Madīna al-Nour, situated in the district of al-Zāwiya al-Hamrā’, Cairo. It is one of the typical areas for rural immigration, where a rapid transition of lifestyles and values can be seen. Poverty excludes the inhabitants of Madīna al-Nour from the splendors of jet-set Cairo, but globalization also touches this area, visible in mobile phone shops and internet cafés. Overpopulation and acoustical pollution create tensions. Places for Christian-Muslim encounter and interaction are continuously reduced. On the one hand, there are serious and profound friendships between Christians and Muslims; on the other hand, in the wake of violent events in the early 1980s, there are tensions and suspicions. Community life turns around the mosques and the church, which provide a huge range of activities, but also have the tendency to lock the people up in a ghetto. Religious institutions have proven to be centers of indoctrination and agitation, but mosques and churches also shape community life and create spaces for the experience of universality and participation.