Madaba invites anarchists to learn lessons in co-existence
Half a century ago, a Muslim prayer leader (Imam) in a remote Jordanian village fell sick in Ramadan, thus failing to lead people break their fast (iftar). To avert any discrepancy, a priest in the neighboring church rang the bells to alert fellow Muslims to for the iftar.
However, inter-religious harmony is much older than the last few decades.
Over 100 years back, a Christian from Marar tribe donated land for a mosque in Madaba, the southern side of Jordanian capital, Amman. The state built the mosque in the country’s third most populous city and named it Masjid Al-Hussein Bin Talal. Today, the Ottoman-style mosque, standing on Christian-donated piece of land, remains the most popular for bigger Friday prayer congregations.
Jamal Juma Al-Safrati always felt indebted to Christian’s generosity towards Muslims for promoting the values of coexistence in Madaba, also called the city of mosaics dating back to the Byzantine times. Cleric by profession, Al-Safrati learnt that Ghalib Muhsin Muhammad Al-Otaibi, a Jordanian who resides in Ukraine, plans to build a mosque in Madaba. He convinced his rich compatriot to name the mosque after Prophet Issa bin Maryam (Peace be upon them). Al-Otaibi just loved the proposal.
Al-Safrati says, "I traveled across various Muslim nations and found mosques named after all the prophets’ of Allah except Jesus Christ."
During three decades in Syrian capital Damascus, Al-Safrati studied law and Arabic prior returning to his native Jordan.
Prayer leader in the Issa bin Maryam Mosque, Al-Safrati confirms that the idea crystallized in 2008 after a Danish cartoonist published caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon Him).
“The caricatures provoked bitter divisions between Muslims and Christians,” he explains. The Jesus Christ mosque emerged as a gesture towards Christians in Madaba.
Today the mosque, built with a donation of $85,000 or 58,000 EUR, is a popular landmark in a city where Christians make up merely 5% of the total population.
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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