AP

Abrahamic House in UAE houses a church, synagogue and mosque

Feb 20, 2023, 12:43 PM | Updated: Feb 21, 2023, 3:07 am

A general view of the Moses Ben Maimon Synagogue, at the Abrahamic Family House, in Abu Dhabi, Unit...

A general view of the Moses Ben Maimon Synagogue, at the Abrahamic Family House, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Tuesday, Feb 21, 2023. A new complex, called the Abrahamic Family House, erected on the shores of the Persian Gulf, in the capital of the United Arab Emirates, houses a Catholic church, a Jewish synagogue and an Islamic mosque. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)

(AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)


              A photo of Ahmed El-Tayeb Grand Imam of al-Azhar, right, and Pope Francis, on display at Abrahamic Family House, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023. A new complex, called the Abrahamic Family House, erected on the shores of the Persian Gulf, in the capital of the United Arab Emirates, houses a Catholic church, a Jewish synagogue and an Islamic mosque. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)
            
              A general view of the St. Francis of Assisi Church, at the Abrahamic Family House, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023. A new complex, called the Abrahamic Family House, erected on the shores of the Persian Gulf, in the capital of the United Arab Emirates, houses a Catholic church, a Jewish synagogue and an Islamic mosque. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)
            
              A view of  part of the design, at the Abrahamic Family House, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023. A new complex, called the Abrahamic Family House, erected on the shores of the Persian Gulf, in the capital of the United Arab Emirates, houses a Catholic church, a Jewish synagogue and an Islamic mosque. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)
            
              A general view of the Imam al-Tayeb Mosque, at the Abrahamic Family House, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023. A new complex, called the Abrahamic Family House, erected on the shores of the Persian Gulf, in the capital of the United Arab Emirates, houses a Catholic church, a Jewish synagogue and an Islamic mosque. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)
            
              The sun rises behind the Moses Ben Maimon Synagogue of the Abrahamic Family House, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023. A new complex, called the Abrahamic Family House, erected on the shores of the Persian Gulf, in the capital of the United Arab Emirates, houses a Catholic church, a Jewish synagogue and an Islamic mosque. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)
            
              A general view of the St. Francis of Assisi Church at the Abrahamic Family House, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Tuesday, Feb 21, 2023. A new complex, called the Abrahamic Family House, erected on the shores of the Persian Gulf, in the capital of the United Arab Emirates, houses a Catholic church, a Jewish synagogue and an Islamic mosque. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)
            
              A man on a crane adds the final touches on the Imam al-Tayeb Mosque at the Abrahamic Family House, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Tuesday, Feb 21, 2023. A new complex, called the Abrahamic Family House, erected on the shores of the Persian Gulf, in the capital of the United Arab Emirates, houses a Catholic church, a Jewish synagogue and an Islamic mosque. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)
            
              A general view of the Abrahamic Family House with the Moses Ben Maimon Synagogue, left, and the Imam al-Tayeb Mosque, right, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Tuesday, Feb 21, 2023. A new complex, called the Abrahamic Family House, erected on the shores of the Persian Gulf, in the capital of the United Arab Emirates, houses a Catholic church, a Jewish synagogue and an Islamic mosque. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)
            
              From left to right, the three houses of worship, the Moses Ben Maimon Synagogue, the Imam al-Tayeb Mosque and the St. Francis of Assisi Church, at the Abrahamic Family House, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Tuesday, Feb 21, 2023. A new complex, called the Abrahamic Family House, erected on the shores of the Persian Gulf, in the capital of the United Arab Emirates, houses a Catholic church, a Jewish synagogue and an Islamic mosque. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)
            
              A view of the minaret of the Imam al-Tayeb Mosque, at the Abrahamic Family House, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Tuesday, Feb 21, 2023. A new complex, called the Abrahamic Family House, erected on the shores of the Persian Gulf, in the capital of the United Arab Emirates, houses a Catholic church, a Jewish synagogue and an Islamic mosque. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)
            
              A view of the baptistery chapel of the St. Francis of Assisi Church, at the Abrahamic Family House, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Tuesday, Feb 21, 2023. A new complex, called the Abrahamic Family House, erected on the shores of the Persian Gulf, in the capital of the United Arab Emirates, houses a Catholic church, a Jewish synagogue and an Islamic mosque. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)
            
              A general view of the Moses Ben Maimon Synagogue, at the Abrahamic Family House, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Tuesday, Feb 21, 2023. A new complex, called the Abrahamic Family House, erected on the shores of the Persian Gulf, in the capital of the United Arab Emirates, houses a Catholic church, a Jewish synagogue and an Islamic mosque. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — On the shores of the Persian Gulf, a new complex houses a Catholic church, a Jewish synagogue and an Islamic mosque in the capital of the United Arab Emirates.

The Abrahamic Family House offers a concrete, marble and oak manifestation of the UAE’s publicized push toward tolerance after hosting Pope Francis in 2019 and later diplomatically recognizing Israel in 2020. Worshippers have already prayed and communed at the site on Abu Dhabi’s Saadiyat Island, while the general public will be allowed in next month.

However, the UAE still criminalizes proselytizing outside of the Islamic faith. Security also remains a concern as well for Jewish worshippers in this new outpost on the Arabian Peninsula, whether from Israel’s regional enemy Iran or from those angered by Israel pursuing settlements on land Palestinians seek for their future state.

Organizers declined to speak on camera Tuesday to The Associated Press about the project, even as they led journalists around the site.

The UAE, a federation of seven sheikhdoms, announced plans for the Abrahamic Family House in 2019 during the country’s “Year of Tolerance.” Designed by the British-Ghanian architect Sir David Adjaye, the site includes the three houses of worship and a center connecting them for future events.

The site itself stands out as a stark, white-marble place of worship in a capital more known for its oil industry, ongoing arms fair, glass towers and beachfront hotels. The three houses of worship — the St. Francis of Assisi Church, the Moses Ben Maimon Synagogue and the Imam al-Tayeb Mosque — stand at triangle points, each a structure of about 30 cubic meters (1,060 cubic feet).

Triangular fountains lay set inside parts of the grounds, providing a bubbling background against the sound of construction taking place elsewhere on an island that is already home to the domed Louvre Abu Dhabi, a museum opened under an agreement with France. Behind the site, the massive falcon wings of the under-construction Zayed National Museum rise overhead as workers climbed through its scaffolding on Tuesday.

While each house of worship is the same size, all appear different on the inside. In the church, eastward windows with morning light frame a marble altar and lectern with a crucifix above it. Oaken pews sit inside for the faithful under suspended wooden columns hanging from the ceiling.

The synagogue has similar pews, with the Ten Commandments inscribed in Hebrew at the front. A room for the Torah is located behind the front. Bronze netting hangs from the ceiling, playing with the light from the windows and a skylight above.

The mosque has shelves for the Quran and also outside, for the faithful to remove their shoes, hidden behind Islamic geometric designs. Gray carpeting covers the floor, with two microphones under and one above on the minbar, the platform where the imam stands for Friday prayers. Moveable walls separate the men’s and women’s sections.

Officials gave no figure for the cost of construction of the site, though the materials alone likely cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

Still, proselytizing outside of the Islamic faith remains illegal in the UAE and Islam is enshrined as the official religion in the country’s constitution, with government websites even offering online applications to convert. Conversion from Islam to another religion, however, is illegal, as is witchcraft and sorcery, the U.S. State Department has warned.

Blasphemy and apostasy laws also carry a possible death sentence — though no such execution is known to have been carried out since the UAE became a nation in 1971. Despite facing restrictions, Buddhists, Christians, Hindus and others in the UAE have never faced the violence that has targeted their communities in Syria and Iraq during the rise of the Islamic State group and other militants.

Security appears to be a major concern for the site. Though hidden as much as possible, metal detectors screen those coming into the facility. Security cameras can be seen at every major corner, both inside and outside the houses of worship. On Tuesday, black-suited private security guards also ran mirrors around vehicles to check their undercarriages for explosives — a measure rarely seen in the Emirates.

Hard-line media in Iran have previously described the UAE as a “legitimate” target, given its recognition of Israel.

___

Follow Jon Gambrell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

AP

Image: A cargo ship is stuck under the part of the structure of the Francis Scott Key Bridge after ...

Associated Press

Authorities identify 2 bodies recovered at site of Baltimore bridge collapse

A major bridge in Baltimore snapped and collapsed after a container ship rammed into it early Tuesday, and several vehicles fell into the river below.

17 hours ago

Photo: Mountaineer Jim Whittaker has died at 95....

Gene Johnson, The Associated Press

Lou Whittaker, among the most famous American mountaineers, has died at age 95

Lou Whittaker, a legendary American mountaineer who helped lead ascents of Mount Everest, K2 and Denali, has died at age 95.

18 hours ago

File photo: Former Sen. Joe Lieberman speaks in Washington on Jan. 18, 2024....

Associated Press

Former Sen. Joe Lieberman, Democrats’ VP pick in 2000, dead at 82

Former U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, who nearly won the vice presidency on the Democratic ticket with Al Gore in 2000, has died.

18 hours ago

islamic state attack...

Vanessa Gera, The Associated Press

What we know after the Islamic State group claims responsibility for Moscow massacre

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for an attack on a suburban Moscow concert hall that killed at least 133 people.

4 days ago

Moscow shooting...

The Associated Press

Russia: 60 dead, 145 injured in concert hall raid; Islamic State group claims responsibility

Assailants burst into a concert hall in Moscow on Friday and sprayed the crowd with gunfire, killing over 60 people, injuring more than 100.

6 days ago

Photo: Britain's Kate, Duchess of Cambridge visits 282 (East Ham) Squadron, RAF Air Cadets, Cornwel...

Associated Press

Kate Middleton announces she has cancer, is undergoing chemotherapy

Kate Middleton, Princess of Wales, says she is undergoing chemotherapy to treat cancer. She has been out of view since Christmas.

6 days ago

Abrahamic House in UAE houses a church, synagogue and mosque