Treaty/Charter/Constitution of MADINA
A delegation consisting of members of tribes of Medina met the beloved Prophet secretly in Mecca and accepted Islam. They invited the beloved Prophet to be an arbitrator in their decades old inter-tribal conflicts. When the life of Muslims became deteriorated due to persistent enmity towards Muslims in Mecca, beloved Prophet migrated to Medina along with his followers in 622 h.
After assuming the central position in Medina, the beloved Prophet wrote a treaty. This treaty/charter consisted of about 47-52 clauses according to different sources but, Ibn-e-Ishaq’s Sirah Rasool Allah is the most famous among them.
Salient features:
Medina was declared a Haram (sanctuary) and blood-shedding was banned within the city.
All parties i.e. Muslims and non-Muslims (Jews, Christians and pagans) were free to practice their religion.
Equality of all citizens and protection against oppression.
A system of financial aid was established within each clan to pay ransom/blood-money or in times of difficulty.
All signatories of this treaty will stand together against an outside invasion/attack. And the expenses of war shall be shared.
Non-Muslims were not bound to participate in Islamic religious wars..
If a dispute arose among signatories, the beloved Prophet shall be the final authority to settle the dispute.
All the signatories were required to boycott the Quraish of Mecca.
Analysis:
Inter-religious tolerance.
A Social Contract to end the state of war. End to tribalism and start of city state.
Start of nationalism/patriotism rather than tribalism.
A community living under the sovereignty of Allah Almighty.
People of the Book living under the concept of one Ummah.
A great diplomacy to live peacefully in a diverse society.
This treaty pioneered the provision of justice in Arabia.
Federal like structure with sovereign units (tribes). Each tribe having internal autonomy and security lies in the center. Central government (beloved Prophet) was the final authority in case of inter-tribal conflict.