Ashtiname of Muhammad explained

Ashtiname of Muhammad
Alternative Title(S):The Covenant of the Prophet Muhammad with the Monks of Mount Sinai
Width:200
Ascribed To:Ali (scribe), Muhammad (commissioner) 623 CE
Manuscript(S):Copies at Saint Catherine's Monastery, and Simonopetra
First Printed Edition:Shuqayr, Na‘um.(1916) Tarikh Sina al-qadim wa al-hadith wa jughrafiyatuha, ma‘a khulasat tarikh Misr wa al-Sham wa al-‘Iraq wa Jazirat al-‘Arab wa ma kana baynaha min al-‘ala’iq al-tijariyyah wa al-harbiyyah wa ghayriha ‘an tariq Sina’ min awwal ‘ahd al-tarikh il al-yawm. [al-Qahirah]: n.p., 1916.

The Ashtiname of Muhammad, also known as the Covenant or Testament (Testamentum) of Muhammad, is a charter or writ granting protection and other privileges to the followers of Jesus, given to the Christian monks of Saint Catherine's Monastery in the Sinai Peninsula. It is sealed with an imprint representing Muhammad's hand.[1]

Āshtīnāmeh (pronounced as /ɒʃtinɒme/) [آشتی نامه] is a Persian phrase meaning "Letter of Reconciliation", a term for a treaty or covenant.[2]

Document

English translation of the Ashtiname by Anton F. Haddad

History

According to the monks' tradition, Muhammad frequented the monastery and had great relationships and discussions with the Sinai fathers.[3]

Several certified historical copies are displayed in the library of St Catherine, some of which are witnessed by the judges of Islam to affirm historical authenticity. The monks claim that during the Ottoman conquest of Egypt in the Ottoman–Mamluk War (1516–17), the original document was seized from the monastery by Ottoman soldiers and taken to Sultan Selim I's palace in Istanbul for safekeeping.[4] A copy was then made to compensate for its loss at the monastery. It also seems that the charter was renewed under the new rulers, as other documents in the archive suggest.[5] Traditions about the tolerance shown towards the monastery were reported in governmental documents issued in Cairo and during the period of Ottoman rule (1517–1798), the Pasha of Egypt annually reaffirmed its protections.

In 1916, Na'um Shuqayr published the Arabic text of the Ashtiname in his Tarikh Sina al-qadim or History of Ancient Sinai. The Arabic text, along with its German translation, was published for a second time in 1918 in Bernhard Moritz's Beiträge zur Geschichte des Sinai-Klosters.

The Testamentum et pactiones inter Mohammedem et Christianae fidei cultores, which was published in Arabic and Latin by Gabriel Sionita in 1630 represents a covenant concluded between Muhammad and the Christians of the World. It is not a copy of the Ashtiname.

The origins of the Ashtiname has been the subject of a number of different traditions, best known through the accounts of European travellers who visited the monastery. These authors include the French knight Greffin Affagart (d. c. 1557), the French traveller Jean de Thévenot (d. 1667) and the English prelate Richard Peacocke, who included an English translation of the text.

Authenticity

Many early modern scholars accepted the authenticity of the work, including Franciscus Quaresmius, Balthasar de Monconys, and Kara Mustafa Pasha.[6] [7] The modern Muslim scholar John Andrew Morrow also believes in the authenticity of the document, pointing out that the document is replicated verbatim across numerous Islamic sources, including more than a thousand years of Caliphs and Sultans.[8] [9] [10] However, since the 19th century several aspects of the Ashtiname, notably the list of witnesses, have been questioned by some scholars,[11] with several noting the lack of any reference to such documents in classical Islamic texts.[12] There are similarities to other documents granted to other religious communities in the Near East. One example is Muhammad's alleged letter to the Christians of Najran, which first came to light in 878 in a monastery in Iraq and whose text is preserved in the Chronicle of Seert.

Modern influence

Some have argued that the Ashtiname is a resource for building bridges between Muslims and Christians. For example, in 2009, in the pages of The Washington Post, Muqtedar Khan translated the document in full, arguing:The Ashtiname is the inspiration for The Covenants Initiative which urges all Muslims to abide by the treaties and covenants that Muhammad concluded with the Christian communities of his time.[13] Muhammad's Ashtiname refers to the relation and marriage of Christian and Muslim beliefs and the assured protection of Christian churches in Islamic regions. However, modern interpretation has extended this tolerance to other faiths, such as Judaism and Hinduism:In 2018, the final legal judgement in the Pakistani Asia Bibi blasphemy case cited the covenant. It said that one of Noreen's accusers violated the Ashtiname of Muhammad, a "covenant made by Muhammad with Christians in the seventh century but still valid today".[14] In 2019, Imran Khan, former Prime Minister of Pakistan, cited the covenant in a speech delivered at the World Government Summit.[15]

See also

References

Sources

Further reading

Primary sources

Arabic Editions of the Achtiname
English, French, and German Translations of the Achtiname

Secondary sources

External links

Notes and References

  1. Ratliff, "The monastery of Saint Catherine at Mount Sinai and the Christian communities of the Caliphate."
  2. Dehghani, Mohammad: 'Āshtīnāmeh' va 'Tovāreh', do loghat-e mahjur-e Fārsi dar kuh-e sinā . in 'Ayandeh' magazine. 1368 Hš. p. 584.
  3. Web site: Mohammed and the Holy Monastery of Sinai . 2013-09-09 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131113095907/http://www.sinaimonastery.com/en/index.php?lid=68 . 2013-11-13 .
  4. Lafontaine-Dosogne, "Le Monastère du Sinaï: creuset de culture chrétiene (Xe-XIIIe siècle)", p. 105.
  5. Atiya, "The Monastery of St. Catherine and the Mount Sinai Expedition". p. 578.
  6. Book: Morrow, John Andrew . The Islamic Interfaith Initiative: no fear shall be upon them . Newcastle-upon-Tyne . 2021 . 978-1-5275-7482-3 . 1277138744 . 335 .
  7. Web site: Dr. John Andrew Morrow . Muhammad (pbuh) - Prophet of Islam . 2015-01-27 . 2022-10-09 . 2022-10-13 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221013023439/https://www.lastprophet.info/covenant-of-the-prophet-muhammad-with-the-monks-of-mt-sinai . dead .
  8. Web site: Morrow . John Andrew . 2019-10-16 . The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad Continue to Cause Controversy . 2023-09-04 . Maydan . en-US.
  9. Book: Islām and the People of the Book Volumes 1-3: Critical Studies on the Covenants of The Prophet . Cambridge Scholars Publishing . 2017 . 978-1-5275-9876-8 . Andrew Morror . John . Cambridge . en.
  10. Book: Andrew Morrow, John . The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad with the Christians of the World . Angelico Press . 2013 . 978-1597314657 . New York . en.
  11. Ratliff, "The monastery of Saint Catherine at Mount Sinai and the Christian communities of the Caliphate", note 9. Ratliff refers to Mouton, "Les musulmans à Sainte-Catherine au Moyen Âge", p. 177.
  12. Sanni, Amidu Olalekan. (2015). The Covenants of the Prophet Muḥammad with the Christians of the World. Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 35(4), 589–592. doi:10.1080/13602004.2015.1112122 
  13. Web site: covenantsoftheprophet.com. covenantsoftheprophet.com. 2018-02-26.
  14. Web site: Pakistan Frees Asia Bibi from Blasphemy Death Sentence. 31 October 2018. Christianity Today. en. 31 October 2018. Asif Aqeel.
  15. Web site: PM Imran Khan Speech at 100 Days Performance of Punjab government. Insaf.pk. 22 December 2018. ur. 23 December 2018. 24 December 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181224023730/http://insaf.pk/public/insafpk/news/prime-minister-pakistan-imran-khan-speech-punjab-government-100-days-achievement-ceremony. dead.

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