International Day of Human Fraternity: the UAE's many places of worship

The Emirates has been home to houses of various faiths for many years, with some even predating the formation of the UAE

GuruNanak Darbar opened in 2012 to serve Dubai’s 50,000 strong Sikh community. It was established by Surender Singh Kandhari, a Dubai resident, as the first official Sikh temple in the region. The temple opened with the blessing of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, who agreed to donate the land in Jebel Ali Village. The temple caters for 2,000 daily visitors, although numbers can reach 15,000 on Fridays. Pawan Singh / The National

Begun in the mid-1990s, construction of Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Abu Dhabi, the UAE’s largest, was finally completed in the autumn of 2007. Sheikh Zayed, who died in 2004, was buried in a courtyard tomb in an area that was then part of the building site. The building incorporates elements of Islamic architecture from around the world, including Egypt, Indonesia, Pakistan and Iran. It houses a 5,600-square-metre carpet in the main prayer hall, which is believed to be the largest in the world. The mosque has seven chandeliers made in Germany from millions of Swarovski crystals. The mosque is open to non-Muslims outside prayer times and has been visited by Britain's Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles, model Gigi Hadid, singer Dua Lipa and actor Hugh Jackman, and others. It is consistently Abu Dhabi’s most popular tourist destination. Khushnum Bhandari / The National

The Jewish Community Centre in Dubai was opened by Rabbi Levi Duchman in 2020, shortly after the UAE normalised relations with Israel. The centre's members are from all over the world, including America, Europe and Israel. It houses a small synagogue and has a small library which holds many religious scripts and books. The UAE is home to between 350 and 500 Jews who are active in the community. The number has doubled since the signing of the Abraham Accords. Getty Images

Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Mosque in Al Ain is one of the biggest in the UAE. It opened to the public in 2021. The building can accommodate about 20,800 worshippers, inside and outside. The prayer hall of the mosque is covered by a 160-metre wide dome, the largest of its kind in the UAE. The dome is decorated in calligraphic Quran verses and the building has four minarets, which were inspired by the Great Mosque in Samarra, Iraq. It lies adjacent to the oldest mosque in the UAE, which dates back about 1,000 years. Alamy

The original St Joseph’s opened in 1965 on the Corniche to serve Abu Dhabi’s growing Roman Catholic community. Sheikh Shakhbut, who was Ruler of Abu Dhabi at the time, donated the land for it and attended the inauguration. But by the late 1970s, the city’s growth meant the church had already outgrown the site. Sheikh Zayed, who became the Founding President of the UAE in 1971, donated land in the Mushrif neighbourhood where the new St Joseph’s opened in 1983 and still stands today. It is host to 80,000 to 90,000 parishioners and performs services in Malayalam, Tagalog, Urdu, French, German and even Korean. During the Pope's visit to the UAE in 2019, he led prayers and blessed parishioners at the cathedral. Victor Besa / The National

Across the road from Grand Bur Dubai mosque in Bur Dubai, the Hindu Temple comprises two small temples: the Shiva Temple and Krishna Temple. The temples are each named after a highly revered deity in the Hindu faith. The complex was built in 1958, after Sheikh Rashid, the Ruler of Dubai at the time, permitted its construction. The emirate's Hindu population has long outgrown the space but a much larger temple is currently being built in Jebel Ali. Ruel Pableo for The National

The UAE will soon be home to the Abrahamic Family House, a multi-faith place of worship.

The church, mosque and synagogue will coexist on Saadiyat Island, where they will open to the public later this year.

The project is a legacy of Pope Francis's historical visit to Abu Dhabi in February 2019.

The Pope's visit also led to the establishment of the International Day of Human Fraternity, which takes place every year on February 4, to mark the meeting between the head of the Catholic Church and the Grand Imam of Al Azhar, Ahmad Al Tayyib on that date, which resulted in the signing of the Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together.

But the UAE has been home to houses of various faiths for many years, with some even predating its formation.

The National explains more about some of the many religious communities living here and where they worship.