SHAFAQNA – His Highness Sheikh Nahyan ibn Mubarak Nahyan, the Minister of Youth, Culture, and Community Development of the United Arab Emirates has officially endorsed the Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad.
As the Crown Prince explained to Dr. John Andrew Morrow, the author of The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad with the Christians of World: “Your book deserves to be in every school and library in the West.”
Dr. Morrow, a Western academic and senior scholar of Islam, was in the United Arab Emirates on the invitation of the Tabah Foundation in order to share his research with Muslim scholars and intellectuals, as well as diplomats from both East and West.
Accompanied by Shaykh Habib ‘Ali al-Jifri, one of the most influential Muslim scholars in the world, Dr. John Andrew Morrow was introduced to His Highness during his weekly majlis or audience which is held in a circular gazebo-type structure on the grounds of his palace.
“I hope and pray that you will help disseminate the Covenants of the Prophet,” said Morrow, after he presented Sheikh Nahyan with a copy of a prophetic covenant as a gift. His Highness held his hand, looked him in the eye, nodded his head, and said: “Insha’ Allah” [God-willing].
The significance of the event was not lost on Morrow: “The United Arab Emirates has the distinct privilege of being the first Muslim nation to recognize the significance of the Covenants of the Prophet as a model of moderation.”
“The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, were regularly renewed by Muslim rulers over the course of nearly fourteen centuries,” added the Canadian academic, “we are now calling upon Muslim leaders, both political and religious, to follow in the footsteps of their predecessors.”
As Morrow explained, “Renewing the Covenants of the Prophet, and the protections they grant, will send a strong message to both Muslims and Christians: it will distinguish traditional Islam from radical political Islam, defend the image and integrity of the Messenger of Allah, and help improve interfaith relations.”