Prophet's (saw) Covenant

[safar]

In 628 C.E. Prophet Muhammad (saw) granted a Charter of Privileges to the monks of St. Catherine Monastery in Mt. Sinai. It consisted of several clauses covering all aspects of human rights including such topics as the protection of Christians, freedom of worship and movement, freedom to appoint their own judges and to own and maintain their property, exemption from military service, and the right to protection in war.

An English translation of that document is presented below.

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 Allah! 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).

[Theja]

Safar, that sounds like a very generous document. I have one question though....

Muhammad was planning to attack Syria a Christian nation then, but he died in 632 AD and did not live to see his desire over Syria. Two years later (634 AD), following Muhammad's intention, Muslim's attacked Syria and eventually took control of the nation. To this day Syria is dominated by Arab Muslims.

This would indicate that Muhammad's idea of granting privileges was selective, not universal.

_________________________________

"Thinking that Syria was one of the gates through which the warriors of Allah would have to march to conquer the world, Mohammad's gaze was unceasingly turned towards the country and he resolved to organise a third expedition against the Christians, in whose power it was". (The Life of Mohammad, by Sliman Ben Ibrahim & Etienne Dinet).

[_thetruth]

Wrong as usual

islamic war was about asking people to Worship One God and once they do they take over their own rules
these two ayas speaks of Pagants who used to attack muslims

Permission to fight is given to those who are fought against because they have been wronged - truly God has the power to come to their support - those who were expelled from their homes without any right, merely for saying, 'Our Lord is God'… (Surat al-Hajj: 39-40)
In brief, Muslims were allowed to wage war only because they were oppressed and subjected to violence. To put it in another way, God granted permission for war only for defensive purposes. In other verses, Muslims are warned against use of unnecessary provocation or unnecessary violence
Fight in the Way of God against those who fight you, but do not go beyond the limits. God does not love those who go beyond the limits. (Surat al-Baqara: 190)
Afterward toward non muslims these ayats came down:
...God does not forbid you from being good to those who have not fought you over religion or driven you from your homes, or from being just towards them. God loves those who are just. God merely forbids you from taking as friends those who have fought you over religion and driven you from your homes and who supported your expulsion... (Surat al-Mumtahana: 8-9)
You who believe! Show integrity for the sake of God, bearing witness with justice. Do not let hatred for a people incite you into not being just. Be just. That is closer to heedfulness. Heed God (alone). God is aware of what you do. (Surat al-Ma'ida: 8)
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Extra from Harunyahya states:
To state briefly, the Islamic political doctrine is extremely peaceful and moderate. This fact is also confirmed by many non-Muslim historians and theologians. One of these is the British historian, Karen Armstrong, a former nun and a renowned expert on Middle East history. In her book, Holy War, in which she examines the history of the three great divine religions, she comments:

... The word Islam comes from the same Arabic root as the word peace and the Koran condemns war as an abnormal state of affairs opposed to God's will: "When the enemies of the Muslims kindle a fire for war, Allah extinguishes it. They strive to create disorder in earth, and Allah loves not those who create disorder." (Koran 28:78). Islam does not justify a total aggressive war or extermination, as the Torah does in the first five books of the Bible. A more realistic religion than Christianity, Islam recognizes that war is inevitable and sometimes a positive duty in order to and oppressions and suffering. The Koran teaches that war must be limited and be conducted in as humane a way of possible. Mohammed had to fight not only the Meccans but also the Jewish tribes in the area and Christian tribes in Syria who planned on offensive against him in alliance with the Jews. Yet this did not make Mohammed denounce the People of the Book. His Muslims were forced to defend themselves but they were not fighting a holy war against the religion of their enemies. When Mohammed sent his freedman Zaid against the Christians at the head of a Muslim army, he told them to fight in the cause of God bravely but humanely. They must not molest priests, monks and nuns nor the weak and helpless people who were unable to fight. There must be no massacre of civilians nor should they cut down a single tree nor pull down any building. This was very different from the wars of Joshua. [1]

Following the death of Prophet Muhammad, Muslims continued to treat the members of other religions with tolerance and respect. Islamic states became the secure and free home of both Jews and Christians. After the conquest of Jerusalem, Caliph Omar calmed the Christians who were in fear of a massacre and explained to them that they were secure. Furthermore, he visited their churches and declared that they could continue to practise their worship freely.

In 1099, 4 centuries after the conquest of Jerusalem by Muslims, Crusaders invaded Jerusalem and put all Muslims inhabitants to the sword. Again, contrary to the fears of Christians, Saladin, the Muslim general who captured Jerusalem and saved the city from invasion in 1187, did not touch even a single civilian and did not allow a single soldier to plunder. Moreover, he allowed the invading Christians to take all their possessions and leave the city in security.


A portrait of the tolerance against Christians in the Islamic lands.
The periods of Seljuk Turks and the Ottoman Empire were also marked by the tolerance and justice of Islam. As is known, Jews who were expelled from Catholic Spain found the peace they sought on the lands of Ottoman Empire, where they took refuge in 1492. Sultan Mehmed, the conqueror of Istanbul, also allowed Jews and Christians religious freedom. Regarding the tolerant and just practises of Muslims, historian A. Miquel states the following:

The Christians were ruled by a very well administered state which was something that did not exist in the Byzantium or Latin sovereignty. They were never subjected to a systematized oppression. On the contrary, the Empire, and foremost Istanbul, became a refuge for the much tortured Spanish Jews. They were never forced to accept Islam. [2]

John L. Esposito, a professor of Religion and International Politics at the Georgetown University, makes a similar comment:

For many non-Muslim populations in Byzantine and Persian territories already subjugated to foreign rulers, Islamic rule meant an exchange of rulers, the new ones often more flexible and tolerant, rather than a loss of independence. Many of these populations now enjoyed greater local autonomy and often paid lower taxes... Religiously, Islam proved a more tolerant religion, providing greater religious freedom for Jews and indigenous Christians. [3]

[_DigitaLVampirE_]

I would caution anyone (Moslem or Christian) who read books written by the disgruntled ex-nun Karen Armstrong and here's why:

The mere fact that her books get through the publishing process makes them look more authoritative and more reliable, however, they do certainly contain errors and sometimes gross misrepresentation of the Christian faith and history (too many to go into details).

Although she claims to present an "unbias" view of religious history, she is very much inclined towards the gratification of Moslems but severely criticizes the Christians.
I'm sure none of the Moslems here would read books or watch documentaries by (former) disgruntled Moslems either; ie. Hisi Ali, et al and take them seriously.

Marilyn Manson (Another "former Christian"), the heavymetal rocker, has a Masters in Divinity.
Should we believe everything he writes and sings about also?

[Theja]

TT, no matter how much spin is employed, history will stand as accurate. Though you may try to sugarcoat the intention of Islamic movement at the initial stage, it was started by looting, violence and wars. YOU CANNOT IGNORE HISTORY.

Harun Yahya is an intellectual and a popular Islamic apologist. But I disagree on his views in many aspects.

Karen Armstrong is an ex-nun, whose heart is not regenerated and is therefore "spiritually blind" (some of you will have a tough time understanding this concept). She tried religion and came out frustrated because she never really encountered God in the first place.

But she is respected for her intellectual prowess and the energy she puts in to address religious issues in academic manner. Though her positions are in many ways opinionated and flatly wrong.

[_thetruth]

DV
Thanks mate I know it was specially printed for Theja who loves to quote texts from her sourses against Islam
Theja
I do not impose nor force my views on you.I have already made a decision about you and your motives on E-countries.
You have your views and I have mine and let's leave the differences to God he will judge us inshallah(if he is willing to).
Your problem is that you try to show that you are always right because the bible says so 3centuries after Jesus(pbuh) was raised to heaven .
This discussion is going to be like the chicken and egg.
Why can you just respect our views and stop slandering??
You claim the above verses from God are not correct who are you to let me that your Bible version is correct or your side of history is right? prove it? you can't and you will never untill Jesus(pbuh) comes back. in the mean time learn to respect that there are 1.5 billions who disagree with you.