It is a little known fact of history that Muhammad, the founder of the Islamic religion/nation, once sent a letter to the Orthodox Christian monastery of Mount Sinai (Saint Catherine’s) vowing to protect its inhabitants as well as all Christians (the Achtiname of Muhammad, c. AD 628). This was to be in effect forever, and was “signed” with an imprint and outline of Muhammad’s own hand.

Here’s a section of that letter translated into English:

“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 is to disobey the covenant till the Last Day.”

There are certain of Muslims today that seem to abide by Muhammad’s words here. The Muslims who recently came to the aid of the Coptic Orthodox Christians in Egypt after a series of church bombings comes to mind (offering themselves as “human shields” so the Christians could worship in peace, without fear of attack), as do the Muslims protesting alongside Christians in Cairo and Alexandria during Egypt’s recent civil unrest (and we must certainly petition St Mark for his intercessions in these matters).

However, there are other Muslims who do not follow this, obviously. It seems to me the adherence to Muhammad’s own instructions would be critical for Muslims, but for whatever reason, only one of the Muslim sects seems to take this to heart (while another sect has been guilty for centuries of mass atrocities, murder and genocide, often with American support).

As Christians, we need to be careful not to generalize and “write off” all Muslims, as if there’s no distinction. What we should do, however, is pray for them all and for their salvation.

Lord, have mercy.

http://franciscanmafia.wordpress.com/2011/02/11/muhammads-testament-in-protection-of-christians/