Yahya - Justice and Tolerance in the Qur'an (2003)

THE PROPHETS HAVE BROUGHT JUSTICE
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and guaranteed that Muslims would not worship in churches
in groups. Umar granted the same conditions to the
Christians of Bethlehem. During the conquest of Medain, the
declaration of protection given to the Nestorian Patriarch
Isho'yab III (650 - 660 AD) again guaranteed that churches
would not be demolished and that no building would be
converted into a house or a mosque. The letter written by the
patriarch to the bishop of Fars (Persia) after the conquest is
most striking, in the sense that it depicts the tolerance and
compassion shown by Muslim rulers to the People of the
Book in the words of a Christian:
The Arabs to whom God has given at this time the government of
the world... do not persecute the Christian religion. Indeed, they
favour it, honour our priests and the saints of the Lord and confer
benefits on churches and monasteries. 12
The following document by Umar shows us the kind of
tolerance God grants to man, provided that he adopts the
character traits described in the Qur'an:
This is the security which 'Umar, the servant of God, the
commander of the faithful, grants to the people of Ælia. He grants
to all, whether sick or sound, security for their lives, their
possessions, their churches and their crosses, and for all that
concerns their religion. Their churches shall not be changed into
dwelling places, nor destroyed, neither shall they nor their
appurtenances be in any way diminished, nor the crosses of the
inhabitants nor aught of their possessions, nor shall any constraint
be put upon them in the matter of their faith, nor shall any one of
them be harmed. 13