بسم لله الرحمان الرحيم
In the name of Almighty God, the most gracious, the most merciful. This is a letter, written by myself, that was published last Friday, April 4th, in Ashland, OH's newspaper the Times Gazette. I thought I would share it with those who aren't from Ashland, and those who are but don't regularly read the paper.
To our neighbors, friends and family,
First of all allow me to extend to you our greeting of peace, “assalaamu aleikum wa rahmatullah”, which means, “may the peace and mercy of Almighty God be upon you”. We, the Islamic Society of Ashland, would like to formally introduce ourselves to the greater Christian majority, and express our wish to be cooperating members of the religious community. Now we know that it seems that relations between our faiths seem tense in today’s world. However, it is my and our congregations sincere hope that we could bridge some of those gaps and be an example to our beloved country and our world that we indeed can work together for the common good, through our mutual belief in the one true God, our mutual love for Jesus Christ, peace be upon him, and our desire to see “One Nation Under God” mean something again. Ashland is a wonderful place, indeed someplace special, and we hope that we can be a part of that. As you may know, much of our faith is based on the teachings of our prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, so allow me to share with you what he said about Christians in his letter to the monks of St. Catherine‘s Monastery in the year 628 of the common era.
“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! (God) 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).”
We hope that these words from our beloved prophet might provide some enlightenment about our often misunderstood faith, and we pray that we can become friends and partners in the spiritual development of our community.
We pray that you accept this letter as a gesture of peace and cooperation, and that you might share it with the congregations of your churches.
First of all allow me to extend to you our greeting of peace, “assalaamu aleikum wa rahmatullah”, which means, “may the peace and mercy of Almighty God be upon you”. We, the Islamic Society of Ashland, would like to formally introduce ourselves to the greater Christian majority, and express our wish to be cooperating members of the religious community. Now we know that it seems that relations between our faiths seem tense in today’s world. However, it is my and our congregations sincere hope that we could bridge some of those gaps and be an example to our beloved country and our world that we indeed can work together for the common good, through our mutual belief in the one true God, our mutual love for Jesus Christ, peace be upon him, and our desire to see “One Nation Under God” mean something again. Ashland is a wonderful place, indeed someplace special, and we hope that we can be a part of that. As you may know, much of our faith is based on the teachings of our prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, so allow me to share with you what he said about Christians in his letter to the monks of St. Catherine‘s Monastery in the year 628 of the common era.
“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! (God) 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).”
We hope that these words from our beloved prophet might provide some enlightenment about our often misunderstood faith, and we pray that we can become friends and partners in the spiritual development of our community.
We pray that you accept this letter as a gesture of peace and cooperation, and that you might share it with the congregations of your churches.
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