Pictures of Holy Places

**Ansar Al-'Adl** · 03-07-2005

This is a thread for people of all different religions where we can share images of our Holy Places, eg. Mosques, Churches and Temples, in the spirit of interfaith relations.

**Grace Seeker** · 02-09-2010

Originally Posted by Supreme

I suppose the buildings in themselves are an act of worship.

I could see that being true for some faiths, but not for Christians. We are to offer our bodies as living sacrifices, the process of which is declared to be our spiritual worship. I think the devotion we in the church have given to buidlings has become (at least in our modern era) determintal to our living worship of God. Churches have become more places for the establishment of memorials in the name of the dearly departed than places of worship of the living God who sends us forth in his service in the world doing ministry in his name.

**tango92** · 05-28-2012

Originally Posted by Grace Seeker

All these places are beautifully ornate. But does anyone else ever ask themselves why we (people of all faiths) build such magnficient (and expensive) structures for a God who does not live in buildings made by human hands?

if you look at islamic history, the mosques were simple places. for example the first mosque - that of the prophet saws had a mud floor and did not even have a roof for much of its life.

but today, building grand mosques has many benefits eg: attracting people to the mosque who may not otherwise come.

also there is a hadith which says Allaah is beautiful and loves beauty