Ministry of Hajj
Ministry of Hajj
Ministry of Hajj
Hajj Notices
Hajj Questionnaire

Consolidation

In removing the growing Muslim community to Madinah, Muhammad (peace be upon him) sent a message to the tribes of Arabia - the message that Islam transcended all tribal and family loyalties. He quickly assimilated the warring Arab factions of Madinah into the ummah. The shedding of Muslim blood by another Muslim was forbidden. Initially Muhammad (peace be upon him) hoped the Jewish tribes, who also had settled in the environs of the oasis of Madinah, would recognise his prophethood but they refused to accept him. Following another revelation, the direction of prayer was changed from Jerusalem to Makkah, the site of the Kaaba, built by Ibraham. This reorientation indicated to all that Islam was centred on the worship of the one God whom Ibrahim had served so diligently, before that pure faith had been extended into Judaism and Christianity.

At about this time (622/623 CE) Muhammad (peace be upon him) drew up the 'Constitution of Madinah', a set of rules to define the rights and responsibilities of the various tribes. This remarkable document established the principle, observed by later Muslim rulers, that, on condition that taxes were paid to the Muslim authorities, the "People of the Book" (i.e. Jews and Christians) should be free to follow their own religions. This religious tolerance was to distinguish Islam as a political power from some other empires of the ancient world which had tended to persecute those who did not adhere to the state-sponsored religion.

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