The Promise to St. Catherine

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.

ingin bertanya adakah perjanjian ini wujud, dan kemungkinan besar ada perjanjian tu dah di ubahsuai. saya baca artikal ni dr malaysia today, tulisan marina mahathir

Itu kena tanya pakar sejarah. Tetapi kalau ikut Al Quran, Islam adalah pengaman dan pendamai. Sudah pasti untuk protect kebebasan orang lain beragama menjadi keutamaan orang2 yang mengaku Islam. Kalau Islam tidak protect kebebasan kepercayaan manusia, apa beza Islam dengan agama2 musyrik yang anti dengan para Rasul yang mencari kebenaran itu?

Jika Rasulullah dan orang2 beriman pun minda bantuan kerajaan-kerajaan Kristian di luar Mekkah dari kezaliman orang2 Quraisy ketika awal2 Islam berkembang, takkanlah bila Islam sudah kuat, tiba-tiba Islam menzalimi orang2 Kristian pula?

Jadi moral ajaran Al Quran dan perjanjian tersebut (jika benar) kelihatan selari.

p/s: hidup menjadi mudah jika memahami kehendak Al Quran.