Minorities in an Islamic State — Page 49
49 What is more important is that the Muslims have always respected and preserved the sanctity of non- Muslim temples. They have never allowed any Muslim to violate their sanctity by staying in them. On the other hand the Muslims themselves have inserted this condition in many of the agreements they signed that they would not let any Muslim reside in non-Muslim temples. For instance, this condition is very much clear in their agreement with the Christians of Jerusalem. It is interesting to note that this agreement was signed by Hadrat ‘ Umar ra himself. We reproduce parts of the treaty in support of our thesis: "This is the pledge of protection granted by the Servant of Allah, Commander of the faithful, ‘ Umar, to the people of Elia. This protection covers their lives and properties, their sick and healthy, it extends to all belonging to all religions. Their churches shall not be lived in, they shall not be destroyed and their buildings and compounds shall not be harmed in any way. Their properties shall not be appropriated. They shall not be interfered with in their religious matters. They shall not be harmed in any other way. All that is mentioned in this deed is guaranteed by Allah, His Prophet sa , the Khulaf a and by the Muslims, the only condition being that they continue to pay the fixed amount of