John Andrew Morrow and AbdurRahman Abou Almajd Speak about The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad with the Christians of the World

John Andrew Morrow and AbdurRahman Abou Almajd Speak about The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad with the Christians of the World.   
    

We have a fresh opportunity to reflect about Prophet Muhammad with the Christians of the World, At this point John Andrew Morrow is not only going to speak about his views on his book but he will also speak about the relation between the Prophet Muhammad and the Christians.

John Andrew Morrow

Former Professor of Spanish, Literature, and Islamic Culture for the University of Virginia’s Semester at Sea Program.

After completing his Honors BA, MA, and PhD at the University of Toronto, he pursued Arabic studies in Morocco and the United States. Besides his Western education, Dr. Morrow has completed the full cycle of Islamic seminary studies. Dr. Morrow has spent over a decade in the United States working at various universities including Park University, Northern State University, Eastern New Mexico University, the University of Virginia, and Ivy Tech-Northeast. One of his most noteworthy and memorable experiences involved working as a professor of advanced Spanish, Islamic culture, and world literature for the Institute for Shipboard Education’s Semester at Sea Program.

He is the author of The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad with the Christians of the World (Angelico Press Sophia Perennis &, 2013), Islamic Images and Ideas: Essays on Sacred Symbolism (McFarland, 2003), Religion and Revolution: Spiritual and Political Islam in Ernesto Cardenal (Cambridge Scholars, 2012), Islamic Insights: Writings and Reviews (Ansariyan, 2012), The Encyclopedia of Islamic Herbal Medicine (McFarland, 2011), Amerindian Elements in the Poetry of Ernesto Cardenal (Edwin Mellen, 2010), Amerindian Elements in the Poetry of Rubén Darío (Edwin Mellen, 2008), and Arabic, Islam, and the Allah Lexicon (Edwin Mellen, 2006).

The interview

Q: First of all I know your efforts are great, I wonder what made you focus on the Prophet Muhammad with the Christians.

JAM: As Almighty Allah says in the Qur’an, “when thou threwest, it was not thy act, but Allah’s” (8:17). We are, directly or indirectly, consciously or unconsciously, agents in the plan of Allah. “The disbelievers planned,” states the Qur’an, “but Allah planned. And Allah is the best of planners” (3:54). I never imagined that I would publish any scholarship on the subject of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, and the Christians.

While I walk the path as a spiritual wayfarer, and am fully focused on the goal of my quest, I have no foreknowledge of what awaits me on the journey. Obstacles are placed in my path, challenges confront me, and battles ensue. Although there is peril on the path, it also possesses many riches and treasures. At times, evidence is laid before me, hints, tracks, and traces appear, and, lo and behold, I am compelled to commence an academic adventure. Slowly but surely, I am drawn deeper and deeper into a scholarly and spiritual pilgrimage through a process of unveiling with one clue to leading to another.

Q: Could you elaborate on the Prophet Muhammad and the Christians of Najran?

JAM: The relationship between the Prophet Muhammad, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and the Christians of Najran is one that is long, complex, understudied, and greatly misunderstood. This is unfortunate as the facts are thought-provoking.

When we speak of the Christians of Najran, we need to understand that we are not speaking about a single community but a group of communities, some of which maintained the Christian faith while submitting to the authority of the Prophet, and others that embraced Islam. The Prophet met with numerous delegations from Najran between the second year of the hijrah until the last year of his life. He concluded a series of treaties with them, including The Treaty of Najran which is mentioned in Ibn Ishaq and Mufid, which protected their churches, monasteries, clergymen, and property, and confirmed that they would not oppress nor be oppressed.

The most important of these patents of protection was the Covenant of the Prophet Muhammad with the Christians of Najran, a copy of which was found in library in Iraq by Habib the Monk in the late ninth century CE and which is found in the Chronique de Séert. While some scholars have suggested that the document is apocryphal, its antiquity is unquestionable, and its content is in full agreement with the Qur’an and Sunnah, along with other letters and treaties of the Prophet which have survived to the present.

So, I would encourage all readers, both Muslims and People of the Book, to familiarize themselves with the Covenant of the Prophet Muhammad with the Christians of Najran, but also with the covenants that he concluded with other Christian communities which I have brought back to light in my recent book. These documents provide unprecedented insight into the early history of Islam and the manner in which Muslims are expected to treat true Christians.

Q: I wonder how you view the Prophet Muhammad?

JAM: The Prophet Muhammad was a Perfect Human Being, not by means of acquired perfection as can be obtained by means of spiritual stages, but by an innate gift granted by Almighty Allah. He was not a mere receptacle of revelation among receptacles. He was the Primal Soul that predated Adam. As the Messenger of Allah explained in various traditions, he was a prophet prior to the creation of Adam (Ibn al-‘Arabi, Tirmidhi, Ibn Hibban, and al-Hakim). As such, he was preordained to assume the final prophetic mission. The Prophet Muhammad was, and is, the greatest man who ever lived. A man of sublime character (68:4), he was the manifestation of the mercy of Allah towards His Creation (21:107).

Q: Could you elaborate on the assertion that “Muslims are not to attack peaceful Christian communities, but defend them ‘until the End of the World.’”

JAM: When I proclaim that Muslims are not to attack peaceful Christian communities, but defend them until the end of the world, I speak not on my behalf; I am merely acting as a conduit and message-bearer from the Messenger of Allah. “Whoever oppresses non-Muslims subjects,” warned the Prophet Muhammad, “shall find me to be their advocate on the Day of Judgment [against the Muslim oppressors]” (Abu Dawud). He even provided this warning in writing in The Covenant of the Prophet Muhammad with the Christians of the World, a pact of protection provided to the Christians of Egypt, which warns that: “Whoever is unjust after this towards a [Christian] subject [dhimmi], breaks the covenant and rejects it, I will be his enemy on the Day of Judgment among all the Muslims.”

Again and again, in both the Qur’an and Sunnah, Almighty Allah and the Messenger of Allah command Muslims to stand firmly for justice (4:135). Since believing Muslims are obliged to “obey Allah and obey the Messenger” (4:59), they are bound by the treaties he concluded with the Christian communities of his time. The Qur’an is categorical that Muslims must abide by the covenants they have concluded (17:34; 5:1; 2:177; 61:2-3; 13:25; 3:76-77; 8:55-56).

Why, many Muslims will ask, did the Messenger of Allah promise to protect Christians until the Day of Judgment? For committed Muslims, the question does not even arise. As true believers, they hear and they obey (2:285). As for ahl al-shakk, the People of Doubt, who have not tasted the sweetness of haqq al-yaqin or knowledge of certainty, and who need rational explanations, the reasons are evident.

The life of Muhammad was in danger from the moment of his birth. According to numerous traditions, some malevolent Jews were awaiting for the arrival of the final prophet and messenger of God, not to pledge their allegiance to him, but rather, to prevent him from proclaiming his prophecy by means of a pre-emptive assassination. Other Jews, of course, lived in peace with the Muslims, and some even embraced Islam.

During the early days of the hijrah, Muslims were a minuscule minority surrounded by some hostile Jewish and polytheistic tribes. The very survival of the Muslim community was in danger and Islam, itself, was in great peril. As the Messenger of Allah explains in his letter to the Christians of Najran, which precedes the covenant he concluded with this community, it was the Christians who came to the aid of the Muslims. Not only did they publicize the cause of Allah, they defended the Messenger of Allah, debunked the arguments of his Jewish opponents, and waged war against those who hated his doctrine.

While these facts have been suppressed for nearly a millennium and a half, Christian knights fought side and side with the early Muslims against the Jews, the polytheists, and the Byzantine Christians. Since many of these early Christian supporters of the Prophet eventually embraced Islam, their memory was forgotten. As a result of centuries of European Christian aggression, Crusades, colonialism, and neo-imperialism, most Muslims no longer had any romantic illusions of Christian-Muslim solidarity. As this current juncture in history, the time has come for true Christians and true Muslims to return to their primordial relationship.

Seditious sources will probably whisper that I am acting as an apologist for Christianity per se, when nothing can be further from the true. When I speak of Christians, I speak of the type of Christians that the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, spoke about: true, believing, and practicing Christians who are at peace with true, believing, and practicing Muslims; not nominal Christians, not Crusaders, not colonizers, and certainly not neo-imperialists and invaders.

Europe has not been a Christian continent for a long time. Only 51% of French people profess to be Christians; only 52% of these nominal Catholics believe in the existence of God; and only 8% attend mass weekly. In contrast, 90% of Americans believe in God and 41% attend church regularly. However, an influential number of these individuals belong to the Religious Right, which I prefer to label the Religious Wrong.

While there are conservative, traditional, Christians who are deeply committed to social justice based on immutable principles, many right-wing Christians are racist, sexist, anti-Islamites who happily serve the powers elites who have brought the world to the brink of destruction. While they claim to be Christians, they are the very antithesis of Christ. The same, however, applies to many nominal Muslims. This is not to say that they are infidels or to engage in takfir, a plague that has contaminated segments of the Ummah, but that they fall short of the ethical and moral standards set forth in the Qur’an and the Sunnah. So, just like we cannot claim that there are no true Muslims, we cannot claim that there are no true Christians.

Though they may be a minority in most of the Western world, there really are pious, observant, Christians, both lay and clergy, who embody the teachings of Christ. As Almighty Allah affirms in the Qur’an, “Thou wilt find the nearest of them in affection to those who believe (to be) those who say: ‘Lo! We are Christians.’ That is because there are among them priests and monks and because they are not proud” (5:82).

According to universally-accepted laws of warfare, Muslims, like all other people, have not only the right, but the obligation to defend their homelands if they are occupied, invaded or attacked. However, if and when such violations of Muslim sovereignty take place, any resistance must abide by the teachings of the Qur’an, the Sunnah, and the Shari‘ah.

While Muslims can, and must, fight Christian aggressors--and certainly not all western enemies of Islam are Christians--they must always treat Christian allies and Christian minorities with justice. Islam expressly forbids the slaughter of non-combatants and prisoners of war; outlaws sexual assault, torture, and mutilation, as well as suicide and wanton destruction.

If the Prophet Muhammad commanded his Companions and followers to protect and defend Christians until the end of the world it was because the Messenger of Allah was not merely the leaders of Muslims; he was also the Patriarch of the People of the Book. As he himself stated, he was the rightful ruler of the world. As such, it was his duty to treat all of his subjects with love and kindness.

Regarding the Christians, the Prophet explained in many of his covenants that “they are part of my own people, and an honor to me.” Rather than persecute them or exterminate them, the Messenger of Allah ordered Muslims to honor them and help them. By treating minorities well, Muslim rulers would thus earn the love, trust, and loyalty of their subjects. In such a way, they might open their hearts.

Finally, if the Prophet protected Christians, it was because he knew that they would play an important role during the rapture, the end of days, and the apocalypse. If Jesus is a Sign of the Hour of Judgment (43:61), he is primarily a sign for Christians, as Muslims already believe that he was a prophet and Messiah and not God or the son of God; nonetheless, Muslim eschatology predicts that he will return to earth before the Hour to slay al-Dajjal, the Antichrist.

If Jesus is to testify before the exaggerators among his followers (4:14; 5:116), then Christians must certainly survive until the end of time. Many of these Christians will side with Islam while others will oppose it. Those Christians who do embrace Islam will most certainly do so after they witness the return of Jesus, peace be upon him.

Q: Thomas Carlyle, as you surely know, was among the first people to speak against the Christian lies against Muhammad, I wonder if you would like to add anything.

JAM: The Creator Himself confirms the fact that Muhammad was a magnificent man and the very embodiment of ethics. As Almighty Allah attests in the Qur’an: “And thou (standest) on an exalted standard of character” (68:4). While the enemies of God and humanity may slander the Prophet, he has been exalted by Allah Himself: “And [have we not] raise thee high in dignity” (94:4). As for the defamers, “they are but liars!” (58:18).

JAM: If one examines the treaties, covenants, and pacts concluded between the Prophet Muhammad and the Christian communities of his time, it becomes evident that the conditions he imposed upon both Muslims and Christians went beyond mere “tolerance” and “mercy.” According to all standards, ancient and modern, the Prophet Muhammad treated his subjects, not only with justice, but with paternal love. The bar he has set is so high that it reaches the heavens. While Muslims may not always be able to reach this peak, and most do not even try, they should make every effort possible to emulate this remarkable human being.

Q: You recently published The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad with the Christians of the World for both Christians and Muslims. What motivated you to do so?

JAM: Muslims are the most murdered people on the planet. Despite all the propaganda aimed at creating the illusion that Western civilization is under attack by Muslim terrorists, the reality remains that the overwhelming majority of victims of terrorism, both that of state actors and rogue organizations, are Muslims.

So, while we care about minorities, regardless of their religion, we must never forget the Muslim majorities. But neither must we forget that a majority is judged by the manner in which it treats its minorities. To persecute defenseless men, women, and children merely because of their beliefs is unacceptable according to any legitimate interpretation of Islam.

While it is one thing for Muslims to denounce the killing of Muslims, it is an act far more chivalrous for them to come to aid of persecuted Christian minorities. Since so-called Islamist terrorists commit atrocities in the name of Islam, Muslims who remain silent become complicit in their crimes.

The Covenants Initiative, which calls upon Muslims to abide by the treaties of the Prophet, sends a clear message to both Christians and Muslims: the crimes committed by so-called Islamist terrorists are not done in our name or in the name of the Islamic religion.

I would like to close with a word from the Messenger of Allah, may Almighty Allah shower him with the best of blessings, which states: “Whoever killed a mu‘ahid [a person who was granted a pledge of protection by the Prophet] shall not smell the fragrance of Paradise though its fragrance can be smelt at a distance of forty years” (Bukhari).

May all Muslims hearken, hear, and heed the commands of the Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, acquire the attributes of the best of examples, promote the good, and forbid the wrong.

“But the deaf hear not the call when they are warned” (21:45).

Q: Should Christians Read the Qur’an?

JAM: Christians should not only read the Qur’an, they should love it and live it. The Qur’an is the natural continuity and completion of the Judeo-Christian tradition; the very culmination of the Abrahamic tradition.

Abdur-Rahman Abou Almajd: Thank you very much, shukran, John.

John Andrew Morrow: Shukralillah.