One thing that I have always appreciated about the Muslim tradition is its acceptance of Christianity and Judaism. From studying the Qur'an, it is clear that Jesus, Moses, and Abraham are all key players, and Islam does not view other faiths as lower, and it does not view Islam as better, simply different. Of course, there will always be extremist sects of every faith tradition, but in its main principles, Islam is very accepting.
This was a point reminded to me in lecture today when Professor Cargill brought up the recent attacks on Coptic Christians in Egypt. He was explaining that Egyptian Muslims put up a human shield in front of the Coptic Church where people were worshipping, and the Muslims said that if anyone wanted to harm the Christians inside the church, they would have to go through the Muslims. This is a prime example of the compassion that Islam holds for other traditions.
We also learned about Mesopotamian temples. Creating spaces for the worship of a higher power was started long before Jerusalem. There were Ziggurats used for worship. The Babylonian temples were seen as lowered from the heavens at the time of creation, meaning that they were creating by the divine, for worship of the divine. They kind of look like pyramids, but pyramids are used for burial and not worship.
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