One night, one of the sisters succeeded in escaping to the Mahdi's hut, and, forcing her way into his presence, appealed vehemently to him against the cruel treatment which she and her companions were suffering at the hands of his tyrannical emirs, and that their only fault was that they resolved to adhere to their own faith. Under other circumstances the Mahdi would never have forgiven this bitter reproach, but when he saw this poor sister wounded and bleeding, he pretended that he knew nothing of the matter, and at once ordered all the sisters to be brought to his enclosure, where they were, to some extent, safe from ill-treatment; yet they were in constant terror of being dishonoured, and therefore decided to seek the protection of some of the Greeks who were in favour with the Mahdi, and who, at the sisters' request, sought his permission to take charge of them and care for them. The Mahdi, who really pitied them from his heart, sanctioned the proposal of the Greeks, to whom the sisters were duly handed over; but it was not, of course, admitted that pity for them had induced this decision.
It is a well-known fact that in the Kuran the Prophet Mohammed enjoins respect and toleration of the ministers of Christianity, whom he calls "Rahban," or pious persons consecrated to God's service; and, moreover, he tells his followers that it is their duty to do so. In support of this I may here quote a translation of the celebrated passage which occurs in the manuscripts kept in the Greek convent on Mount Sinai. It is as follows:—
"In the name of the merciful God, Mohammed Ibn Abdullah issues this proclamation to all. He announces that he is the trusted one of God, by whom he has been placed over his creatures. No one, therefore, can shelter himself under the plea of ignorance.
"I have written this proclamation in the form of an order to my nation, and to all Christians in the East and West, far and near, young and old, known and unknown. He who fails to follow the instructions laid down in this order is conducting himself contrary to God's will, and renders himself liable to a curse, whoever he may be, whether Sultan or any other Moslem.
"If a priest or a monk retire to a mountain, grotto, cave, plain, desert, city, village, or church, I myself am prepared to follow them with my army and my subjects, to protect them against any enemies they may meet, for these priests are my rayas (subjects), and I myself will prevent any harm coming to them. Taxes shall not be taken from them, except those which they may give of their own free will and accord, not being compelled to do so by any one. It is not permissible to remove a bishop from his bishopric, a priest from his church, or a monk from his retreat. No objects shall be removed from their churches and used in the construction of mosques, nor, indeed, for the construction of the houses of Mussulmans. Whoso doth not act in accordance with this, acteth contrary to the law of God and His Prophet. It is forbidden to burden bishops or other holy men with taxes. I shall uphold these their privileges everywhere, on land or sea, in the East or West, North or South. They shall enjoy my favour and protection against anything harmful, disagreeable, or unpleasant to them.
"Those who cultivate on mountains or distant places shall not be burdened with the tithe or tenth-tax, even if they give it of their own free will and accord, provided that what they cultivate is for their own maintenance. If there is a scarcity of corn, they shall be supported each with one quart of corn for each house. It shall never be necessary for them to go to war or to pay tribute. Those in possession of unmovable goods shall not pay more than twelve drams of silver annually. No one shall be burdened. No discussions will take place with those who follow the teaching of the Gospels, they should rather be in some degree sympathized with so as to put aside all enmity and to cause the wings of mercy to spread out.
"Should a Christian woman go amongst Moslems, they shall treat her well and permit her to go through her prayers in church, and allow nothing to come between her and her religion. Whoso acteth contrary to these orders acteth in rebellion to God and His Prophet.
"Christians should be supported in the maintenance of their churches and houses; their religion should help them to do so. It is not their duty to carry arms, the Moslems shall do that for them, and Moslems should ever hold firmly this order until the world's end.
"The witnesses who confirm the truth of this proclamation, which is hereby issued by Mohammed Ibn Abdallah, the messenger of God to all Christians, which proclamation is to seal their privileges, are, Ali Ibn Abu Taleb, Bakr Ibn Ali Kohaifi, Omar Ibn El Khattab, Othman Ibn Affan, Abu El Darda, Abu Horeireh, Abdullah Abu Masaud, Abbas Ibn Abdel Muttaleb, Fodeil Ibn Abbas, Zoheir Ibn Awan, Talaat Ibn Obeidallah, Saad Ibn Maaz, Saad Ibn Obadi, Tabet Ibn Kais, Abu Khayetma, Hashim Ibn Omaya, Hareth Ibn Tabet, Abdallah Ibn Amr Bin el Aas, Amr Ibn Yasin, Moazzam Ibn Koreishi, Abdel Azim Ibn Hassan.
"This proclamation is written by the hand of Ali Taleb on the 3rd Moharrem of the second year of the Hejira corresponding with the 1st of August, 622 of the Christian Era. It is signed by the Prophet himself.