A Message from Mt. Sinai
In the third chapter of the Book of Exodus, the Bible describes an occasion some three thousand years ago when Moses was tending to the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian.
It records how Moses led the flock “to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb“. And it was on this mountain that he was attracted to a bush that mysteriously “burned with fire but was not consumed“.
As Moses approached the bush, he heard a voice that identified itself as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Joseph calling out to him. This voice then charged Moses with the task of rescuing the children of Israel out of their bondage in Egypt.
Then in chapter 19 of Exodus, three months after Moses had succeeded in his mission, the Bible records how the children of Israel came to the wilderness of Sinai, and camped at the foot of the mountain. And it was there, on Mount Sinai, that God gave Moses the tablets of stone on which were inscribed the Ten Commandments.
Although the mountain on which these two events took place is called Mount Horeb at one place in the Bible, and Mount Sinai in another, most Jewish scholars consider that Mount Horeb and Mount Sinai refer to the same place.
So in mystical fashion, the place where Moses first encountered the burning bush turned out to be the very spot where he later received the Ten Commandments. And it was here on Mount Sinai that a Christian monastery later came to be built to commemorate both of these events.
St. Catherine’s Monastery and the Sinai Peninsula (Courtesy BBC)
This Greek Orthodox monastery is commonly known today as St. Catherine’s monastery. It is located in the Egyptian province of Sinai, at the mouth of a gorge at the foot of Mount Sinai, where it has flourished for over fifteen hundred years.
The fortress walls of the monastery were built at the order of the Emperor Justinian in 542 AD, to protect it from Bedouin marauders. The walls also enclosed a special chapel that had been commissioned several centuries earlier by Helena, consort of Constantine the Great, the first Roman Emperor to embrace Christianity.
This chapel, which is known today as St. Helen’s Chapel, was built at the site where Moses was believed to have seen the burning bush. The bush that can be seen on the chapel grounds today is considered to be the same one witnessed by Moses.
Behind the Monastery, a pathway of stone steps have been carved out of the mountain. They are known as the “Stairs of Repentance”, and they lead from the Monastery walls up to the top of Mount Sinai, at an altitude of 7,500 feet (2285 metres).
St. Catherine’s Monastery as it looks today
In 1934 AD, a Greek Orthodox chapel was built on the summit of the mountain, at the site of the ruins of a 16th-century church. This chapel encloses the rock that is thought to be the origin of the stone tablets given to Moses.
While most Christians today know about the link between Moses and Mount Sinai, very few are aware of the association between St. Catherine’s monastery at the foot of Mount Sinai and Muhammad, the founder of the Islamic religion.
The prophet Muhammad was born around 570 AD in the Arabian city of Mecca, located some 400 miles(640 kms) to the south-east of Mount Sinai. Muhammad was orphaned at an early age, and was raised by his paternal uncle Abu Talib.
It is known that while he was still in his early teens, the young Muhammad accompanied his uncle on trading journeys to Syria, which took him through the Arabian peninsula. Later on, he became a merchant and made frequent trips to the area.
It was during the course of these trips that Muhammad came to visit St. Catherine’s monastery, where he was welcomed by the monks who engaged him in discussions about science, philosophy and spirituality. It is said that these discussions had a great influence on the young prophet.
Muhammad’s religious calling began at the age of forty, when he had a series of visions of the angel Gabriel. Although he continued to live in Mecca, in the year 622 AD Muhammad became aware of a plot to kill him, causing him and his followers to leave Mecca and flee to the city of Medina – an event that became known in Islamic tradition as the Hijra (flight).
Four years after the flight of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina, in 626 AD, the monks of St. Catherine claimed that the prophet had personally granted them a special charter which became known as the Achtiname of Muhammad.
Under the terms laid out in this charter, all Christians “far and near” who were living under Islamic rule were granted protection, freedom of worship and movement, as well as the freedom to appoint their own judges and to own and maintain their own property.
A 16th Century copy of the Achtiname of Muhammad
They were also granted exemption from military service, freedom from paying taxes, and the right to protection by Islamic forces in the event of war. This document (the Achtiname), was sealed with the imprint of the hand of Muhammad.
According to the monks of St. Catherine, during the Ottoman conquest of Egypt in 1517 AD, the original document was seized by Ottoman soldiers, and taken to the palace of Sultan Selim I in Istanbul for safekeeeping. However, a copy was made to compensate the monks for the loss of their original document.
According to historical documents issued by the government in Cairo during the period of Ottoman rule from 1517 AD to 1798 AD, the Pashas of Egypt recognised the authenticity of this document, and annually reaffirmed the protections granted to the monastery by Muhammad.
To this day certified historical copies of this Achtiname can be found on display at the library of St. Catherine. An Arabic version of the text was first published in 1916, followed shortly thereafter by a German translation in Bernhard Moritz’s Beiträge zur Geschichte des Sinai-Klosters.
An English translation of the original text was published in the early 20th century by F. Anton Haddad under the title Oath of the Prophet Mohammed to the Followers of the Nazarene. It reads as follows:
“This is a letter which was issued by Mohammed, Ibn Abdullah, the Messenger, the Prophet, the Faithful, who is sent to all the people as a trust on the part of God to all His creatures, that they may have no plea against God hereafter.
Verily God is the Mighty, the Wise. This letter is directed to the embracers of Islam, as a covenant given to the followers of Nazarene in the East and West, the far and near, the Arabs and foreigners, the known and the unknown.
This letter contains the oath given unto them, and he who disobeys that which is therein will be considered a disobeyer and a transgressor to that whereunto he is commanded.
He will be regarded as one who has corrupted the oath of God, disbelieved His Testament, rejected His Authority, despised His Religion, and made himself deserving of His Curse, whether he is a Sultan or any other believer of Islam.
Whenever monks, devotees and pilgrims gather together, whether in a mountain or valley, or den, or frequented place, or plain, or church, or in houses of worship, verily we are [at the] back of them and shall protect them, and their properties and their morals, by Myself, by My Friends and by My Assistants, for they are of My Subjects and under My Protection.
I shall exempt them from that which may disturb them; of the burdens which are paid by others as an oath of allegiance. They must not give anything of their income but that which pleases them.
They must not be offended, or disturbed, or coerced or compelled. Their judges should not be changed or prevented from accomplishing their offices, nor the monks disturbed in exercising their religious order, or the people of seclusion be stopped from dwelling in their cells.
No one is allowed to plunder the pilgrims, or destroy or spoil any of their churches, or houses of worship, or take any of the things contained within these houses and bring it to the houses of Islam.
And he who takes away anything therefrom, will be one who has corrupted the oath of God, and, in truth, disobeyed His Messenger.
Poll-taxes should not be put upon their judges, monks, and those whose occupation is the worship of God; nor is any other thing to be taken from them, whether it be a fine, a tax or any unjust right.
Verily I shall keep their compact, wherever they may be, in the sea or on the land, in the East or West, in the North or South, for they are under My Protection and the testament of My Safety, against all things which they abhor.
No taxes or tithes should be received from those who devote themselves to the worship of God in the mountains, or from those who cultivate the Holy Lands. No one has the right to interfere with their affairs, or bring any action against them.
Verily this is for aught else and not for them; rather, in the seasons of crops, they should be given a Kadah for each Ardab of wheat (about five bushels and a half) as provision for them, and no one has the right to say to them this is too much, or ask them to pay any tax.
As to those who possess properties, the wealthy and merchants, the poll-tax to be taken from them must not exceed twelve drachmas a head per year.
They shall not be imposed upon by anyone to undertake a journey, or to be forced to go to wars or to carry arms; for the Islams have to fight for them.
Do no dispute or argue with them, but deal according to the verse recorded in the Koran, to wit: ‘Do not dispute or argue with the People of the Book but in that which is best’ [29:46].
Thus they will live favored and protected from everything which may offend them by the Callers to religion (Islam), wherever they may be and in any place they may dwell.
Should any Christian woman be married to a Musulman, such marriage must not take place except after her consent, and she must not be prevented from going to her church for prayer. Their churches must be honored and they must not be withheld from building churches or repairing convents.
They must not be forced to carry arms or stones; but the Islams must protect them and defend them against others. It is positively incumbent upon every one of the Islam nation not to contradict or disobey this oath until the Day of Resurrection and the end of the world”. (View Source)
As will be clear from the words of this document, it was the expressed wish of the prophet Muhammad that Christians be allowed to pursue their faith in whatever manner they wished, and free from interference by those of the Islamic faith.
This message from the foot of Mt. Sinai is also a timely reminder that the essential message of Islam is one of peace, tolerance and goodwill to all people, and that it is the duty of Moslems everywhere to protect any Christians who happen to live in their communities.
It is also a reminder in these days of fanatical religious extremism, where various sects are intent on wiping out all those who think and act differently from themselves, that all religions draw their meaning from a common source, and that all human beings share a common nature that is Divine.
