Aelia's Agreement; Umar Convention for the Guarantee of Religious Freedom

 

Aelia's Agreement; Umar Convention for the Guarantee of Religious Freedom

The Aelia agreement may sound less popular than the Medina Charter or the Hudaibiyah agreement in Islamic history. However, this agreement has an important position in the development of Islam in Aelia. The Aelia agreement was made and signed by Caliph Umar bin Khattab with the Christians in Aelia. Aelia is a city which during the reign of the Abbasids was later changed to al-Quds. Now the city is called Jerusalem, Palestine.

The contact of Islam with the city of Aelia occurred when the Caliph Umar bin Khattab entered the city in the 15th year after the Islamic forces previously conquered Rome. The ruler of Aelia at the time, Patriarch Sophronius, specifically asked Umar bin Khattab himself to hand over the city. When he received the power of the city of Aelia, Umar bin Khattab made an agreement or also known as the Umar convention. The contents of the agreement, as quoted by Kyai Husein Muhammad from Ibn Jarir al-Thabari in Tarikh al-Umam wa al-Muluk, Dar al-Kutub al-'Ilmiyyah, (Beirut, 1997, volume II, p. 449), are as follows:

"In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. This is what the servant of Allah, Umar, the leader/servant of the believers, gave to the people of Aelia. It is a guarantee of security. Umar guaranteed security/protection of the right to life, property rights, church buildings, their crosses, weak people, free people and all religious adherents. Their churches are not to be occupied, not to be destroyed, nothing to be taken away from what is in the church or taken from its place; not their cross, not their property, their inhabitants were not forced to practice their religious beliefs and not a single person was harmed…”

The signing of this agreement was witnessed by Khalid Ibn al-Walid, Amr bin 'Ash, Abd al-Rahman bin 'Auf, Mu'awiyah bin Abi Sufyan and was set on 20 Rabi'ul Awal 15 H.

If we look at the contents, there are at least two things The main thing that Umar guaranteed to the Christians of Aelia First, was the security of life, property and church buildings. Second, a statement on the guarantee of freedom of religion and worship. This agreement reminds us of the essence of the Medina charter which also guarantees equality of rights and obligations for all its residents even though they have different religious beliefs from Islam.

Through this agreement the caliph Umar wanted to invite Muslims to respect the rights of Christians who inhabit the city with sincerity. Thus according to Dawud A. Assad (2010), Muslims are highly respected in Jerusalem and they show tolerance for other religions, thus showing their eligibility to govern the city generously.

According to the Islamic historian Firas Alkhateeb, at that time this agreement was the most progressive agreement in the history of Jerusalem. He compares, only 23 years earlier when Jerusalem was conquered by the Persians from Byzantium, that a general massacre was ordered. Another massacre also occurred when Jerusalem was conquered by the Crusaders from the Muslims in 1099. The Umar Convention allowed Christians to have freedom of religion and worship in Jerusalem. Thus, the Aelia treaty became the standard for Muslim-Christian relations throughout the former Byzantine Empire, with the rights of the conquered being protected in all circumstances.

The Elijah agreement is a historical track record that Islamic rule has aspects of building and maintaining peace. This is proof of the value of Islam as a religion that came down to earth for mercy for all nature (Rahmatan lil alamin). Allah confirms in Surah al-Anbiya 107 "And We have not sent you (O Muhammad), but as a mercy to the entire universe."