Source: Phys.org

Prophet Muhammad believed that freedom of religion and civic rights were important components of a ‘Muslim nation,’ according to a Rice University analysis of the prophet’s covenants with Christians. The researcher argues that the covenants can be used to develop a stronger democratic partnership between Muslims and Christians in the Islamic world and elsewhere.

“Religious Pluralism and Civic Rights in a ‘Muslim Nation’: An Analysis of Prophet Muhammad’s Covenants with Christians” appeared in the February edition of the journal Religions. The paper’s author, Craig Considine, a lecturer in Rice’s Department of Sociology, studied “The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad with Christians” and found that these agreements established freedom of religion and civic rights for Christians living within the “ummah” (Arabic for “community”).

“These covenants were designed to protect and even defend peaceful Christian communities, not attack them,” Considine said. “The research clearly shows that contemporary Islamic states that mistreat and discriminate against Christians cannot be justified in light of Prophet Muhammad’s covenants.”

The covenants were written between 622 and 632 A.D. Considine said it is assumed they were written because of Prophet Muhammad’s desire to build alliances to bolster his new community and because of his positive interactions with members of the Christian faith.

The paper explores the prophet’s covenants with the monks of Mount Sinai, the Christians of Najran, the Christians of Persia and the Christians of the World.

In “The Covenant of the Prophet with the Christians of Persia,” the prophet was emphatic on the issue of complete religious freedom:

“And even as they honor and respect me, so shall Muslims care for that people as being under our protection and whensoever any distress or discomfort shall overtake (Christians), Muslims shall hold themselves in duty bound to aid and care for them, for they are a people subject to my Nation, obedient to their word, whose helpers also they are. It therefore is proper for my sake to attend to their comfort, protection and aid, in face of all opposition and distress, suppressing everything that becomes a means to their spoliation,” the prophet wrote.

Considine said a similar—if not identical—passage is found in the three other covenants addressed in this paper.

“Prophet Muhammad made it clear that freedom of religion is an inherent right for Christians living in a Muslim nation,” he said. “His cordial relations with Christians were not due merely to political expediency or personal aspirations, but rather they resulted from his belief that Christians should be able to freely practice their own faith in accordance with their own will. Christian Persians were under no compulsion whatsoever to accept or reject Islam.”

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2016-03-freedom-religion-civic-rights-important.html#jCp