Between haram and halal: British Muslims explore the grey area

At a call center in Montreal, Tel-Aide, staff members are trained to be active listeners without providing guidance or advice to callers looking for someone to talk to.

California, home to an unprecedented number of prison "lifers" who served decades since their teens and then were released under revised parole policies, created the Peer Reentry Navigation Network (PRNN) to have fellow former lifers coach and hold accountable the newly released. Now in 28 communities, PRNN has formed a community of peer mentors helping the formerly incarcerated remake their lives on the outside after lives of violence and trauma. The mentors' 24/7 help covers behavioral advice, job leads, and rebuilding family relationships. Despite some missteps, most mentees have stayed out of trouble.

In New York City, 14 organizations have more than 200 people performing street outreach to intervene in potentially deadly gun crimes in at least 20 of the city's most violent "hot spots." These "violence interrupters" mediate disputes and offer social services in a process that relies on former gang members and others with street experience rather than police. While studies have shown mixed evidence of success, New York's programs have been credited with significant crime decreases. With violence on the rise after a long decline, the city is upping its budget for these programs to $39 million.

A partnership between a nonprofit health organization and a community health service program has helped provide enhanced training and more robust mentorship opportunities for home health aids in the New York City area. Results show that those who are a part of the program, many of whom are women and people of color, are more likely to stay in the profession due to the "program's focus on supporting them and helping to frame their work as a long-term career."

In New York City, much of the mental health infrastructure relies on the work of professionals known as Peer Specialists, who are individuals with lived experiences of mental health challenges and additional training to help others in a similar situation. Peer Specialists have recently been organizing around issues such as low pay and a lack of legitimacy in the eyes of their colleagues in the mental health industry.

Focused on the idea of honor and honor killings, activist Khalida Brohi started a program that provides rural women in Pakistan career skills and an income in order to fight the pervasive cultural attitudes about women's education. Brohi has been working for this cause for over a decade now and has done a number of different initiatives along the way. In this episode she shares some of her insights from her work, such as working with the women themselves to change social attitudes rather than the men, or broaching the topic for both men and women using the language of Islam.

For 20 years, the Center for Young Women’s Development has been a safe space for thousands of young women ages 16 to 24 who have been incarcerated or are homeless in the San Francisco Bay Area. The center is most recognized for its strategies to give these women opportunities for personal and professional growth.

The Islamic State's recruitment of women draws big attention. But less noticed and more important are efforts in Islamic countries to raise the number of women in religious leadership, despite a long tradition against it, as a potential, effective antidote to the IS recruitment efforts – preventing young women (and men) from joining radical groups.

Teenagers around the world are at risk of indoctrination by Islamic extremism and volunteering to fight for the Islamic state. Different European nations seek to make Islamic extremism unattractive to youth by bolstering surveillance efforts, internet outreach, and teaching the Islam of peace.

Women in Jos, Nigeria formed cross-religious peace networks and vigilante patrols that eliminated conflict deaths between 2014-2023 in their communities, restored inter-faith relationships, and reduced crime through nighttime security operations, though they face ongoing challenges from lack of police support and systemic justice failures.