The Home of the Virgin Mary Greets the Messenger of Love in Ramadan
Sami Yusuf’s first Musical Performance in Nazareth, Palestine.
Sami Yusuf’s first Musical Performance in Nazareth, Palestine. Sharjah, United Arab Emirates – July 3, 2015 – “Nazarenes…a part of me and an extension of my own soul. It’s a great honor to finally set foot on this blessed land,” Sami Yusuf expressed jubilantly when asked about his feelings towards the city of Nazareth or an-Nasira as the Arabs call it. Nazareth is home to the Virgin Mary and known as the land where Jesus Christ was brought up. Although Jesus was born in Bethlehem, he was always referred to as Jesus of Nazareth as it was the tradition of the time to be attributed to the city where you were raised.
Scheduled to perform on July 5th at Sa’hit Al-La’hham in Nazareth, it’s an unprecedented event for the Nazarenes and Palestinians at large as it will be the first time the star sets foot in Nazareth. An expected audience of over 40,000 is expected to attend the concert. To put that number in perspective, Nazareth is home to a population of around 80,000 Muslims and Christians coexisting in peace, meaning over fifty percent of the population will be attending the event.
Despite the difficulty for residents of neighboring cities like Bethlehem to obtain clearance to enter Nazareth, and despite the long hours of fasting in the month of Ramadan, many are still making the effort to cross those meticulous borders in order to attend the concert.
This kind of publicity and noise surrounding his upcoming performance there doesn’t come as a surprise, even with a large Christian population. Sami is known for his interfaith efforts and has frequently expressed his thoughts on how all faiths have and enjoy the same underlying truth. The celebrity has always believed in and demanded respect for all the major traditions of the world. In fact, his recent visit to the Baptism Site of Jesus Christ in Jordan to record the world’s first interfaith anthem, The Gift of Love, only brought emotional tears to his eyes as he kissed one of the blessed walls in the vicinity of where Jesus was baptized.
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