Ahmed Yahaya – Joe
“Mi casa es su casa” is a historical Spanish expression of welcome meaning “My house is your house”.
That is apparently the message the oil sheikhs of the gulf are sending with the unprecedented Abrahamic Family House project located on the man-made Saadiyat Island, off the coast of Abu Dhabi, the capital of United Arab Emirates (UAE) and its second largest city after Dubai.
The proposed project designed by the British architect, Sir David Adjaye features a mosque (left), a synagogue (center), and church (right)
The conceptual design philosophy adopted is a poignant reminder of Galileo Galilei’s dictum, “I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use.”
What the Arabs are simply reminding us the dictum of the onetime World Heavyweight Boxing Champion, Muhammad Ali (1942-2016) – ” Rivers, ponds, lakes and streams, they all have different names, but they all contain water. Just as all religions do, they all contain truths.”
In Jos, Plateau State along Adebayo Street near the famous hub known as Terminus is First Baptist Church next to the Nurudeen Central Mosque. Both were built in 1959 on land donated by the person the street is named after.
What is wrong with the rest of us?
Edward Albert answers, “Fear is the only true enemy, born of ignorance and the parent of anger and hate.”
Abraham Lincoln further nailed it;
“When I do good I feel good, when I do bad I feel bad, and that’s my religion.”
Centuries ago, Buddha put it that, “However many words you read, however many words you speak, what good will they do if you do not act upon them?”
Perhaps why in 2019, Pope Francis visited UAE, becoming the first Roman pontiff to ever land in the Arabian gulf that comprises Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar. Interestingly, all of these countries are strategic allies with Israel.
In 2020, UAE and Bahrain including Sudan and Morocco have gone ahead to restore full diplomatic relations with Tel Aviv.
“Hate is too great a burden to bear. It injures the hater more than it injures the hated.” – Coretta Scott King (1927-2006)
