Religion and religious diversity in the UAE

Mosque and Church - Grade 6 learns about Religion and Religious Diversity in the UAE

The 6th graders of the German International School Dubai (DISD) spent this year's project week discovering Dubai as part of the project "The City is our Classroom" - based on DISD's mission statement, whose pillar "Excellent Learning Environment" also includes the city and region.

Classes 6a, b and c gained an in-depth insight into Emirati history and culture, an important part of the UAE's Social Studies program. They visited the Dubai Frame and the Louvre and thus gained many new impressions about the formation of the UAE and the plans for the future of the country.

The week started with a highlight: the first project day with the topic "Religion and Religious Diversity in the UAE". In keeping with the motto "The City is our Classroom," the students visited a mosque, an important building in an Islamic country like the UAE. Afterwards, however, the connection to Germany's majority religion, Christianity, was made. Thus, the intercultural but also interreligious competencies of the students and student could be challenged and promoted. These are lived daily at the DISD, since the majority of the pupils and student belong to Christianity or Islam and deal respectfully and openly with it, it is completely normal for them! In the subjects Moral Studies and ethics they learn about the world religions and celebrate religious festivals together, such as Christmas and the holidays around Ramadan.

The project day began in the morning with a visit to the Al Farooq Omar Bin Al Khattab Mosque & Centre in Jumeirah. There you were given a guided tour of the mosque, which was built in 1986 and has made it its mission to inform Muslims and especially non-Muslims about the contents of Islam. The founder of the mosque and the information center, Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor, chairman of the Al Habtoor Group, was motivated by building bridges of communication with other nations based on tolerance. This goal is also reflected in the DISD mission statement, where a just, tolerant and humane interaction in a value-based community is strived for.

The mosque visit started with the removal of the shoes and the dressing of all students in headscarves and abayas. For some student it was actually the first visit to a mosque and they were all the more excited about the guided tour. Here they were told about the construction and special features of the mosque and were made aware that the Al Farouk Mosque has many similarities with Istanbul's Blue Mosque. In addition, the students and student were always encouraged to talk about their own experiences and show their prior knowledge. Prayer washing was talked about and experiences of traditions and dress in different Arab countries were shared. The student listened attentively to the lecture and special interest was expressed about the fact that women pray separately from men on the upper floor.

After returning to DISD, the students student received further input from Pastor Moritz Drucker, leader of the German-speaking Protestant congregation in the UAE. Pastor Drucker has been working in Dubai since 2014, where he holds church services, celebrates baptisms, confirmations and church holidays, but also does community work with joint excursions.

The student had already collected questions in advance, which they wanted to ask the pastor. After an introduction about the common origin of the three world religions and the similarities between Islam and Christianity, Pastor Drucker told about his own experiences here in Dubai, e.g. about a Muslim-Christian couple that he had married.

The students and student had many questions about Christian life and their rules and customs. In the overall feedback of the week, the visit of the priest was mentioned positively several times.

Moritz Drucker was also pleased with the high level of interest: "I was very happy to come to the DISD to talk to the young people about the Christian faith. I was pleased how bright the students were and student how many questions came. Using our common "father" Abraham, who is recognized equally by Muslims, Christians and Jews, I tried to make it clear that these three religions are closely related."

I told the young people that I had already baptized several young women so that they could marry a Muslim. This shows wonderfully how much Islam accepts Christianity.

On the last day of the project week, the class community invited the parents to a joint closing. The mothers and fathers prepared a great healthy breakfast, which the class community enjoyed together in the schoolyard. Afterwards, the students student presented the results of their project week to their parents and classmates in the secondary school library. During the project week, the students student not only learned a lot about their place of residence Dubai and its religion and culture, but also about creative forms of presentation. The project week was a complete success and the students had a lot of fun! Many thanks to the responsible teachers: Mrs. Wingrich, Mr. Herz, Mrs. Pienkny, Mrs. Kolburan.