This beacon of religious coexistence, located at an arms’ length from a church, is decorated with verses about Jesus and Mary inscribed in Muslim calligraphic script on its 1,000 square-meter walls. Of its three levels, ground floor is reserved for women, the first floor for men, while the gallery and 51-metre high dome house the top storey.

Though no alarms bells rang from religious and legal standpoints but naming a mosque after the Christ did stir surprise and confusion. Al-Safrati smilingly says: “Building a mosque and naming it after the Christ is not the issue at all but the strange was the delay in doing so as Jesus is extremely revered in Islam."

The generous Christian community surprised the Muslim yet another time. They sent breakfast on the first day of Ramadan in the mosque. Inter-religious harmony in the city has always been high with no incidents of sectarian clashes recorded, says Al-Safrati.

The cleric believes in taking practical measures for religious tolerance than delivering mere sermons. “I am trying to spread true image of Islam to end the state of anxiety and uphold sentiments of coexistence between Islam and Christians.”

Al-Safrati has delivered lecture through the Global Forum for Moderation and Culture in Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.

"There are fanatics on both sides who forget our history of true coexistence between Muslims and Christians," he explains, referring to increasing temperatures in Lebanon and other neighboring nations.

Linda Al-Maiaa, a Christian resident of Madaba, agrees with Al-Safrati.

"Most of my close friends are Muslims," she says, explaining that her tribe ‘Al-Maiaa’ has Christians and Muslims both living in love and peace.
In Madaba region, Muslim-Christian affinity can best be explained with blood relations through inter-marriages. There is a good number of families with followers of both the religions.

Mohammed Freeh Shahwan, a regular visitor of the Hussein Bin Talal Mosque, explains that praying in a mosque built on Christian-donated land is as normal as shared common lifestyle, cuisine and tribal norms.

Shahwan says: "We often see Christians and Muslims share stories of their families, rearing camels, sheep in harsh desert life.”

Mohammed Slaita reads historic harmony through festivals that reflect nomadic past of both Christians and Muslims of what is now called Jordan.

Christians have sizable representation in the Jordanian parliament as well as various civilian and military institutions.

Father Mouin Al-Helo, priest at the Roman Orthodox Church, says, “Islam, like other religions, urges love and tolerance. We should always accept the other."

Booth Al-Helo and Al-Safrati invite anarchists on both the sides to visit Madaba to see how misleading their goals are for the world peace.

"We have approximately 30 churches in this region for about 10,000 Christians, while far larger Muslim population in various western cities face difficulties in constructing mosques," Al-Safrati points out.

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