Page 150 - Islam Denounces Terrorism

148 Islam Denounces Terrorism

people adopt just and compassionate attitudes in these lands. All these
attitudes were in compliance with the values of the Qur'an. Abu Bakr
gave the following command to his army before the first Syrian expe-
dition:

Stop, O people, that I may give you ten rules to keep by heart:
Do not commit treachery, nor depart from the right path. You
must not mutilate, neither kill a child or aged man or woman.
Do not destroy a palm tree, nor burn it with fire and do not cut
any fruitful tree. You must not slay any of the flock or herds or
the camels, save for your subsistence. You are likely to pass by

people who have devoted their lives to monastic services; leave
them to that to which they have devoted their lives. You are
likely, likewise, to find people who will present to you meals of
many kinds. You may eat; but do no forget to mention the name
of God. 4

Omar ibn al-Khattab, who succeeded Abu Bakr, was famous for
the way he exercised justice and made contracts with the indigenous
people of the conquered countries. Each one of these contracts proved
to be an example of compassion and justice. For instance, in his decla-
ration granting protection to Christians in Jerusalem and Lod, he
ensured that churches would not be demolished and guaranteed that

Muslims would not worship in churches in groups. Omar granted the
same conditions to the Christians of Bethlehem.

During the conquest of Medain, the declaration of protection
given to the Nestorian Patriarch Isho'yab III (650 - 660 AD) again guar-
anteed that churches would not be demolished and that no building
5
would be converted into a house or a mosque. The letter written by the
patriarch to the bishop of Fars (Persia) after the conquest is most strik-
ing, in the sense that it depicts the understanding and compassion
shown by Muslim rulers to the People of the Book in the words of a
Christian: