Buhaira advised Abu Taleb to return to Arabia quickly as he had found in Muhammad the signs of the last prophet mentioned in the Bible. He also told him that if the Jews knew about him they would harm him.The Holy Qur’an has commended the kindness of priests and followers of the Bible, saying they have loving characters.The Qur’an says: “Thou wilt find the nearest of them in affection to the believers to be those who say, ‘We are Christians.’ That is because there are priests and monks among them and because they are not arrogant.”Many of us have mingled with Christian priests and witnessed their quality of not being arrogant. It is true that they have deviated from the right path. However, one can find them humble and soft-spoken and they don’t harbor enmity toward others.My professor at university was a Christian missionary and used to travel around the world to propagate the religion. Like him, there are many others who respect the Holy Qur’an and the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Some of them who search for truth embrace Islam. And Christians in general want to have a peaceful coexistence with Muslims.Islam says we should observe a high degree of justice when dealing with the followers of other religions. The Prophet Muhammad had advised Muslims to take care of the Coptic Christians of Egypt. Muslim rulers have been given instructions to give them protection and look after their affairs.No Muslim scholar would incite people to kill Christians or hurt them, except those who have deviated from the right path or become extremists.You cannot find a real priest harboring any enmity toward Muslims, let alone burning the Qur’an, as they know that it is a divine book like the Bible.We can see extremists in all religions, including in Islam, who hate adherents of other faiths. They think that the whole globe is for them and no other religions or ideologies have the right to coexist with them.This issue of religious bigotry should be taken up by international organizations, including the United Nations as well as Islamic, Christian and Jewish organizations, to set out a framework for the peaceful coexistence of people and promote peace and friendship all over the world.God has said in the Qur’an: “There is no compulsion in religion.” He urged the Prophet to tell non-believers: “You have your religion and I have mine.”

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