Abstract
This article analyzes the manuscripts in the Matenadaran in Yerevan, Armenia that are ascribed to the Prophet Muḥammad and ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib and their translations into Farsi and Armenian. These important manuscripts have until now been neglected by scholars, and so we will here provide a general overview of them and how they were received by the Armenian Apostolic Church. I herein demonstrate how these documents were recognized by Muslim authorities, shedding light on how Muslim rulers managed the affairs of their Christian subjects. These documents, it would seem, also influenced the decrees of Muslim rulers to the Armenian Apostolic Church.
Highlights
IntroductionThe letter made a tremendous impact on Muh.ammad ibn Marwān, who kneeling before the Catholicos’ body, took his hand and said he acknowledged his wisdom
The Matenadaran, which is officially known as the Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts, is the world’s largest repository of Armenian manuscripts
Situated in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, the Matenadaran was established in 1959 CE during the Soviet era, having incorporated the collection of manuscripts that was held by the Armenian Church in Etchmiadzin
Summary
The letter made a tremendous impact on Muh.ammad ibn Marwān, who kneeling before the Catholicos’ body, took his hand and said he acknowledged his wisdom Ghevond explains that those who had accompanied Catholicos Sahak III “secured word of oath in writing from the commander of the lsmaelites.” After they returned, the inhabitants of Armenia were informed of “the oath and the written promise” that was granted to them “and ever since submitted themselves to the lsmaelites in slavery.” This treaty has been known in Armenian tradition ever since as the “Little Manshūr.”. CE/101 AH) or the Caliph Hishām ibn ‘Abd al-Malik (724 CE/105 AH–743 CE/125 AH), obtained a threefold petition for the Armenian nation concerning their “(1) freedom of private conscience, (2) freedom of public worship, and (3) freedom of churches and clergy from taxation” (Arpee 1946) These rights, it would seem, were a re-affirmation of those stipulated in the covenant allegedly given by the Prophet to the Armenian Christians. Church to have survived all of these centuries without some sort of legal precedent that they could invoke and which was recognized as authoritative by their Muslim rulers
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