school has dormitories nearby and also runs a program for young children.

Most of the students are men; but Quzwini says women will soon be accepted at the university. In all, the school has 120 new students from the governorates as well as 50 students who left Najaf because the school could "supply them with things that Hawza could not."

Seyed Maitham al-Hashim was one of those students who graduated from the program in Najaf and jumped at the opportunity to teach at the school. "The gave me an organized way to think about faith and to teach," says Hashim. "If there really is a clash of civilizations [going on], then all the sides need to learn each other's commonalities and understand their differences."

As a sign of the stature the school has built, Quzwini point to visits by Paul Bremer, Iraq's civilian administrator, and Sergio Vieira de Mello, head of the United Nations Iraq mission killed in a suicide truck bombing in August.

"Through my writings and through my students, I think I can change this place one person at a time," Quzwini says. "You will one day hear about this school as a leader of peace. And we will raise the banner of peace by raising new ideas; that is basically what Islam itself is about."

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