
The Legacy and Impact of the Covenants
At the forefront of the Prophet Muḥammad’sﷺ Covenants was his mission to embody the mercy and compassion instructed to him by God (Allāh) in the Quran (Qurʾān). Each Covenant granted by the Prophetﷺ to the different religious communities he encountered were meant to promote justice, benevolence, and ultimately righteous conduct towards non-Muslims.
To carve the space for the semi-autonomy of a people under rulership in such a way, during such a period, remains a remarkable feat of Prophet Muḥammadﷺ. Many thriving Islamic societies emerged due to these early steps to establish interfaith relations.
Convivencia in the Iberian peninsula
The native Visigothic Christians and the Jewish communities were able to continue flourishing under the protection of the Muslims.
A great example of a religious pluralism that characterized Islamic rule was that in the Iberian Peninsula, where Muslims reigned for nearly eight hundred years. Often referred to as both the golden age of Islam and the Convivencia, or the coexistence, the way that Muslim rulers and Muslim society interacted and established relationships with non-Muslim communities is well documented. The Muslim Ummayyad conquest of the Iberian Peninsula ensured that both the native Visigothic Christians and the Jewish communities were able to continue flourishing under the protection of the Muslims. In fact, members of the Jewish community even formed integral parts of the fabric of Muslim society.
Pluralism under the Ottoman empire
Another example of a flourishing Islamic society after the time of the Prophetﷺ was the Ottoman empire between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries when it comprised of a multitude of communities spanning across Asia Minor, the Balkans, parts of the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, Iraq and Syria. The real testament of the pluralism experienced under Ottoman rule is the large number of surviving copies of the Prophet’sﷺ Covenants with the monks of Mount Sinai and the Christians of Najran. These reflect a commitment to establish peaceful ties with different non-Muslim communities, a proof of an intent to carve space for non-Muslims as opposed to merely tolerating or coexisting with them.
The symbolism of the Covenants
The Covenants represent the Prophet’sﷺ copious efforts to imbue society with a sense of harmony.
The Covenants were so revered, that they even evolved into pieces of artwork. Ornate illustrations, including a drawing of the Prophet’sﷺ hand to represent his eternal protection to Christians, were made to give the Covenants a lasting aesthetic impression and a greater sense of legitimacy.
The Covenants represent the Prophet’sﷺ copious efforts to imbue society with a sense of harmony, that in modern times, is reflected in the growing Muslim communities thriving across the world. Today, as they did then, the Covenants form part of an irrevocable bond, shared between humanity.