2006. 57 minutes. Documentary

This Wide Angle program goes on location in Morocco as history is made. In May 2006, an imam academy in the city of Rabat holds a graduation ceremony. But the class of 2006 is no ordinary group of students. Side-by-side with the male graduates are 50 women pioneers, among the first contemporary group of women to be officially trained as religious leaders in the Arab world. Empowered to do everything that male imams do—except lead Friday prayer in a mosque—the women will fan out across Morocco to work as spiritual guides in mosques, schools, hospitals and prisons, even hosting their own television and radio talk shows. In addition, anchor Daljit Dhaliwal discusses U.S. foreign policy in the Arab world with Ambassador Dennis Ross, former U.S. envoy to the Middle East peace process.