KEY POINTS

  • The Abrahamic Family House was first unveiled on Feb. 16
  • The complex includes a mosque, a church, and a synagogue
  • It is open to visitors from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The UAE has officially opened the Abrahamic Family House in Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi, to the public on Wednesday.

The complex, which was first unveiled on Feb. 16, will serve as "a cultural and architectural beacon of peaceful human coexistence that represents each of the Abrahamic faiths," according to the Abu Dhabi Media Office.

The Abrahamic Family House features the Imam Al-Tayeb Mosque, His Holiness Francis Church, and Moses Ben Maimon Synagogue, the Arabian Business reported. While entry to the complex is free, visitors are encouraged to book their visits ahead of their arrival in the site. Once inside, they are free to worship or attend a community gather in any of the three houses.

"If you wish to attend the service of a faith outside of your own, you are welcome to attend as a guest," the Abrahamic Family House's official website reads.

The complex is open to visitors from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday. Tours around the complex usually take around one hour and feature an Abrahamic Family House storyteller. During tours, female visitors entering the mosque are required to wear a head covering, while males have to wear trousers covering their knees and shirts covering their shoulders.

Meanwhile, a UAE official recently shed some light on claims that the Abrahamic Family House was created following a formal Islamic ruling by the Standing Committee for Scholarly Research and Issuing Fatwas in Saudi Arabia. Dr. Ali An Nuami, chairman of anti-violent extremism institution Hedayah, described such claims as a lie, saying the complex was established to promote the values of coexistence and peace among religions.

"It is claimed that this fatwa was issued in regard to the Abrahamic Family House, which recently opened in Abu Dhabi. This is a lie aimed at deceiving the nation and to hijack the minds of its children in the approach of the idealogues," he explained.

"The Abrahamic Family House initiative is our message to the world to promote the values of coexistence, maintain social peace, achieve peace, and consolidate the human values agreed upon by the heavenly religions among human beings," he added.

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