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Jizya

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In states ruled by Islamic law, jizya or jizyah (Arabic: جزْية) is a per capita tax imposed on non-Muslim adult males, known as dhimmis.

Contents

Definitions

Shakir and Khalifa's English translations of the Qur'an render jizya as "tax", while Pickthal translates it as "tribute". Yusuf Ali prefers to transliterate the term as jizyah.

Commentators disagree on the definition and derivation of the word jizya:

In practice the word is applied to a special type of tax, levied on those who did not accept Islam, and applied for the benefit of the Muslim community.

Sources

Qur'an

The imposition of jizya upon non-Muslims is mandated by the Qur'an [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.Sura 9:29, translation of Yusuf Ali ([Universalunity.net Parallel Translation of the Qur'an])

Hadith

Jizya is mentioned a number of times in the hadith. Common themes across multiple hadith (and often multiple collections of hadith) include Muhammad ordering his military commanders to fight non-Muslims until they accepted Islam or paid the jizya, Muhammad and a number of caliphs imposing jizya on various peoples, and the eventual abolition of jizya by Jesus' Second Coming.

Sunan Abu-Dawud

Sahih Bukhari

Sahih Muslim

Al-Muwatta

Application

Jizya was applied to every free adult male member of the People of the Book, and/or non-Muslim living in lands under Muslim rule and the funds were collected for the benefit of the Muslim Umma. There was no amount permanently fixed for the tax, though the payment usually depended on wealth: the Kitab al-Kharaj of Abu Yusuf sets the amounts at 48 dirhams for the richest (e.g. moneychangers), 24 for those of moderate wealth, and 12 for craftsmen and manual laborers.Abu Yusuf, Kitab al-Kharaj, quoted in Stillman (1979), pp. 159–160 Females, children, the poor, and hermits were exempt. The disabled and elderly were exempt unless they were independently wealthy, as were mendicant monks—those living in productive monasteries had to pay. Muslim rulers also collected jizya from Hindus, Sikhs and Zoroastrians under their rule. The collection of the tax was sometimes the duty of the elders of those communities, but often it was collected directly from individuals, in accordance with specific payment rituals described in the writings of Muslims jurists.

In return for the tax, those who paid the jizya were permitted to keep their non-Muslim religion. They could not serve in the military or bear arms, but their community was considered to be under the protection of the Muslim state, subject to their meeting certain conditions. Non-Muslims were also exempt from zakat, or mandatory charity paid by Muslims. If someone refused to pay the jizya, he could be imprisoned, according to Abu Yusuf. Ibid., p. 160.

In modern times, the jizya and zakat taxes have been replaced by more modern forms of taxation.

Islamic Legal commentary

History

Jizya was levied in the time of Muhammad on vassal tribes under Muslim protection, including Jews in Khaybar, Christians in Najran, and Zoroastrians in Bahrain. W. Montgomery Watt traces its origin to a pre-Islamic practice among the Arabian nomads wherein a powerful tribe would agree to protect its weaker neighbors in exchange for a tribute, which would be refunded if the protection proved ineffectual.Montgomery Watt (1980), pp. 49–50.

Prof. Moshe Gil, a historian at Tel Aviv University, wrote about jizya in his A History of Palestine, 634-1099, published by Cambridge University Press. He records a letter from Muhammad to the Christians and Jews of Elath requiring the imposition of jizyah:

Thou hast to accept Islam, or pay the tax, and obey God and His Messenger and the messengers of His Messenger, and do them honor and dress them in fine clothing, not in the raiment of raiders…for if you satisfy my envoys you will satisfy me. Surely the tax is known to you. Therefore if you wish to be secure on land and on sea, obey God and His Messenger…But be careful lest thou do not satisfy…for then I shall not accept anything from you, but I shall fight you and take the young as captives and slay the elderly…Come then, before a calamity befalls you…[link]

Under Caliph Umar the Zoroastrian Persians were given People of the Book status, and jizya was levied on them. Christian Arab tribes in the north of the Arabian Peninsula refused to pay jizya, but agreed to pay double the amount, and calling it sadaqa, a word meaning "alms" or "charity". According to Yusuf al-Qaradawi the name change was done for the benefit of the Christian tribesmen, "out of consideration for their feelings".[link] Fred Donner, however, in The Early Islamic Conquests, states that the difference between sadaqa and jizya is that the former was levied on nomads, whereas the latter was levied on settled non-Muslims. Donner sees sadaqa as being indicative of the lower status of nomadic tribes, so much so that that Christian tribesmen preferred to pay the jizya. Jabala b. al-Ayham of the B. Ghassan is reported asked Umar "Will you levy sadaqa from me as you would from the [ordinary] bedouin (al-'arab)?" Umar acceded to collecting jizya from him instead, as he did from other Christians.[link]

Sir Thomas Arnold, an early 20th century orientalist, gives an example of a Christian Arab tribe which avoided paying the jizya altogether by fighting alongside Muslim armies "such was the case with the tribe of al-Jurajimah, a Christian tribe in the neighbourhood of Antioch, who made peace with the Muslims, promising to be their allies and fight on their side in battle, on condition that they should not be called upon to pay jizya and should receive their proper share of the booty".[link]

In his message to the people of Al-Hirah, Khalid bin Walid is recorded as saying (in reference to the jizya), "When a person is too old to work or suffers a handicap, or when he falls into poverty, he is free from the dues of the poll tax; his sustenance is provided by the Muslim Exchequer."[link] A letter attributed to Khalid bin Walid said that "This is a letter of Khalid ibn al-Waleed to Saluba ibn Nastuna and his people; I agreed with you on al-jezyah and protection. As long as we protect you we have the right in al-jezyah, otherwise we have none.”[link]

According to Muslim accounts of Umar, in his time some payers of the jizya were compensated if they had not been cared for properly. The accounts vary, but describe his meeting an old Jew begging, and assisting him; according to one version:

Umar said to him, "Old man! We have not done justice to you. In your youth we realized Jizyah from you and have left you to fend for yourself in your old age". Holding him by the hand, he led him to his own house, and preparing food with his own hands fed him and issued orders to the treasurer of the Bait-al-mal that that old man and all others like him, should be regularly doled out a daily allowance which should suffice for them and their dependents.[link]

In India, Islamic rulers imposed jizya starting in the 11th century. Aurangzeb, the last prominent Mughal Emperor, levied jizya on his mostly Hindu subjects in 1679.[link] The imposition of jizya, 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.

In Persia, jizya was paid by Zoroastrian minority until 1884, when it was removed by pressure on the Qajar government asserted by the Persian Zoroastrian Amelioration Fund.

As late as 1894 jizya was still being collected in Morocco; an Italian Jew described his experience there:

The kadi Uwida and the kadi Mawlay Mustafa had mounted their tent today near the Mellah [Jewish ghetto] gate and had summoned the Jews in order to collect from them the poll tax [jizya] which they are obliged to pay the sultan. They had me summoned also. I first inquired whether those who were European-protected subjects had to pay this tax. Having learned that a great many of them had already paid it, I wished to do likewise. After having remitted the amount of the tax to the two officials, I received from the kadi’s guard two blows in the back of the neck. Addressing the kadi and the kaid, I said” ‘Know that I am an Italian protected subject.’ Whereupon the kadi said to his guard: ‘Remove the kerchief covering his head and strike him strongly; he can then go and complain wherever he wants.’ The guards hastily obeyed and struck me once again more violently. This public mistreatment of a European-protected subject demonstrates to all the Arabs that they can, with impunity, mistreat the Jews.[link]

Criticism

Criticism of jizya has typically focused not only on its specific application to non-Muslims, but also its humiliating nature. It has been described as a demonstration of "constitutional inferiority and humiliation"[The Jizyah Tax: Equality And Dignity Under Islamic Law?] by Walter Short, debate.org.uk and criticized for the "consistent, intentionally humiliating character of its application".Khaled Abou Al-Fadl, The Place of Tolerance in Islam, p. 21 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 way of living from hand to mouth, their persistent lack of cash, which turned the "season of the tax" into one of horror, dread, and misery. The provisions of ancient Islamic law which exempted the indigent, the invalids and the old, were no longer observed in the Geniza period and had been discarded by the Shāfi‘ī School of Law, which prevailed in Egypt, also in theory.[S.D. Goitein] in Evidence on the Muslim Poll Tax from Non-Muslim Sources, Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 1963; Vol. 6, Pp. 278-279.

References

See also

Notes

External links

 

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