Prophet Muhammad’s Promise to Christians
arah
Prophet Muhammad’s Promise to Christians
The document is not a modern human rights treaty but even thought it
was penned in 628 A.D. it clearly protects the right to property,
freedom of religion, freedom of work, and security of the person, says
Muqtedar Khan.
Muslims and Christians together constitute over fifty percent of the
world and if they lived in peace, we will be half way to world peace.
One small step that we can take towards fostering Muslim-Christian
harmony is to tell and retell positive stories and abstain from mutual
demonization.
In this article I propose to remind both Muslims and Christians about
a promise that Prophet Muhammed (pbuh) made to Christians. The
knowledge of this promise can have enormous impact on Muslim conduct
towards Christians. Muslims generally respect the precedent of their
Prophet and try to practice it in their lives.
In 628 AD, a delegation from St. Catherine’s Monastery came to Prophet
Muhammed and requested his protection. He responded by granting them a
charter of rights, which I reproduce below in its entirety. St.
Catherine’s Monastery is located at the foot of Mt. Sinai and is the
world’s oldest monastery. It possesses a huge collection of Christian
manuscripts, second only to the Vatican, and is a world heritage site.
It also boasts the oldest collection of Christian icons. It is a
treasure house of Christian history that has remained safe for 1400
years under Muslim protection.
The Promise to St. Catherine:
"This is a message from Muhammad ibn Abdullah, as a covenant to those
who adopt Christianity, near and far, we are with them.
Verily I, the servants, the helpers, and my followers defend them,
because Christians are my citizens; and by God! I hold out against
anything that displeases them.
No compulsion is to be on them. Neither are their judges to be removed
from their jobs nor their monks from their monasteries. No one is to
destroy a house of their religion, to damage it, or to carry anything
from it to the Muslims' houses.
Should anyone take any of these, he would spoil God's covenant and
disobey His Prophet. Verily, they are my allies and have my secure
charter against all that they hate.
No one is to force them to travel or to oblige them to fight. The
Muslims are to fight for them. If a female Christian is married to a
Muslim, it is not to take place without her approval. She is not to be
prevented from visiting her church to pray. Their churches are to be
respected. They are neither to be prevented from repairing them nor
the sacredness of their covenants.
No one of the nation (Muslims) is to disobey the covenant till the
Last Day (end of the world)."
The first and the final sentence of the charter are critical. They
make the promise eternal and universal. Muhammed asserts that Muslims
are with Christians near and far straight away rejecting any future
attempts to limit the promise to St. Catherine alone. By ordering
Muslims to obey it until the Day of Judgment the charter again
undermines any future attempts to revoke the privileges. These rights
are inalienable. Muhammed declared Christians, all of them, as his
allies and he equated ill treatment of Christians with violating God’s
covenant.
A remarkable aspect of the charter is that it imposes no conditions on
Christians for enjoying its privileges. It is enough that they are
Christians. They are not required to alter their beliefs, they do not
have to make any payments and they do not have any obligations. This
is a charter of rights without any duties!
The document is not a modern human rights treaty but even thought it
was penned in 628 A.D. it clearly protects the right to property,
freedom of religion, freedom of work, and security of the person.
I know most readers, must be thinking so what? Well the answer is
simple. Those who seek to foster discord among Muslims and Christians
focus on issues that divide and emphasize areas of conflict. But when
resources such as Muhammad’s promise to Christians are invoked and
highlighted it builds bridges. It inspires Muslims to rise above
communal intolerance and engenders good will in Christians who might
be nursing fear of Islam or Muslims.
When I look at Islamic sources, I find in them unprecedented examples
of religious tolerance and inclusiveness. They make me want to become
a better person. I think the capacity to seek good and do good inheres
in all of us. When we subdue this predisposition towards the good, we
deny our fundamental humanity. In this holiday season, I hope all of
us can find time to look for something positive and worthy of
appreciation in the values, cultures and histories of other peoples.
Dr. Muqtedar Khan is Director of Islamic Studies at the University of
Delaware and a fellow of the Institute for Social Policy and
Understanding.
CPC - Communist Party of China
the Christians did not spare any muslims , child or women .
the Christians killed every body inside Jerusalem .
tompel@tmnet.net.my mat tompel
to convert to Islam? Muslims have conveniently by passed the promise made by
Mohammed our prophet. Is that not wrong?
"arah" <arah...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:e381a856-33e7-4b26...@34g2000yqp.googlegroups.com...
Jesus Christ , a long - term fucker of the Prostitute St . Mary 's cunt hole , is an Unique Son of GOD
Prophet Muhammad promised nothing to the Christians .,,
that was why Christian Crusaders killed all muslems in
Jeruslam .
Jan 5, 9:53 am, arah <arah1...@gmail.com> wrote:
The Cynic
> Prophet Muhammad’s Promise to Christians
>
> The document is not a modern human rights treaty but even thought it
> was penned in 628 A.D. it clearly protects the right to property,
> freedom of religion, freedom of work, and security of the person, says
> Muqtedar Khan.
>
Jesus Christ , a long - term fucker of the Prostitute St . Mary 's cunt hole , is an Unique Son of GOD
Ir. Hj. Othman bin Hj. Ahmad
Idiot. A document is a written down artifact. That is why it has
survived to this day.
The Cynic
wrote:
Fool. Read my question again. Just a simple one word answer is
required.
tompel@tmnet.net.my mat tompel
"The Cynic" <i.the...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:d3938b1d-3126-4c40...@a21g2000yqc.googlegroups.com...
On Jan 7, 6:36 pm, "Ir. Hj. Othman bin Hj. Ahmad" <othm...@lycos.com>
wrote:
> On Jan 6, 12:00 am, The Cynic <i.thecy...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > On Jan 5, 10:53 am, arah <arah1...@gmail.com> wrote:> Prophet Muhammad�s
> > Promise to Christians
>
> > > The document is not a modern human rights treaty but even thought it
> > > was penned in 628 A.D. it clearly protects the right to property,
> > > freedom of religion, freedom of work, and security of the person, says
> > > Muqtedar Khan.
>
> > Did you see it being written down?
The answer to both these question is NO!!!! Did you witness Allah revealing
to Mohammed? Answer 'NO!!!'
tompel@tmnet.net.my mat tompel
"Jesus Christ , a long - term fucker of the Prostitute St . Mary 's cunt
hole , is an Unique Son of GOD" <vea...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:49efdd05-5b55-45b2...@k19g2000yqc.googlegroups.com...