by Pave The Way Foundation | May 3, 2013 | Peace
During our research with the Greek Orthodox Church, we located numerous documents hand signed by the Prophet Muhammad, Blessings and Peace be upon him, granting permanent protection to Christians and to their churches. These documents have been in existence since the original order given by Muhammad in 628 ACE. We have located several recent documents which confirm the original charter of rights.
These mandates are not widely known to the Muslim world.
Any Muslim who violates these mandates is insulting Islam and insulting the Prophet Muhammad, Blessings and Peace be upon him.
Important book by Dr. John Andrew Morrow (Imam Ilyas Islam) – The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad with the Christians of the World
Pave The Way sponsored a running feature of the Covenants of Protection in the International New York Times. (PDF)
“The images of these manuscripts are copies of covenants, which contain a picture of a hand. This image, plus original wax seals, shows that the originals were touched and approved by the Prophet Muhammad, Blessings and Peace be upon him. As authenticated primary documents, which predate the compilation of the Sunnah, these covenants carry the same legal authority as the Holy Qur’an.
These covenants order the followers of the Prophet, Blessings and Peace be upon him, to protect peaceful Christians, Jews, and other allied communities until the end of days. They order that the churches and synagogues and Holy Shrines equally must be protected. They declare that Christians and Jews are believers in one God who form an integral part of the Muslim Ummah or Community. They are not infidels or non-believers.
What has happened? The existence of these covenants has been hidden from the believers, by agents of Satan who lie and pervert the goodness of Islam for their evil purposes. These agents of Satan are disguised as religious leaders to trick the good people into performing evil acts, which are not in service of Allah but only serve Satan. How many of these false leaders, who preached violence and hatred, have sent their own children out to die?
We want to warn all true Muslims who listen to the lies of these agents of Satan to repent if they wish to save their souls. Do not act on their evil demands, do not give them money or any support, shun them and denounce them if you truly wish to enter paradise.
We urge to true believers to join us and sign the Covenant Initiative, to expose the evil doers who only bring international hatred and fear of Islam.” – Dr. John Andrew Morrow (Imam Ilyas Abd al-Alim Islam) above in Arabic, Spanish, French, and Italian. (PDF)
Pave the Way Foundation gratefully acknowledges Dr. John Andrew Morrow for his images of the Covenants.
Muhammad’s Promise to the Monks of St. Catherine’s Monastery Until the End of Days:
“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).”
In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
This is a book written by Mohammed bin Abdullah to all people together; A bearer of glad tiding and a warner[1], and entrusted with a deposit[2] of God in his creation, so that mankind will have no argument against God after the messengers, and God is Mighty and Wise[3]. He wrote it to the people of his religion and all who follow the Christian religion, from the East to the Western of the earth, near or far, natives or foreigners, known or unknown. A book made covenant with them, he who violates the covenant that is in it, disobeyed it for something else, and trespassed: his affair is nothing but a violation of God’s covenant; he voids his pact, and mocks his religion, and deserves a curse, whether he was a sultan (authority) or someone else from the Muslims believers:
- Do not foreseeably change a bishop of his bishopric, nor a monk of is monkhood, an anchorite from his cell (cave), or a hermit of his hermitic[4]; and do not destroy nor sell any patrimony of their churches. Do not utilize anything (capital or materials) from church construction into the construction of a mosque or that of the homes of Muslims. He who does something like that, has broken the covenant of God and has violated his Messenger. Jizya (a fine tribute)[5] or penalty is not to be taken from monks, bishops or worshipers, and I preserve their pact wherever they are on land or sea, East or West, North or South. They are in my conscience and charter, and protection from all evil.
- Do not argue with them except in a way that is best, have mercy on them, and protect them from hated harm wherever they are and wherever they go.
- Assist in reconstruct (patch, remodel) their churches and monasteries, and this would be as aid to them in their religion and for their commitment to the covenant.
Ali bin Abi Taleb wrote this covenant with his handwriting in the Prophet’s Mosque, and witnessed this covenant the Companions of the Messenger of God, peace be upon him.
[1] Meaning: bring the good news to the believers a warner to the disbelievers.
[3] Capital letters used in Mighty and Wise because these are some of the many synonyms for the word God in Islam.
[4] “hermit of his hermitic” is the closest translation to سايح من سياحته. The verbatim translation for سايح is tourist. However, the author was not referring to our current day tourist and tourism; he refers to a spiritual ranking in the Coptic Orthodox church that can only be achieved through prayer, fasting, and being in hermit. When one reaches the level “ tourist” in the Coptic Orthodox church, it means that he can travel from point A to point B without using transportation and he can enter a building without having to go through the doors or window.
[5] Jezya: a fee that was paid by non-Muslim men to Muslims for protection. Women, children, and elders were exempt from paying it.
Translation of the supporting documents
God is great and governeth, from whom all the prophets are come, for there remaineth no record of injustice against God; through the gifts that are given unto men, Mohammed, the son of Abdallah, the Apostle of God, and careful guardian of the whole world, has written the present instrument, to all those that are his national people, and of his religion, as a secure and positive promise to be accomplished to the Christian nation and relations of the Nazareen, whosoever they may be, whether they be the noble or the vulgar, the honourable or otherwise, saying thus:
I. Whosoever of my nation shall presume to break my promise and oath which is contained in this present agreement, destroys the promise of God, acts contrary to the oath and will be a resister of the faith (which God forbid!) for he becometh worthy of the curse, whether he be the king himself or a poor man, or what person soever he may be.
II. That whenever any of the monks in his travels shall happen to settle on any mountain, hill, village, or in any other habitable place, on the sea or in deserts, or in any convent, church, or house of prayer, I shall be in the midst of them, as the preserver and protector of them, their goods and effects, with my soul, aid and protection, jointly with all my national people, because they are a part of my own people, and an honour to me.
III. Moreover, I command all officers not to require any poll tax of them or any other tribute, because they shall not be forced or compelled to anything of this kind.
IV. None shall presume to change their judges or governors, but they shall remain in their office without being deposed.
V. No one shall molest them when they are travelling on the road.
VI. Whatever churches they are possessed of, no one is to deprive them of them.
VII. Whosoever shall annul any of these my decrees, let him know positively that he annuls the ordinance of God.
VIII. Moreover, neither their judges, governors, monks, servants, disciples, or any others depending on them, shall pay any poll tax or be molested on that account, because I am their protector, wheresoever they shall be, either by land or sea, east or west, north or south; because both they and all that belong to them are included in this my promissory oath and patent.
IX. And of those that live quietly and solitary upon the mountains, they shall exact neither poll tax nor tithes from their incomes, neither shall any Mussulman partake of what they have, for they labour only to maintain themselves.
X. Whenever the crop of the earth shall be plentiful in its due time, the inhabitants shall be obliged, out of every bushel, to give them a certain measure.
XI. Neither in time of war shall they take them out of their habitation, nor compel them to go to the wars, nor even then shall they require of them any poll-tax.
In these eleven chapters is to be found whatever relates to the monks; as to the remaining seven chapters they direct what relates to every Christian.
XII. Those Christians who are inhabitants, and with their riches and traffic are able to pay the poll-tax, shall pay no more than 12 drachmas.
XIII. Excepting this, nothing more shall be required of them, according to the express word of God, that says: ‘Do not molest those that have a veneration for the Books that are sent from God, but rather, in a kind manner, give of your good things to them, and converse with them, and hinder every one from molesting them.’
XIV. If a Christian woman shall happen to marry a Mussulman, the Mussulman shall not cross the inclination of his wife to keep her from her chapel and prayers and the practice of her religion.*
XV. That no person hinder them from repairing their churches.
XVI. Whosoever acts contrary to this my grant, or gives credit to anything contrary to it, becomes truly an apostate from God and his divine Apostle, because this protection I have granted to them according to this promise.
XVII. No one shall bear arms against them, but, on the contrary, the Mussulmans shall wage war for them.
XVIII. And by this I ordain that none of my nation shall presume to do or act contrary to this promise until the end of the world.
Witnesses:
Ali the son of Abu Thaleb.
Homar, the son of Hattavi.
Ziphir, the son of Abuan.
Saith, the son of Maat.
Thavitt, the son of Nesis.
Amphachin, the son of Hassan.
Muathem, the son of Kasvi.
Azur, the son of Jassin.
Abombaker, the son of Ambi Kaphe.
Ottoman, the son of Gafas.
Ambtelack, the son of Messutt.
Phazer, the son of Abbas.
Talat, the son of Amptolack.
Saat the son of Abbatt.
Kasmer the son of Abid.
Ambtullack the son of Omar.
This present was written by the leader, the successor of Ali, the son of Abu Thaleb; the prophet marking it with his own hand at the mosque of the Prophet (on whom be peace!) in the second year of Hegira, the third day of the month of Machorem.
* Turkish lawyers give as an example of this point, that the Mussulman son of a Christian mother is bound to convey her, when old or infirm, to the church door, upon a beast (horse or a mule etc.); and should he be poor and possess no beast, he is bound to carry her on his shoulders.”[1]
(John Davenport. An apology for Mohammed and the Koran. 1869. Pages 147-151. The book is available on Archive.org)
PTWF gratefully acknowledges the assistance of the following in obtaining these manuscripts and their translations:
- St. Catherine’s Monastery – Egypt
- Dr. Nicholas Fyssas – Supervisor of the Sinaitic Archive of Monuments / Mount Sinai Foundation
- His Beatitude Theophilos III – Greek Patriarch of Jerusalem
- His Beatitude Archbishop Fouad Twal – Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem
- Mr. Michael Even
- Dr. John Andrew Morrow
by Pave The Way Foundation | Nov 8, 2012 | Peace
International conflicts and acts of terror committed in the name of religion must be viewed as a problem. One might visualize conflict as an “onion” that must be peeled away layer by layer. We must define each layer and create an effective solution to each conflict, then go to the next layer. PTWF believes that the media’s role is integral to examining and exposing the causes, which predicate international conflict and disagreement.
IS THE MEDIA OUR FRIEND OR OUR FOE?
Internationally, as we face the effects of religious extremism and the violence and terrorism carried out by zealots in every religion, we urgently must face the reality of the role of the media. Unbalanced, negative and biased reporting is leading us to a conflict of civilizations. The media industry must come to realize the role they are playing in these events and try to become part of the solution rather than adding to the problem.
No person can personally observe everything that is going on in the world. In a struggle to learn what is occurring around us, we try to absorb the information available to us. The sources we have relied upon have been print, broadcast and now Internet media. As we see the media moguls gobbling up the competition, we need to step back and take a careful look at the job they are doing. Rightfully so, as free people, we hold sacred the right of freedom of the press. However, seeing what is happening today, one must question how some appear to be using this right as a shield against criticism when held accountable for the delivery of information. As their customers we have right to demand accuracy and balance and have the right to some positive content in reporting.
When one opens the morning paper or watches the eleven o’clock news we are struck with the fact that almost nothing reported is really newsworthy. Robberies, murders, celebrity arrests, rape, fires, explosions and the like do nothing to enhance our well being or teach us anything. This type of sensationalism is simply a report card of human stupidity, which showcases the level of depravity whose bottom limits are constantly pushed lower and lower. On a positive note, there are many fine, high-quality media industry leaders who do make an effort to positively disseminate information but they are the exception rather than the rule. The dangers of negative reporting and biased, unbalanced reporting must be confronted.
When the daily reporting of news lacks balanced positive content and accuracy, or remarks are intentionally taken out of context for shock purposes in reality we are simply being lied to. The personal agendas of those who control these outlets are attempting to mold our opinions and decision making to their personal point of view. Too often we are simply misled. When intelligent people are given information from supposedly trusted sources, we logically arrive at conclusions which are wrong and may actually result in hatred, bigotry and violence.
When we take a close look at this problem we understand that first and foremost these media entities are businesses. The job of the editor is to bait us into buying their newspaper over the competition or similarly to keep our radios or TVs tuned to their station. Unfortunately, in some cases, they accomplish this by catering to the primitive human impulses and feeding us violence and negativity in huge doses.
When the news network spends hours on end reporting on a Lindsay Lohan what message are we sending to our children? When days are spent reporting a Columbine massacre how does this benefit us and who is seeing this? Many times it is someone with a similar mental illness, who may also commit this same heinous crime as they crave publicity. Doesn’t the media bear some responsibility when this crime is repeated? When the news reports the capture of a terrorist cell through cell phone chatter or an informant or that terrorists are using small liquid undetected components to create a bomb on a plane, does this not alert the enemy that we are on to them and they need to rethink their strategy. Remember the WWII phrase “a slip of the lip can sink a ship”? Aiding and abetting the enemy is a crime. Is the people’s right to know (or what the media wants you to know) outweighing the States’ responsibility to guarantee the safety and security of its citizens?
We collectively allow ourselves and our families to be exposed to this assault without objection. Politicians, community and religious leaders seem to fear the media’s wrath. After all by innuendo or a suggestion of impropriety, a person’s entire life, reputation and career can be ruined by one headline. Unfortunately, the apology or retraction never seems to get the same exposure as the accusation.
Freedom of press is of course paramount but we, John & Jane Q Public have some rights also. It’s time for a bill of rights regarding information dissemination to be instituted, which can serve as a guide for minimum standards for the media industry to follow universally. We have a rating system for the film industry – why not one for the media industry? When was the tried and true journalistic principles of reporting who, when where why and how replaced by opinions, private agendas and personal editorials?
Let’s consider creating an international award of excellence that recognizes those media entities that meet or exceed the standards of the people’s bill of rights of dissemination of information. Those media entities that consistently show disdain or ignore the right of people to accurate, positive and balanced news should be exposed and required to prominently display their rating. Possible sanctions, like exclusion from news conferences or depriving them of advertising dollars could be considered..
In the past, some media outlets have tried to report positive news and failed. The reason is that everyone did not follow suit because the public simply likes reading sensational articles. For this notion to work all media needs to follow the people’s bill of rights of information dissemination. The public’s primitive appetite for violence and depraved behavior is so ingrained that an industry wide change in reporting would be required to succeed.
Through our work with Pave the Way Foundation we have seen first hand how the Muslim community has repeatedly tried to speak out against those whose acts have defiled their religion through religiously illegal violent acts. Their public statements against violence do not get reported. As a result, the rest of the world keeps asking “why haven’t the Muslims spoken up?” There are multiple examples of this kind of reporting and photo coverage of the Israeli conflicts or the daily rocket attacks into Israel which remains unreported to this very day. Many reports are simply biased and photos have been doctored to sway the reading public in a desired direction. Because of this reality there are dozens of internet entities that do nothing but point out media distortions
For every reported act of violence or negativity, billions of positive actions remain unreported. Acts of volunteerism, kindness and charity noted across the globe are ignored by the news media. Positive stories will also sell papers because people feel good when they read of acts of kindness and goodwill. Some positive stories will go a long way towards improving our quality of life through volunteerism and by setting examples of how positive thinking and acts can change the course of history.
Our work with Pave the Way Foundation seeks to eliminate, through positive gestures, sources of friction and obstacles between religions and to encourage religious leaders to work with their governments to end the use of religion to achieve private agendas. After all, it is only the religious leaders who can respond to religious zealots, their governments only respond with violence. This tool of religion to justify war and violence has been used throughout history to cause almost every conflict on earth.
If we don’t speak up and try to effect change, if we don’t recognize this “loose cannon” in our lives, all of the trappings of wealth, which we seem to devote our lives to acquire, will be dust in a chain reaction of destruction that can be sparked by one atomic detonation. We need the media industry to be part of the solution rather than exacerbating the problem and to recognize that it has a moral obligation to become part of the team to work towards global peace.
As we all sing Kumbaya and other songs of peace, greet each other with Shalom and Salaam and pray for peace let us gather the courage to really diagnose the problem and take concrete steps to really achieve peace through action.
I close with a quote from Mark Twain “if you don’t read the newspaper you are uninformed, if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed.” My plea to the thinking public is to wake up and let your voices be heard as in the movie Network- “I want you to go to your window, and throw it open and say I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore.” Let’s do it!
Bus Ad Campaign and PTWF intervention (PDF)
by Pave The Way Foundation | Nov 6, 2012 | Peace
Continuous violence and conflict has had an enormous adverse financial impact on the regional tourism industry in the Holy Land. Both sides of the conflict suffer profound loss, not just in terms of life and human dignity, but in terms of economic and financial losses as well. During the Intifada, unemployment in Israeli hit 11% and the rate in the territories has been as high as 30-60%. Everyone is suffering. Pave the Way is trying to change the course of this negative pattern, by encouraging special visits to the Holy Land, by Christian leaders. Some of these prelates have been charged with the pastoral care and diocesan responsibility of millions of faithful Christians.
It is our belief that as economies improve, the seeds of violence and radicalism will fail to take root. Pave the Way is working with the Israeli Ministry of Tourism to encourage these most important pilgrimages.
Partnering with Israeli government officials, Pave the Way has been successful in facilitating the removal of several protocol and procedural barriers that have long been problematic to an already decimated tourism industry.
Above, Pave the Way meets with Senior Deputy of the Minister of Tourism to plan projects to increase and maintain tourism from Christian communities. Above, meeting with the Armenian Archbishop Nourhan to discuss Armenian pilgrimages. We have worked to encourage Catholic and other Christian pilgrims to come to Israel.
Planning projects to benefit the tourism industry of Israel with Raphael Ben-Hur, First Deputy General Minister of Tourism in Israel. The Ministry of Tourism is trying to encourage Christian tourists to stay longer at the Holy sites in Bethlehem, in order to help the local Palestinian population. This is an on-going effort, involving both the Israeli and Palestinian Ministries of Tourism.
May 2007, PTWF was asked to help the security personnel at Ben Gurion Airport, and so prepared a manual of information on addressing and dealing with the various religious leaders of every faith. The manual was prepared and the airport personnel were very grateful for this information. It continues to be a useful resource, over a decade later.
Tourism from China and Asia
PTWF representatives from Asia, Pastors Paul Horng-Guang Yeh and Francy have led thousands of pilgrims from Asia to Israel and the Holy Land. This wonderful work benefits both Israelis and Palestinians.
