Jizya

Jizyah is the Arabic language translation of Poll tax or "head tax". Jizyah is a per capita tax required of males of other faiths under Muslim rule in exchange for the protection of the Muslim community.

Definition

The imposition of jizyah is mandated by Sura 9.29 of the Qur'an:

Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold forbidden that which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizyah with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued.USC Interlinear Koran

The underlying root meaning of the word jizyah is compensation, but it is not clear if the compensation the Qur'an refers to is monetary. According to Yusuf Ali, "The derived meaning, which became the technical meaning, was a poll-tax levied from those who did not accept Islam, but were willing to live under the protection of Islam, and were thus tacitly willing to submit to its ideals being enforced in the Muslim State." Some English translations of the Qur'an translate jizyah as "tribute" or "compensation". Other translations prefer to render Islamic terms, such as jizyah, as transliterated Arabic. In practice the word was applied to a special tax levied on those who did not accept Islam.

According to Al-Mawardi (the famous Shafi’i jurist of Baghdad), in al-Ahkam as-Sultaniyyah (The Laws of Islamic Governance), jizyah is paid by the enemy in return for peace, and if the payment of jizyah ceases, then jihad is resumed.[1] The Hedaya, a classical legal commentary of the 12th century by Al-Marghinani states that jizyah is "a species of punishment, inflicted upon infidels on account of their infidelity, whence it is termed Jizyat, which is derived from Jizya, meaning retribution." and that "it cannot be accepted of the infidel if he send it by the hands of a messenger, but must be exacted in a mortifying and humiliating manner, by the collector sitting and receiving it from him in a standing posture; (according to one tradition), the collector is to seize him by the throat, and shake him saying ‘Pay your tax, Zimmee’."[2]

Jizyah was applied to every free male member of the People of the Book, and/or non-Muslim living in lands under Muslim rule. There was no amount permanently fixed for it; females, children, the poor, the disabled, monks, and hermits were exempt from it. Historically Muslim rulers also attempted to collect jizyah from Hindus,Sikhs and Zoroastrians under their rule. The collection of the tax was often the duty of the elders of those communities.

In return, those who paid the jizyah were not required to serve in the military and were considered under the protection of the Muslim state, with certain rights and responsibilities. Non-Muslims were also exempt from zakat, or mandatory charity imposed on Muslims. In addition, if a non-Muslim chose to serve in the army, he would be exempt from the jizyah.

History

Jizyah was levied in the time of Muhammad on vassal tribes under Muslim protection, including Jews in Khaybar, Christians in Najran and Zoroastrians in Bahrain. The hadith by Bukhari and Tarmethi record that Muhammad himself levied jizyah upon the Majoos, a tribe of Zoroastrians.

Under Caliph Umar the Zoroastrian Persians were given People of the Book status, and jizyah was levied on them. Moreover, Christian Arab tribes in the north of the Arabian Peninsula refused to pay jizyah, but agreed to pay double the amount, and calling it sadaqah, a word which improved its connotation from "tribute" to "charity".[3]

In India, Aurangzeb, the last prominent Mughal Emperor, levied jizyah on his mostly Hindu subjects in 1679. The imposition of jizyah, after it had not been collected by previous emperors for 117 years, created enormous opposition and sectarian strife which started the decline of the Mughal Empire.

Criticism

Criticism of Jizyah has typically focussed not only on its specific application to non-Muslims, but it's alleged humiliating nature. It has been described as a demonstration of "constitutional inferiority and humiliation"[4] and criticized for the alleged "consistent, intentionally humiliating character of its application".[5] According to orientalist S.D. Goitein in Evidence on the Muslim Poll Tax from Non-Muslim Sources

It was of course, evident that the tax represented a discrimination and was intended, according to the Koran's own words, to emphasize the inferior status of the non-believers. It seemed, however, that from the economic point of view, it did not constitute a heavy imposition, since it was on a sliding scale, approximately one, two, and four dinars, and thus adjusted to the financial capacity of the taxpayer. This impression proved to be entirely fallacious, for it did not take into consideration the immense extent of poverty and privation experienced by the masses, and in particular, their persistent lack of cash, which turned the 'season of the tax' into one of horror, dread, and misery.

However, Sir Thomas Arnold, one of the leading orientalists of the early 20th century, argued that:

This tax was not imposed on the Christians, as some would have us think, as a penalty for their refusal to accept the Muslim faith. Rather, it was paid by them in common with the other dhimmis or non-Muslim subjects of the state whose religion precluded them from serving in the army, in return for the protection secured for them by the arms of the Muslims. When the people of Hirah contributed the sum agreed upon, they expressly mentioned that they paid this jizyah on condition that ‘the Muslims and their leader protect us from those who would oppress us, whether they be Muslims or others.[6]

Resources

Many contemporary Muslim scholars can be cited, including Yusuf al-Qaradawi. Al-Qaradawi's book Non Muslims in Muslim Societies, which discusses many issues, including jizyah, is available online in Arabic on his web site.

Bat Ye'or has written about the history and practice of jizyah in her book "Dhimmitude." Ibn Warraq has described jizyah as discriminatory and oppressive in his book Why I am not a Muslim.

See also

• Dhimmi
• Zakat

External Links

• Jizya in Islam by Dr. Monqiz As-Saqqar Ph.D in Christian Doctrines and Scriptures, Faculty of Usul al-Din, Umm al-Qura University, Saudi Arabia. Hosted on http://bismikaallahuma.org/
• The Jizyah Tax: Equality And Dignity Under Islamic Law?
• Khaled Abou El Fadl: Reformer or Revisionist?
• Jizyah and the Zimmî

Online Fatwa's from http://www.islamonline.net/

Website of Yusuf al-Qaradawi

• Jizyah and non-Muslim Minorities
• The Fair Logic of Jizyah
• Jizyah, Jihad… or Islam?! "If the non-Muslim community - after rejecting Islam - refused to agree to the Jizyah, then the only option left is fighting."