The Royal Institute for Interfaith Studies (RIIFS) was established in 1994 in Amman, Jordan, under the patronage of His Royal Highness Prince El Hassan bin Talal. RIIFS is a non-profit, non-governmental organization that provides a venue for the interdisciplinary study of intercultural and interreligious issues with the aim of defusing tensions and promoting peace, regionally and globally. RIIFS focuses on promoting common human values and ethics that contribute to strengthening cooperation and interfaith relations and expanding these shared commonalities in the hope of promoting peaceful coexistence.
Since its inception in 1994, RIIFS has evolved from a center for the study of Muslim-Christian relations in the Arab world to an interdisciplinary institution, covering all fields of the humanities and social sciences that deal with cultural and civilizational interaction. RIIFS is governed by a Board of Trustees, chaired by HRH Prince El Hassan bin Talal.
Vision: To build engaged communities and sustainable regional and international partnerships among specialists such as professionals and religious leaders, and to foster socially resilient and anti-radicalized environments.
Mission: To foster interreligious and intercultural dialogue as an effective tool for countering intolerance, extremism, and radicalism and to create a culture of mutual respect and understanding. We seek to fulfill this mission by encouraging regional networking on religious and cultural issues through effective communications and interaction within academic and religious environments.
The work of RIIFS involves research and publications, the organization of events, such as conferences, workshops, and lectures, and projects that involve the implementation of RIIFS research results through training workshops and capacity-building programs targeting different groups throughout Jordan.
Notable Achievements: Over the past three decades, we have worked successfully to bridge divides and build understanding among people from diverse cultural, religious, and social backgrounds, and made many achievements in this domain. One of our special achievements in 2024 was receiving the Intercultural Achievement Award (IAA), a key project of the Austrian Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs. We received special recognition for our project “Living Together in Harmony,” under the Category Innovation: “Most Innovative Intercultural Project.”
We pursue various research projects in cooperation with different universities and research centers on topics related to interfaith dialogue and Arab Christian studies. RIIFS works towards cultural preservation and reaching out to the Arab diaspora in Latin America. Additionally, RIIFS works to receive interns, visiting scholars, and delegates from different entities around the world who are interested to know more about RIIFS’s work and interfaith relations in Jordan.
RIIFS continues to review and publish four new volumes of Annashra; a new volume of the Bulletin of the Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies; a new volume of Muqabast Hadariyya and other case-studies such as a series about Gaza and a publication on the role of women in Arab culture and literature.
Future Objectives: RIIFS will pursue its previous activities by organizing events through different programs, including seminars/webinars, conferences, lectures, and training workshops and it will continue to expand its well-established network of friends and partnerships.
