THIRTEENTH COVENANTS INITIATIVE REPORT
from
The Covenants of the Prophet Foundation
Dear Signatories and Observers:
Greetings of peace. It has been far too long since the last Covenants Initiative report, partly due to the fact that the Covid era and the variously lockdowns and semi-lockdowns have made life a bit like wading through cold molasses. In this report I hope to make up for lost time without overburdening you with too much information. The major shift in the Covenants Initiative can be described as a contraction of our political action (though this may change) coupled with a great expansion in Dr. Morrow’s scholarship efforts and publishing successes, as well as a new and important book by our colleague, Craig Considine.
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My Interview on the Covenants with Kevin Barrett
at Truth Jihad Radio in July of 2021:
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Publishing Successes:
1) Dr. Morrow’s book, The Messenger of Mercy: The Covenants of Coexistence from the Prophet of Pluralism, has been published by Sanbun Publishers in New Dehli. This brings to Covenants of the Prophet to the second largest English-speaking audience in the world, the Indo-Pakistani subcontinent. Easy, accessible work, for all readers.
2) Craig Considine’s People of the Book: Prophet Muhammad’s Encounters with Christians was released in Oct. 2021: https://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/people-of-the-book/ . This brings the Covenants into the mainstream of academia. These are well respected publishers. The book is well-written, well-argued, accessible, and inspired.
3) Dr. Morrow’s No Fear Shall be Upon Them: Promoting the Islamic Interfaith Initiative has just appeared, through Cambridge Scholars. This chronicles the Covenants Initiative from 2013until 2019. It features all the speeches, sermons, lectures, articles, that he delivered/published all over the world.
4) Dr. Abdarrahman Abu al-Majd’s 2021 article on the Covenant of the Prophet with John, son of Ru’bah, the bishop and leader of Aylah. (https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/12/6/450/htm ). This was published in the special edition of the journal Religions on the letters, treaties, and covenants of the Prophet. The fact that a major, top tier, journal has published a special edition on the Covenants of the Prophet represents a milestone. The story is as follows: Yuhannah ibn Ru’bah, the seventh-century ruler and bishop of Aylah, a city at the head of the Gulf of Aqabah on the Red Sea, was crucified and martyred by the Byzantines, upon the order of Heraclius, for refusing to violate the Covenant of the Prophet with the Christians. Imagine that: a bishop who met the Prophet Muhammad, a bishop who received a Covenant from the Prophet Muhammad, and a bishop who preferred to be crucified and martyred rather than break the agreement he had made with Muhammad. If he was not a saint, he was clearly a martyr. He preferred to stand with the Prophet Muhammad, and the principles he espoused, as opposed to stand by his own people, the Byzantine Christians. He clearly felt more connected to Muhammad, felt that he was closer to Christian principles.
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Some Further Highlights:
~~ Dr. Morrow: “Some Filipino dude is reading the Covenants of the Prophet. Looks like he has 2 million likes on his Facebook page”:
~~ Dr. Morrow: “Well, believe it or not, the Unitarian Universalists have been presented with a proposal to include Islam, specifically the Covenants of the Prophet, as sources of inspiration. In other words, some of these unitarian Christians wish to include the Covenants of the Prophet as part of the scriptures they cite in their services… See how far we have come since 2013 when people were calling them forgeries? Now, we have Christians who are treating them as divinely revealed or divinely inspired….”
~~ An article by Veysel Ayhan, based on the Covenants and well-documented historical events, arguing that the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul should be a Christian church: https://www.tr724.com/tur-i-sina-ve-ayasofya/
~~ Dr. Morrow comments on the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan: “The Mujahidin were funded and supported by the CIA. After they won, they turned on each other. The CIA and Pakistani intelligence created the Taliban to overthrow the Mujahidin. The Taliban refused to play ball. They would not give gas concessions to the US. They would not allow the pipeline. So the US attacked them. The democratic secular regime was so corrupt and so costly that the CIA renewed its old contacts with the Taliban. The CIA director and the leader of the Taliban go way back. The US just changed its support.”
~~ In September of 2021, Dr. Morrow’s article “The Covenants of the Prophet and the Problems of Transmission: An Analysis of a Manuscript Copied by Fāris al-Shidyāq” appeared in the journal Religions: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/12/9/751
Greeting and Thanks from Dr. John Andrew Morrow:
“So, thanks to all our activists and supporters, we have made major strides since 2013. No longer merely “novel” or controversial, the Covenants of the Prophet have gained credibility and legitimacy.”
Sincerely,
Charles Upton Executive Director
The Covenants of the Prophet Foundation
Dr. John Andrew Morrow 