Mogama3 Al-Adyan - A truely educational day

Today we went to an area in old Cairo called Mogama3 Al-Adyan. In this area we visited 2 Churches, a mosque, and a Jewish synagogue. It was a very interesting day I must say but the weather was not on our side. VERY dusty and foggy which is not good for my allergies but I had a blast! We had a guide show us around and explain the area to us. Plus we had a few trainees from many areas around the world and who followed different religions and we made good use of that today. We had many discussions where we compared all the religions and I ended up changing alot of my perspectives when it came to certain religions especially Christianity and Hinduism. I realized how subjective religion can be which is why it's interpreted in many ways and why it is practiced in many ways. I also realized the huge similarities between all religions and how we as humans are the ones making the differences seem so big. I mean the bottomline is that all religions promote the idea of believing in a superpower that we cannot see, and promote a way of living that is just and good. Today was the first time I witnessed discussions about religions and their differences but without the usual arguments and hard feelings. That made it a truely educational experience since we were really able to learn from each other. We visited the hanging church first. Its called the hanging church because its build on top of 2 towers but with a gap in between these towers so it seems to be hanging. Then we visited the first church to be built in egypt. Then a Jewish synagogue which was very similar to many churches. Then finally a really big mosque where over 30,000 people go to pray in the Holy month of Ramadan.
After that, we went to a restaurant and listened to presentations about hinduism and buddism...which was fascinating. I always thought Hindus believed in many Gods but it turns out that they believe in one God but they see Him in many different images. The reason behind that was that people in general find it easier to believe in something when they can put a face or name or symbol to it. So since we see God in everything around us, then why not have many images representing him just so the belief of people can be strengthened. Its an interesting perspective...in Islam its sort of the opposite. For us, a sign of belief is knowing that God is there, formless, and that we still believe in his existence even though we cannot see Him or know how He looks like. For us, to put God into any specific image and pass that on as God is very dangerous because then you risk finding people worshipping pictures or statues instead of worshipping something that is a divine power. Of course each one of us probably sees God in some shape or form but it's something personal instead of something that the masses see or follow. I got to thinking about all these sorts of things today so it was great! Im looking forward to learning more!