Muhammad and the Covenant of Najran

Abstract

At the turn of the VI-VII centuries, the situation in the Middle East region was determined by the conflict between Byzantine Empire and Sasanian Iran. There was no centralized state on the Arabian Peninsula, and the regions there and their rulers participated in the geopolitical conflicts of the above-mentioned superpowers as an auxiliary military force. During Muhammad’s lifetime, the fate of the Arabian Peninsula was mostly determined by the regional military and political-economic conjuncture.

As a result of the strengthening of the Christian kingdom of Ethiopia in the 4^th century, Christianity spread in the city of Najran, where the trade route from North (Hejaz) and East (Yamama) was passing through. The religious situation was also complicated by the fact that in the II-III centuries, Judaism spread in South Arabia, which was brought here by Jewish merchants. At the beginning of the VI century, the ruling elite of the Himyar kingdom in South Arabia adopted Judaism, which meant the final separation from Christian Ethiopia. In 525, with the instigation and support of the Byzantine Empire, the Aksumite Ethiopian kingdom occupied South Arabia, which was later conquered by Sasanian Iran in the 570s. Iran established its control over the transit trade leading to the weakening of trade and economic relations vital to the Arabs. Consequently, the political influence of the Iranian and Byzantine Empires strengthened even more on the Arabian Peninsula. In addition, under the influence of Christianity and Judaism, preachers of pure monotheism appeared – Hanifs, who rejected the worship of tribal idols. It is believed that it was the Hanif movement that gave rise to Muhammad’s missionary work.

In the pre-Islamic period, against the background of widespread idolatry in the territory of the Arabian Peninsula, the religious communities of Jews, Christians, and Sabaeans, also had quite firm positions. The Qur’ān designates them as اهل الكتاب (“people of the Holy Book”). 

The Prophet Muhammad and the Arab Caliphs concluded treaties with the Christian communities of various cities about peace, security, capitulation, or non-obligation (deeds of protection), in which the legal status of Christians was defined. The majority of these covenants were not included in classical Islamic sources. Because of this, the authenticity of these treaties of peace and security has been questioned by both Muslim and Western scholars. However, the theological and political significance of these treaties is indisputable both in terms of Muslim-Christian relations and in the study of the history of the relationship between the followers of Islam and the peoples they subjugated.

In this work, the relationship between the founder of Islam and the Christian people of Najran and the treaty of peace and security concluded between them, which we translated into Georgian, is analyzed. It is examined in the context of the political environment of the Arabian Peninsula, international relations, and the geopolitical situation of the region. Examination of this covenant allows us to generalize the Muslim-Christian socio-political and cultural relations in the history of early Islam.

The conclusion shows that by signing these types of treaties, the prophet of Allah openly opposed the neighboring empires of Iran and Byzantine, whose spheres of influence he took away. This was, in fact, tantamount to engaging in open confrontations with them.