Privileged Relationship
A delegation of fourteen religious leaders from Najran (Yemen) had visited the Prophet in order to question him about the new religion, about his faith, and of course about the status of Jesus in Islam. The Prophet answered their questions, pointing out the link between the two traditions, Islam being the continuation of the prophet Jesus's message, but he categorically rejected the dogma of the Trinity. He invited them to worship the One God and accept Islam as the last Revelation.
The Najran delegation refused to accept the Prophet's message. Before they left, the members of the delegation wanted to perform their prayers inside the mosque. The Companions present thought it fit to oppose them, but the Prophet intervened: "Let them pray!" They prayed in the mosque, facing east.
The delegation went home. The Christians had come to Medina, inquired about the message, listened to the contents of the new religion, put forward their arguments, prayed inside the mosque itself, then gone back without suffering any harm, remaining Christians and perfectly free. The first Companions were not to forget the Prophet's attitude. They were to draw from it the substance of the respect that Islam demands of its faithful, whom it invites to go beyond tolerance, to learn, listen, and recognize others' dignity. The command "No compulsion in religion" is in keeping with this respectful approach to diversity.
With Christians, as with all other spiritual or religious traditions, the invitation to meet, share, and live together fruitfully will always remain based on three conditions: try to get to know the other, remaining sincere (hence honest) during the encounter and the debates, and, finally, learning humility in regard to one's claim to possess the truth.
