SOCIETY

50. Society ~ 149 ~ hand, he communicated to them the message of tawheed with love and kindness and, on the other, fulfilled all of their human rights. That is why the non-Muslims of Mecca had such great confidence in him – to the point of entrusting their belongings to his care. This they continued to do right up to the last days of his stay in Mecca. After the attainment of his prophethood, he lived in Mecca for a period of thirteen years, later migrating to Madina, where he lived for ten years until his death. For about half of this period in Madina, he was living among people belonging to three religions – Muslims, Jews and idolators. The Prophet devised a constitution for these people, known in history as Sahifa-e-Madina (Madina Charter). This charter expressly mentioned that issues concerning these three groups domiciled in Madina would be decided on the basis of their own religious traditions – those of Muslims according to their Islamic traditions, and those of idolators and Jews according to their respective traditions. This principle of Islam was intended to apply at all