The monastery of St. Catherine:
**
In 628 C.E. Prophet Mohammed :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 Mohammed 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).**
This charter of privileges has been honored and faithfully applied by Muslims throughout the centuries in all lands they ruled. Click here for more information.
Re: The Holy Prophet :saw:'s letter to the Monks of Sinai…
May be its time to study history…
Emm, Like Sultan Salah-uddin Ayubi’s (Saladin in english) treatment of the Christians of jerusalem, after some 90 years of ruthless killing and torture of Muslims in the same city !
It may be a good start, or even an eye opener for some, as most of these events are recorded by Christian historians, themselves.
Re: The Holy Prophet :saw:'s letter to the Monks of Sinai…
The charter was between the Muslim nation and the Greek Orthodox monastic community of the Sinai. It is still in force and the monastary still exists there and is still active - Greek Orthodox monks still live there.
Re: The Holy Prophet :saw:'s letter to the Monks of Sinai…
Whoops … misunderstood what you asked.
Anyway, Muslims haven’t always abided by the terms of the letter, because just being a Muslim doesn’t always make someone be a good Muslim. Especially our rulers, what with power tending to lead to corruption and all…
Re: The Holy Prophet :saw:'s letter to the Monks of Sinai…
Lajawab, I have some questions in my mind about your post.
All the letter from Prophet Mohammed (P.B.U.H) starts with “Mohammed Rasool Allah” , the only place prophet (p.b.u.h) used Mohammed ibn Abdullah was at Hudaybia.
The Present Jerushelum came under muslim rule when Umer ibn Khatab (R.A) was Amir al Mo’menien.
How come the church accepted this when they were still under Roman (Christian) Empire.
could you please reply to above OR If you just cut and paste then thats a different story…
Re: The Holy Prophet :saw:'s letter to the Monks of Sinai…
^ St. Catherine’s Monastery is in Egypt… in any case, your question #2 still stands as Egypt too came under Muslim rule during Umar’s khilafa if i recall, some fifteen years after this charter is supposed to have been granted
Re: The Holy Prophet :saw:'s letter to the Monks of Sinai…
The then province of Egypt did not include the Sinai - it stretched until the eastern fringes of the Nile Delta, whereas the monastery is located at the extreme south of the Sinai peninsula. It is perfectly possible for the Islamic state to have taken control of the monastery before then. The Muslim conquest campaign of Egypt began in 641 CE with the seizure of one of the Nile Delta cities.
Re: The Holy Prophet :saw:'s letter to the Monks of Sinai…
It has been protected perpetually by rulers and caliphs of the Islamic world for over 1,400 years. The monastery also has records dating back to Caliphs of the Fatimid period of accepting this agreement. The monastery also has a mosque inside dating back to the Fatimid period. So, yes, there is evidence.
