Yes, this mosque is located in Al Mushrif, a central neighbourhood in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. It sits next to several Christian churches, including St. Joseph’s Cathedral and St. Andrew’s Church.
Muslims call the mother of Jesus, known as Isa in Arabic, Maryam (Mary). She is highly exalted. Maryam is the only woman named directly in the Holy Quran, and Chapter 19 of the Quran is Surah Maryam. When the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) dispatched his first mission to another country, Habasha (now Ethiopia), he advised them to recite Surah Maryam before the king and the people of that country.
The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) highly exalted the birth of Jesus Christ and glorified her chastity, saying it is the work of the Holy God. Believers remember that the Holy God does not meet like a human being, but they believe that the Holy Spirit of God worked it. Islam acknowledges the divine virgin birth of Jesus by the will of the Holy God. Maryam was fully human, and her son Jesus’ birth is considered unique.
There is no biblical evidence of Maryam, mother of Jesus, having siblings, but Mary and Joseph, her foster father, had relatives who existed only in the first century, and they were Maryam’s distant relatives from her extended family. Mainstream historians and biblical scholars agree that Jesus never married and left no children. Julius Africanus noted that Jesus’ extended family, often called the _Desposyni_ (belonging to the Master, Jesus), were children of Maryam’s relatives, as Maryam, Jesus, and foster father Joseph were living in their clan as people usually lived in those times. These relatives included the descendants of Maryam and Joseph’s siblings and cousins.
The site started as a Christian church in ancient times. In 1187, the Muslim leader Saladin turned the building into a mosque. Muslims pray in the mosque, but for the footprint, there is a little building where Christians are free to pay respect to the footprint of Jesus, and donations are happily dropped into the mosque’s collection box. On the Mount of Olives, there is a small building that holds a stone with an imprint believed to be the right footprint of Jesus as He ascended to heaven. Tradition says the left footprint was moved to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem during the Middle Ages.
The Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) had very good relations with Christians, and Christians also honored this relationship. After the Battle of Badr, at the time of the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah, Christians were standing by the Prophet, and the world saw that when Aal-e-Muhammad were martyred, Christians bravely took the holy bodies of the Imams and covered and concealed them in the church. This relationship is seen many times in history. During the Crusades, Arab Christians of Jerusalem stood faithfully with Saladin and helped defeat the European invaders at Jerusalem.
All the premises where Jesus Christ lived in Jerusalem and its suburbs are not sold to Israel, and they are considered the property of the Kingdom of Jordan. Every pilgrim and place of worship is closely guarded by Jordanian soldiers, and security is provided by the government of Israel.
It is also important to say that the entire way of our Lord Jesus Christ, known as the “Via Dolorosa,” the Stations of the Cross, is a roughly 600- to 1200-meter processional route in the Old City of Jerusalem, marking the path Jesus walked to His crucifixion. This route is a bazaar, and most of the shop owners are Muslim, but on Good Friday these shops are closed to honour the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and to facilitate Christian pilgrims. The same is done at Christmas as well, and many Muslim leaders are seen on these blessed occasions.
Now, coming to the present escalation between Iran, the USA, and Israel, this conflict started in Iran. The regime considers itself holy, and they are holy, but are there only a few people of the Imam’s race? Other holy people can be elected for the regime. Imam Khomeini gave a strong verdict that monarchy is banned in Iran, so why should the son of the Imam be the next ruler? Is this not a religious monarchy?
I pray that my God will please bless, protect, and grant peace to Muslims who are preserving those blessed places where our Lord Jesus lived, walked, taught, blessed, performed miracles, sacrificed His life, was put in the grave, resurrected, and ascended to heaven, and believers of God Almighty have faith that He will come again. I am really very satisfied that the Monarch of Jordan and the Muslims of Jerusalem help the Christians of Jerusalem to preserve these places. I am often frightened that people who could hand over Jesus to the Roman Empire could smash these blessed places. I am thankful to the Muslims of Jerusalem.