Safeguarding Houses of Worship

Safeguarding monasteries, churches, synagogues, and mosques is an Islamic cause

Allah Almighty (God, the Most High) says in the Holy Qur’an:

22:39. It is permitted for those who have been persecuted to fight. And God is able to give them victory. 40. The ones who were driven out of their homes without justice, except that they said: “Our Lord is God!” And if it were not for God defending mankind against themselves, then many places of gathering, and markets, and support centers, and temples where the name of God is frequently mentioned, would have been destroyed. God will give victory to those who support Him. God is Powerful, Noble.  Safeguarding monasteries, churches, synagogues, and mosques is an Islamic cause. Those who destroy houses of worship or kill worshippers commit un-Islamic and un-Godly acts.

During the life of Prophet Muhammad, the Jews in Madina had a synagogue and an educational institute, Bait-Al-Midras. The Prophet preserved the institute and gave protection to the Jews.

The Prophet respected the autonomy of the Christian churches. The nomination and the appointment of bishops and priests was left to the Christian community itself.

The Prophet sent a message to the monks of Saint Catherine in Mount Sinai:

   "This is a message written by Muhammad ibn Abdullah, as a covenant to those who adopt Christianity, far and near, we are behind them. Verily, I defend them by myself, the servants, the helpers, and my followers, because Christians are my citizens; and by Allah! I hold out against anything that displeases them. No compulsion is to be on them. Neither are their judges to be changed from their jobs, nor their monks from their monasteries. No one is to destroy a house of their religion, to damage it, or to carry anything from it to the Muslims' houses. Should anyone take any of these, he would spoil God's covenant and disobey His Prophet. Verily, they (Christians) are my allies and have my secure charter against all that they hate. No one is to force them to travel or to oblige them to fight. The Muslims are to fight for them. If a female Christian is married to a Muslim, this is not to take place without her own wish. She is not to be prevented from going to her church to pray. Their churches are to be respected. They are neither to be prevented from repairing them nor the sacredness of their covenants. No one of the nation is to disobey this covenant till the Day of Judgment and the end of the world."