Members of the Church of Latter-Day Saints (LDS), more popularly known as Mormons, plan to establish a temple in the Emirate of Dubai, the first of its kind to be built in the Middle East.
We welcome the announcement by @NelsonRussellM that the first Temple of @Ch_JesusChrist in the Middle East will be built in Dubai. Members of the Church have long been part of the diverse gathering of faiths in the #UAE.
Read more here: https://t.co/50oKmrbwwz— UAE Mission to the UN (@UAEMissionToUN) April 6, 2020
The Mormons first revealed plans to build a temple in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2020 at its annual general conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, where the church’s headquarters are located. The temple’s construction was expected to begin within three years. The National reported that the Mormon temple would be built in Dubai’s Expo City, which opened last October.
"The plan for a temple in Dubai comes in response to their gracious invitation, which we gratefully acknowledge," Church of Latter-Day Saints President Russell M. Nelson said.
“It will be very unique to have a temple because not every country has one,” Roland Back also stated, who is a volunteer counselor for the church’s Middle East and North Africa area.
“It will serve a large population, wider than the UAE. Other members will want to visit Dubai because there is a temple.” He added.
Devotees of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), also known as #Mormons, will have their own official place of worship in the Emirate of #Dubai, a first of its kind in the #MiddleEast. https://t.co/LCVvukKuez
— The Siasat Daily (@TheSiasatDaily) December 13, 2022
Once the temple’s construction is finished, it would be the first Mormon place of worship where followers of the religion can conduct marriages, baptisms, and other religious activities. The temple would be open to the public for some time before the church would dedicate it to specific spiritual activities.
There are discussions with the Emirati authorities regarding the plot where the future temple would stand along with its design, which would be inspired by local customs and the UAE’s spirit of tolerance and diversity, according to Mr. Back.
Although the temple would only be dedicated to Mormons, of which there are about 2,000 in the country, there are also plans to build an additional space in Dubai for those interested in learning more about the religion.
Currently, the Mormons congregate weekly at a church in Abu Dhabi and a hotel in Dubai. The LDS church in Abu Dhabi, built in 2013, is the first and only Mormon church in the Middle East. For Mormons, a church is a place for worship and community activities, while temples are usually for more sacred religious ceremonies, such as marriages and baptisms.
While temples are reserved only for Mormons, not every member of the Church of Latter-Day Saints can simply enter. They would need to earn their place first by talking with a local bishop and having their conduct and moral worthiness evaluated before they could obtain a “temple recommend” that would allow them to visit any Mormon temple in the world.
The plan to build a Mormon temple in the UAE also comes as the Gulf state commits to promoting religious diversity. The Middle Eastern country is home to various religions. There is a Hindu temple in Abu Dhabi and a planned synagogue for Jews, which was reportedly stalled.
