In 628 AD, a delegation from St.
Catherine’s Monastery came to Prophet Muhammed (SAW) and requested his
protection. He responded by granting them a charter of rights, which is
reproduced below in its entirety. St. Catherine’s Monastery is located at the
foot of Mt. Sinai and is the world’s oldest monastery. It possess 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.
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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 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)." |
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! By ordering Muslims to obey it until the Day of
Judgment the charter again undermines any future attempts to revoke the
privileges.
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.
*The English translated text of the Charter of Privileges was extracted from the Book 'Muslim History: 570 - 1950 C.E.' by Dr. A. Zahoor and Dr. Z. Haq, ZMD Corporation. P.O. Box 8231 - Gaithersburg, MD 20898-8231 - Copyright Akram Zahoor 2000. P. 167.
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