Prophet Muhammad SAW's promise to the Christians

got this from k. Lat.

If only more Muslims would learn the way of the Prophet (pbuh) before launching into the "defence" of Islam in totally unacceptable ways
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Muslims and Christians together constitute over 50 percent of the world. If they lived in peace, we would be half way to world peace. One small step we can take towards fostering Muslim-Christian harmony is to tell and retell positive stories and abstain from mutual demonization.

In this article I propose to remind both Muslims and Christians about a promise that Prophet Muhammed (pbuh) made to Christians. The knowledge of this promise can have enormous impact on Muslim conduct towards Christians. Muslims generally respect the precedent of their Prophet and try to practice it in their lives.

In 628 AD, a delegation from St. Catherine's Monastery came to Prophet Muhammed and requested his protection. He responded by granting them a charter of rights, which I reproduce 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 1,400 years under Muslim protection.

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)."

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 though 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 is 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.

by Dr. Muqtedar Khan

Director of Islamic Studies at the University of Delaware and a fellow of the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding.

AND ALSO READ THIS!

ISA?pertahankannya?...

http://minaq-jinggo.fotopages.com

I'm just lost for words when i saw this!! ini nak menegakkan maruah melayu atau MENJATUHKAN? who ever did this, you should be ashamed of yourself..apa jua justifikasi yang anda berikan MESKIPUN sekiranya wanita tersebut telah mengeluarkan kata2 kesat sekalipun(in which i don't think is the case), there should be NOTHING, NO CIRCUMSTANCES at all that the person have to act that way...

kepada wanita tersebut, silalah buat laporan polis!!!sila lah!!

dan apa kena mengena hak orang melayu dan Islam(bukan kah hak Islam harus diketengahkan dahulu?) dengan mempertahankan ISA? tahukah kamu peratus orang Islam dan kaum melayu KAMU sendiri yang berada di dalam ISA itu?

namun, pernahkah Allah swt mahupun rasulNya SAW menyuruh kita hanya mempertahankan umat kita sahaja dan tidak mempedulikan manusia2 lain, berkenaan dengan penindasan dan ketidakadilan?

astaghfirullahalazim..mengucap lah wahai teman saudaraku..buka lah mata dan hati kita ini...

hak suami MEMUKUL isteri?

Salam,

just wanted to share something i read in a magazine and thought to myself that husbands n wives should know of this...

Menghukum isteri yang nusyuz oleh Dr. Arieff Salleh Rosman.

...Scr dasarnya Islam memberikan hak kepada suami untuk menghukum isteri, jika isteri mengabaikan tanggungjawabnya terhadap Allah swt atau terhadap hak suami yang diperuntukkan oleh Allah swt.

pengabaian tanggungjawab isteri terhadap Allah --> jika isteri meninggalkan arahan Allah swt, melakukan perkara yang dilarang Allah swt like x tutup aurat apabila keluar rumah, x mahu solat, suka mengumpat or menyakiti hati jiran.

pengabaian isteri terhadap suami --> hak suami diabaikan..apabila isteri tidak mahu mentaati suami dalam perkara yang tidak bercanggah dalam hukum Islam.

seksyen 59(2) Akta Undang-Undang Keluarga Islam(Wilayah-Wilayah persekutuan) 1984,
(tertakluk kepada hukum syarak) seorang isteri tidak berhak mendapat nafkah apabila dia nusyuz...

nusyuz --> (a) apabila dia menjauhkan diri daripada suaminya
(b) apabila dia meninggalkan rumah suami bertentangan dengan kemahuan
suaminya
(c) apabila dia enggan berpindah bersama suaminya ke satu rumah atau tempat lain,
tanpa apa-apa sebab yang sah mengikut Hukum Syarak.

tanggungjawab suami untuk menghukum isteri yang melakukan maksiat atau nusyuz adalah berpandukan al-Quran dan hadith.

Imam Mujahid, seorang pakar ilmu tafsir menjelaskan, "hendaklah kamu wahai para ketua keluarga memberi nasihat kepada ahli keluarga kamu agar mereka takutkan Allah swt dan didiklah mereka."

...namun soalnya bagaimana si suami harus menghukum si isteri?adakah hak ini diberikan secara bebas kepada si suami untuk melakukan apa saja kepada si isteri? adakah suami boleh memukul atau menampar si isteri sesuka hati atau hanya dengan alasan si isteri tidak mahu mendengar kata si suami?

Surah an-Nisa' ayat 34,
"...dan perempuan-perempuan yang kamu bimbang melakukan perbuatan derhaka (nusyuz) hendaklah kamu menasihati mereka dan (jika mereka berdegil) pulaukanlah mereka di tempat tidur dan (kalau juga mereka masih degil) pukullah mereka (dengan pukulan ringan yang bertujuan mengajarnya). Kemudian jika mereka taat kepada kamu, maka janganlah kamu mencari-cari jalan untuk menyusahkan mereka. Sesungguhnya Allah Maha Tinggi, lagi Maha Besar."

--> dalam surah ini, Allah swt telah menjelaskan kepada para suami cara-cara untuk menghukum isteri nusyuz.
(1) memberi nasihat; jika masih berdegil
(2) tidak tidur bersama; jika masih berdegil
(3) memukul isteri(dengan pukulan ringan yg bertujuan mengajarnya).

-... dan pakar perundangan Islam menjelaskan bahawa suami perlulah mengikut turutan yang sudah ditetapkan oleh Allah swt.
(suami tidak boleh memukul isteri jika baru pertama kali isteri melakukan kesilapan!!!)

Imam al-Kharqi menjelaskan,"...jika masih melakukan nusyuz(setelah 2 cara sebelumnya gagal) maka suami hendaklah memukul isteri TETAPI BUKAN dengan pukulan yang boleh mencederakan!!)

...Kesimpulannya, Islam mengarahkan suami untuk menghukum isteri yg nusyuz adalah dengan tujuan untuk MENDIDIK, dan BUKAN untuk membalas dendam atau menzalimi!!!

sasha adds:
i just hope more and more women realise this!!IT IS NOT as of right a man can beat the crap out of women!!and in the light of this posting, i hope men can also realise that pukul is just NOT the way, man!!

n jgn senang2 nk menggunakan nama Islam in justifying your cowardly acts!!