Muhammad's Covenants and Medieval Holy Land Pluralism (1050-1300)

Several documents claim to be covenants of the Prophet Muhammad protecting Christian communities, among them the famous letter kept at Saint Catherine’s Monastery in Sinai, the Ashtiname. Some scholars see them as proof of early Islamic pluralism, others as later forgeries. What can they really tell us about Christians and Muslims in the age of the crusades?

The documents
The covenants are addressed to the monks of Mount Sinai, the Christians of Najran in southern Arabia, the Christians of Persia and the Christians of the world [1]. They promise protection of clergy, churches and property and forbid forced conversion [1]. A related covenant with the Christians of Aylah, on the Gulf of Aqaba, is reported by Muslim biographers of the Prophet from Ibn Ishaq onwards, but no manuscript of an original survives [2].

A heated debate
Authenticity is the central problem. A group of scholars led by John Andrew Morrow argues that the covenants go back to authentic originals, pointing to their many copies, shared witness lists and similar wording [3]. Critics reply that classical Islamic sources hardly mention them, that some witnesses are implausible and that the language does not resemble authentic tradition [3]. Others regard the Najran covenant as a forgery made by Christians to protect their liberties; it is preserved in the Chronicle of Seert, a church history from Iraq of around the tenth century [4]. Even many copies are late: one key manuscript appears to be an Ottoman document of the sixteenth or seventeenth century [5].

Sinai in the age of the crusades
For the period 1050 to 1300 the covenants prove less than is often claimed. The original Sinai document was taken to Istanbul after the Ottoman conquest of 1517, according to the monks, and copies were made later [1]. The claim that Fatimid, Ayyubid and Mamluk jurists treated these texts as binding rests on modern advocates of their authenticity, not on medieval legal sources [1]. What protected Christians in practice was the general Islamic law of the dhimma [protection], whose terms varied over time [4].

Coexistence seen by a witness
Daily coexistence is better documented in other sources. The Syrian emir Usama ibn Munqidh (1095 to 1188) describes praying in a small mosque beside al Aqsa in Jerusalem, then the Templars’ headquarters, by courtesy of the Templars, whom he called his friends. When a newly arrived Frank turned him eastward by force, the Templars removed the man [6].

The prophetic covenants are important documents of Christian and Muslim memory, but their origin is disputed, and for the crusading period they cannot be used as proof of a lived pluralism. Coexistence in the Holy Land was real but fragile, and it is better traced in contemporary witnesses such as Usama than in documents of uncertain date.

This blog is original work by TemplarsNow^TM based on an AI-assisted quick scan on the topic. References and further reading, Open Access if available, all links verified October 17, 2026 and all sources checked but not all studied in detail: [1] Considine, C. (2016) Religious Pluralism and Civic Rights in a Muslim Nation: An Analysis of Prophet Muhammad’s Covenants with Christians, Religions 7 (2), 15, introduction and sections 1-2; [2] Abulmajd, A. (2021) The Prophet Muhammad’s Covenant with Yuhannah Ibn Ru’bah and the Christians of Aylah, Religions 12 (6), 450, section 4.1; [3] Morrow, J.A. (2019) The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad Continue to Cause Controversy, Maydan, 16 October 2019 (reply to M. Hussain, Islamic Studies 57, 2018); [4] Rozek, M.J. (2017) Shifting Landscapes: Christian Apologetics and the Gradual Restriction of Dhimmi Social-Religious Liberties, master’s thesis, Eastern Michigan University, pp. 13-14, 34-36; [5] Morrow, J.A. (2021) The Covenants of the Prophet and the Problems of Transmission: An Analysis of a Manuscript Copied by Faris al-Shidyaq, Religions 12 (9), 751, abstract; [6] Usama ibn Munqidh (c. 1183) Memoirs (trans. P.K. Hitti, 1929), excerpt, UC Davis course reader.

Illustration: A Christian and a Muslim playing chess, Libro de los juegos of Alfonso X (c. 1283), via Wikimedia Commons (public domain).

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