THE COVENANT OF MEDINA
(The World's First Written Constitution)
After immigrating from Mecca to Medina, the Prophet Muhammad established a nation of equals based on the brotherhood between the Muslims in Medina and those from Mecca regardless of wealth or social status. The Muslims of Medina shared their wealth and homes with the immigrants from Mecca, who left their homes and possessions behind to escape from religious persecution.
Muhammad invited the Jews to join the new society as an independent nation, governed by rabbinical court, within the Muslim Nation. The Jews accepted and an agreement known as The Covenant of Medina was signed in 622 AD.
The covenant guaranteed all the parties equality and freedom of religion; emphasized the sanctity of Medina, life, and individual possessions; and prohibited crime.
The Covenant of Medina was a giant leap for mankind and established the basis for treating non-Muslim minorities within the Muslim Nation which ruled the civilized world for more than 8 centuries.
Minorities were not merely tolerated but treated as independent nations free to practice their religion, wear their traditional clothing, maintain their own language and customs, and follow their religious law.
The treatment of minorities within the Muslim Nation was superior to that within any country in the world today. This treatment was also one of the reasons Islam spread very rapidly throughout the civilized world in the 7th century.
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Revised on 10/3/99
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