Principles of Islam
50. Society
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hand, he communicated to them the message of
tawheed
with love and kindness and, on the other,
fulfilled all of their human rights. That is why the
non-Muslims of Mecca had such great confidence in
him – to the point of entrusting their belongings to
his care. This they continued to do right up to the
last days of his stay in Mecca.
After the attainment of his prophethood, he lived in
Mecca for a period of thirteen years, later migrating
to Madina, where he lived for ten years until his
death. For about half of this period in Madina, he
was living among people belonging to three
religions – Muslims, Jews and idolators. The
Prophet devised a constitution for these people,
known in history as
Sahifa-e-Madina
(Madina
Charter).
This charter expressly mentioned that issues
concerning these three groups domiciled in Madina
would be decided on the basis of their own
religious traditions – those of Muslims according to
their Islamic traditions, and those of idolators and
Jews according to their respective traditions. This
principle of Islam was intended to apply at all
