How did our Prophet (saas) behave toward the People of the Book?
The Prophet Muhammad (saas) was always just and compassionate toward Jews and Christians and tried to form an atmosphere based on reconciliation and love among these three religious communities. Various agreements and guarantees allowed Christians and Jews to live as autonomous religious communities. When the young Muslim community was still suffering from the Makkan polytheists’ cruelty and oppression, our Prophet (saas) advised some of them to seek refuge with the Christian king of Ethiopia, Negus (or al-Najashi). The Muslims who later on migrated to Madinah with our Prophet (saas), on the other hand, developed a model of coexistence with that city’s Jewish community that was to become a model for all later generations. The Muslims’ acceptance of Jews and Christians during the period of Islam’s expansion in Arabia entered the history books as an example of justice and acceptance. One such example was our beloved Prophet’s (saas) reading of the verse: “Only argue with the People of th
