[Rambo]

I was a watching a documentary and it showed the actual letter which is still in the library at this church. It also had the actual hand stamp of the prophet (pbuh). The letter was recently authenticated by the church to be exactly around the prophets time.

[Rambo]

PROPHET MUHAMMAD'S
CHARTER OF PRIVILEGES TO CHRISTIANS
LETTER TO THE MONKS OF ST. CATHERINE MONASTERY


In 628 C.E. Prophet Muhammad (s) 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).

This charter of privileges has been honored and faithfully applied by Muslims throughout the centuries in all lands they ruled

Prophet Muhammad's Letter to Monks of St. Catherine Monastery

[Rambo]

^ we should really show this to christians of today

[Rambo]

another one

A Letter from the Prophet Muhammad To The Assyrian Christians

“God has told me in a vision what to do, and I confirm His command by giving my solemn promise to keep this agreement.

To the followers of the Islam I say: Carry out my command, protect and help the Nazarene nation in this country of ours in their own land. Leave their places of worship in peace; help and assist their chief and their priests when in need of help, be it in the mountains, in the desert, on the sea, or at home. Leave all their possessions alone, be it houses or other property, do not destroy anything of their belongings, the followers of Islam shall not harm or molest any of this nation, because the Nazarenes are my subjects, pay tribute to me and will help the Muslims. No tribute, but what is agreed upon, shall be collected from them, their church buildings shall be left as they are, they shall not be altered, their priests shall be permitted to teach and worship in their own way-the Nazarenes have full liberty of worship in their churches and homes. None of their churches shall be torn down, or altered into a mosque, except by the consent and free will of the Nazarenes. If any one disobeys this command, the anger of God and His Prophet shall be upon him.

“The tribute paid the Nazarenes shall be used to promote the teachings of Islam and shall be deposited at the treasury of Beth
Almal. A common man shall pay one denar (piece of money), but the merchants and people who own mines of gold and silver and are rich shall pay twelve denars. Strangers and people who have no houses or other settled property shall not have taxes levied upon them. If a man inherits property he shall pay a settled sum to the Baitulmal treasury. The Christians are not obliged to make war on the enemies of Islam, but if an enemy attacks the Christians, the Muslims shall not deny their help, but give them horses and weapons, if they need them, and protect them from evils from outside and keep the peace with them. The Christians are not obliged to turn Muslims, until God’s will makes them believers.

“The Muslims shall not force Christian women to accept Islam, but if they themselves wish to embrace it, the Muslims shall be kind to them.

“If a Christian woman is married to a Muslim and does not want to embrace Islam, she has liberty to worship at her own church according to her own religious belief, and her husband must not treat her unkindly on account of her religion. If any one disobeys this command, he disobeys God and his prophet and will be guilty of a great offense.

“If the Nazarenes wish to build a church, their Muslim neighbors shall help them. This shall be done, because the Christians have obeyed us and have come to us and pleaded for peace and mercy.

“If there be among the Christians a great and learned man the Muslims shall honor him and not be envious of his greatness.

“If any one is unjust and unkind to the Christians he will be guilty of disobeying the Prophet of God.

“The Christians should not shelter an enemy of Islam or give him horse, weapon or any other help. If a Muslim is in need the Christian shall for three days and nights be his host and shelter him from his enemies. The Christians shall, furthermore, protect the Mohammedan women and children and not deliver them up to the enemy or expose them to view. If the Nazarenes fail to fulfil these conditions, they have forfeited their right to protection, and the agreement is null and void.

“This document shall be entrusted to the Christian chief and head of their church for safe keeping.”

The peace of God be over them all! This agreement is written by Moavijah Ben Sofian, according to the dictates of Muhammad, the Messenger of God, in the 4th year of the Hegira in the city of Medina.

[Rambo]

again these letters actually still exist in the libaries of egypt and syria and have been authenticated. I am not sure why these things are not highlighted much in the west even by muslims. This is a ancient muslim document in a christian church

[Rambo]

I would love to show this to people who think islam has violent roots.

[Variable]

Originally Posted by Rambo

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).[/indent][/indent]

Someone should've shown that one to many Muslim rulers throughout history.

[Jaysh]

Originally Posted by Variable

Someone should've shown that one to many Muslim rulers throughout history.

So they made a mistake. Big deal. They still treated christians better than christians treated muslims.

You know, JUST ONCE, I want to see you post and say something like "wow, this is a good thing about Islam."

How refreshing it would have been for you to post in this thread and say "wow, I didn't know how tolerant Prophet Muhammad's laws towards Christians were"...or something along those lines. instead, you have to somehow find one line to focus on, or some snide comment like the one you just posted.

[Rambo]

You can just tell about the characteristic of the prophet (pbuh) from the tone in the letters.

[Rambo]

Originally Posted by Variable

Someone should've shown that one to many Muslim rulers throughout history.

the early muslim rulers were very kind to the christians, it was only after the christians crusades against the muslims that things got messed up.

However many bad things that happen to christians today in the muslim world are totally wrong and against islam

[Musashi]

Asallamu 'alaikum wa rahmatulLahi wa barakatuh

Wow, this is wonderful, masha Allah. Mind if I repost it elsewhere?

[kellyjaz]

Thats wicked, Jazakah Allah kher for sharing.

Some of the Muslims leaders did actually treat the christians in the same manner but then it kind of went downhill..but even so what muslims do does not represent islam, The message of islam was completed during the prophets life, our religion was completed prior to him passing away. " Al yawm akmaltu lakum deenekum".

[Rambo]

Originally Posted by Musashi

Asallamu 'alaikum wa rahmatulLahi wa barakatuh

Wow, this is wonderful, masha Allah. Mind if I repost it elsewhere?

yeah why not, we should spread this as much as possible. I am surprised many muslims dont know about these letters

[Variable]

Originally Posted by Jaysh

So they made a mistake. Big deal. They still treated christians better than christians treated muslims.

You know, JUST ONCE, I want to see you post and say something like "wow, this is a good thing about Islam."

How refreshing it would have been for you to post in this thread and say "wow, I didn't know how tolerant Prophet Muhammad's laws towards Christians were"...or something along those lines. instead, you have to somehow find one line to focus on, or some snide comment like the one you just posted.

Hmmm... things I like about Islam. I like that hadith about the dog getting the water in the shoe, and the prostitute lady going in the good books for that.

I like... the highly regimented discipline that comes with the religion. I'd probably would've been the most hardcore, to the death Muslim if I were around in Arabia back in the day.


Anyway, I did know that Christians were well 'tolerated' by early Muslims (even though I don't like that word and wouldn't phrase this particular situation like that). But I know a lot of other stuff too... and when this information is set into the larger picture, I can't say that it really lightens the criticisms that I do hold against Islam.

Why do I always bring that stuff up? I suppose because I post in a reactionary kind of way... usually when I see a spot where another point of view doesn't have a voice. In real life people often think I'm some kind of Islamic apologist (or 'Islamophile' as I've been called) because most of what I say is a reaction to their criticisms.