- Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Mosque in Al Mushrif area in Abu Dhabi has been renamed to ‘Mariam, Mother of Issa’, which translates as ‘Mary, Mother of Jesus’
- The name change was ordered by Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces
- Renaming the mosque aims to promote the social connections between the followers of different religions and strengthen the common characteristics between them
- Sheikh Mohamed called for the name change as a tribute to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the Founding Father of UAE, on Zayed Humanitarian Day on 14th June, 2017
- UAE is country that hosts people of over 200 different nationalities following more than six different religions
- UAE is officially and Islamic country, but unity coherence with other religions out of respect for its residents
- Members of Christian churches in Abu Dhabi reacted favourably to the renaming of a mosque in the capital in an example of mutual tolerance and peaceful coexistence
- Each of UAE’s emirates have mosques in every area and community, with Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah hosting over 1000 mosques individually
- In February 2016, the UAE government created the Ministry of Tolerance, and in June 2016, the UAE Cabinet approved a National Tolerance Programme
[inbound_forms id=”38213″ name=”Auto Draft”]