Is the Charter of Medina Significant Today?
And why was it cited at a counter-terrorism lecture?
In the question period following a recent counter-terrorism lecture, it was mentioned that the hostility towards Jews found in Islamic primary doctrine began after Mohammed’s migration from Mecca to Medina where there were three Jewish tribes.
One of the lecture participants then cited the ‘Charter of Medina’ as an example of co-operation between Mohammed and the Jews, so it is useful to know what that Covenant consisted of.
The Covenant of Medina set out “reciprocal obligations” and for the first time described Mohammed’s “believers and Muslims” as “one community (umma) to the exclusion of all men.” That a “believer shall not slay a believer for the sake of an unbeliever, nor shall he aid an unbeliever against a believer.” That “believers are friends one to the other to the exclusion of outsiders” and that “no polytheist shall intervene against a believer.” Whenever there were differences about a matter they had to be “referred to God and to Muhammad.” “The close friends of the Jews are as themselves. None of them shall go out to war save with the permission of Muhammad.”
Within five years of Mohammed’s migration to Medina, all members of the three Jewish tribes had either accepted Islam, been exiled or killed.
The migration (hijra) to Medina is significant, marking the beginning of the Islamic calendar and a change of tactics to include ‘fighting in the cause of Allah’ – jihad – in the spread of Islam. Mohammed himself personally participated in 27 such battles.
The Koran describes Mohammed as the best example for all to follow.
Study the doctrine.
Sources:
Koran Chapter 59 (Exile) https://legacy.quran.com/59
Koran 3:12 https://legacy.quran.com/3/12-13
Koran 3:28 https://legacy.quran.com/3/28
Koran 3:12 https://legacy.quran.com/3/12-13
Koran 33:26-27 https://legacy.quran.com/33/26-27
Koran 9:29 https://legacy.quran.com/9/29
Hadith Muslim 1765 https://sunnah.com/muslim:1765
Hadith Bukhari 3152 https://sunnah.com/bukhari:3152
Hadith Bukhari 7157 https://sunnah.com/bukhari:7157
Guillaume, Alfred. 'The Life of Muhammad: a Translation of Ishaq’s Sirat Rasul Allah' (p. 231, 281, 363, 437, 461-66, 659). Oxford University Press, 1967 https://archive.org/details/GuillaumeATheLifeOfMuhammad/page/n3/mode/2up
** Koranic verses recommending Mohammed as a role model: https://cspi-web-media.ams3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/documents/The_Sunna_of_Mohammed.pdf