Topic
The Quran lists churches, synagogues and monasteries with mosques as places in which God’s name is much remembered, and which fighting is meant to protect (22:40).
What it means
“Had God not driven back some people by means of others, monasteries, churches, synagogues and mosques, in which God’s name is much remembered, would have been demolished” (22:40). When Umar entered Jerusalem in 637, the treaty he gave its Christians promised that their churches would not be seized or damaged (as reported by al-Tabari).
What the sources say
The classical law restricted the building of new churches in some conditions, and Muslim rulers did not always keep to the ideal, which Muslim scholars today acknowledge. Muslims today often cite 22:40 in calls to protect Christian minorities.