By Nate Feldman
In his book, Crossing Boundaries: A Traveler's Guide to World Peace, writer Aziz Abu Sarah includes a chapter on visiting other people's religious places during while in other countries, or even within our own communities.
The chapter begins with an anecdote about his father, a devout Muslim, who while visiting him in the USA wanted to attend a Friday Jummah prayer at a local mosque. The writer connected his father with the uncle of a local friend, and they went to the mosque together. When they returned, the father said that the mosque was full, so they did the prayer inside a nearby synagogue that grants space for Muslims to pray when space is unavailable. It was his father's first time in a synagogue, and it was a real eye-opening experience for him as he had lived his entire life in Jerusalem, where Jews, Christians, and Muslims all live, but he hadn't been inside a Jewish house of worship.
The writer also recounted the time he and his friends, all Muslims, visited the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, said to be the location of Jesus' crucifixion. It was their first time being in a Christian holy place, and it gave him the realization that he knew less about other people's faiths than he thought he did.
From there, Aziz Abu Sarah talks about how he likes visiting places of worship while in other countries, and he also encourages people to take part in different religious festivities or events. He recounts visiting Buddhist temples in Vietnam and being guided by a local female monk.
I found this chapter to be very enlightening, and I agree with the advice that we should try and open our minds to other's traditions while not necessarily believing in them. A lot of misunderstandings between people of different faiths often revolve around ignorance and lack of awareness rather than real understanding of these traditions.
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