In the manner of a great teacher, the Prophet regularly repeated his most important points. Item seven is not a right: it is the repetition of his initial warning: "Whosoever shall annul any of one of these my decrees, let him know positively that he annuls the ordinance of God." As for those who pretend to be ahl al-Qur'an and yet reject the Sunnah, they should know that they stand in opposition to both. As we read in the Holy Qur'an, Muslims are obliged to obey both Allah and His Messenger (2:285; 3:32; 4:13; 4:14; 8:1; 8:20; 8:24; 8:46; 9:71; 24:51; 24:52; 33:33; 33:66; 33:71; 48:17; 49:14; 58:13; 64:12; 72:23). While the Qur'an takes precedence, and though the Sunnah must be subjected to the highest degree of scientific scrutiny, it is an obligation to follow the true traditions of the Messenger of Allah. While a majority of Muslims meticulously follow the teachings of the Prophet on a myriad of issues, many, if not most of them, have neglected his instructions concerning tolerance towards religious minorities living in their midst. If mosques were historically open to anyone interested in Islam, they are now closed to non-Muslims in many countries. If "Allah" is merely the name of the One God in Arabic, the Malaysians seek to prohibit Christians from employing it when they should be encouraging it. Rather than honor their Jewish and Christian minorities, many Muslim countries have oppressed them and expelled them. While "Islam has traditionally been tolerant of religious minorities," writes William Dalrymple, "that Islamic tradition of tolerance is today wearing distinctly thin" (19). "After centuries of generally peaceful co-existence with their Muslim neighbors," he laments, "things are suddenly becoming difficult for the last Christians of the Middle East" (19).
Muslims, of course, are not entirely to blame for failing to live up to the ideals of early Islam. Often, they are responding to centuries of Crusades, colonialism, imperialism, and neo-imperialism. If Muslims were generally tolerant of the People of the Book, their attitude gradually changed in response to changing circumstances. By the 14th and 15th century, Muslim jurists adopted a more restrictive approach towards non-Muslims. As Humphreys observes, "Many of these texts are quite late . . . and represent a period when the status of non-Muslims had sharply degenerated from earlier times; here as elsewhere no one text should be made the basis for sweeping generalizations" (259). In other words, for every action, there comes a reaction. If Jews and Muslims once lived in harmony in many Arab countries, sharing the same common language, culture, and traditions, the establishment of the State of Israel ruined a millennium and a half of conviviality. Centuries of colonial aggression, which continues to the present through Western intervention, invasion, and occupation, has done nothing but increase animosity towards Christians as a whole. Campaigns to convert Muslims to the Christian faith, and continued attacks against everything Muslims hold to be sacred, such as the Qur'an and the Prophet Muhammad, have led many Muslims to view all Christians with suspicion and their churches as Trojan horses.
Expanding upon the fifth item, the Prophet addresses the issue of taxation, for a second time, in item eight: "Neither their judges, governors, monks, servants, disciples, or any others depending on them, shall pay any poll-tax, or be molested on that account." Fearing, rightfully so, that those who would succeed him might attempt to "read between the lines" of item five and argue that only the monks were granted tax-free status, and that such status did not apply to their judiciary, servants, students or dependents, the Prophet stresses that the freedom from the poll-tax applies to the entire Christian community at Mount Sinai. Once again, he reiterates his warning. In the words of the Most Noble Messenger, "I am their protector, wherever they shall be, either by land or sea, east or west, north or south; because both they and all that belong to them are included in this my promissory oath and patent." The Prophet is not merely their ruler. He is their protector. The Messenger of Allah was not merely the local warlord who reigned over Medina. He was not simply the leader of the Muslim community. He was, as he says so himself, the Rightful Ruler of the World, by the grace of God, and the guardian, not only of Islam, but of all Abrahamic religions. As such, he was the Patron of the People of the Book.
Because pan-Arabia contained a relatively large number of hermits, monks and wandering ascetics, including the likes of Bahira and other famous figures, the Prophet provided protection for all of them:
And of those that live quietly and solitary upon the mountains, they shall exact neither poll-tax nor tithes from their incomes, neither shall any Muslim partake of what they have; for they labor only to maintain themselves.
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