How is the UAE striving to promote the values of tolerance and peaceful coexistence among religions?
The right to worship is guaranteed for all. This is the vision of the UAE, which was founded on the wisdom of leaders in tolerance and freedom of belief.
The UAE seeks to be a country of peaceful coexistence among all religions by supporting the freedom of worship of other religions through legislation that guarantees freedom of worship to non-Muslims.
House of the Abrahamic Family
In February, the UAE opened the Abrahamic Family House, which includes three houses of worship: a mosque, a church, and a meeting place for knowledge exchange. The event is scheduled to begin with a reception for visitors on March 1st, and is the first of its kind in the region as part of Abu Dhabi’s efforts to promote interfaith dialog.
Western media reports said Abu Dhabi is among the most active countries in promoting interfaith dialog, rejecting extremism and fanaticism as part of an approach that promotes tolerance and peaceful co-existence among religions, and resisting all forms of hatred based on race, religion and sect.
The report adds: The House of the Abrahamic Family adopted equal sizes in its division of the three houses of worship that share the same external dimensions, symbolizing equality and excluding discrimination in form and substance.
For years, the State has been leading international efforts to promote interfaith dialog and convergence by sponsoring and hosting a large number of international events and forums aimed at building bridges of communication and interaction between different religions and cultures and promoting the dissemination of the values of tolerance, moderation and coexistence among all peoples and societies.
Exhortations From Places of Worship
In the same context, the Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Sebastia in Jerusalem, Archbishop Atallah Hanna, praised the role played by the United Arab Emirates in promoting the values of tolerance and peaceful coexistence between religions, as well as praising the legislation approved by the UAE regarding the organization of places of worship for non-Muslims.
The decision reflects the GCC’s commitment to the values of tolerance and peaceful co-existence among religions, Hanna said, and enshrines the state as one of the most prominent models for religious co-existence.
The UAE’s Federal National Council recently approved a bill that regulates houses of worship for non-Muslims. The bill aims to regulate houses and rooms of worship in the country and to instill the values of tolerance and co-existence.
