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by Sara Al Nuaimi
• October 14, 2015 at 5:00 am
- The remarkable
crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, donated
land for the Hindu temple, to foster cultural and religious tolerance,
and bring diversity to Abu Dhabi. The temple also fit newly passed UAE
legislation establishing religious freedom.
- As the prince
explained, a "civilized, advanced" Abu Dhabi with sustainable
development requires "concerted efforts from all sectors of the
community" -- Hindus included.
- "This is a
huge leap from medieval ways of thinking. Humanity is against aggression
and stopping others from practicing their faith." — Saleh Al
Turigee of Saudi Arabia, who has 143,000 Twitter followers.
- Positive voices
from the UAE and elsewhere in the Middle East, especially Egypt,
supported the temple. It shows that the non-extremist segment not only
exists, but is ready to take on the extremists.
- "Religion is
for Allah only. All Imams agree that building temples for idol
worshipping is a blasphemy." — Waseem Yousef, imam of the Sheikh
Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi. He quickly found his television show
canceled.
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"Idol worshipping never left Mecca. Mecca is the
idol that you worship." — @azoozazeez1
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A tweet by India's Prime Minister Modi on Aug. 16, during his visit to
Abu Dhabi, prompted a unique cultural debate in the United Arab Emirates
(UAE). Announcing to his 14.9 million followers that the UAE government had
allotted land for a Hindu temple, he prompted a discussion on Twitter that
generated over 25,000 tweets in the Arabic language alone (a very large
number for public opinion in the UAE and other Arabian monarchies), coverage
on the BBC, and more.
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