Jizya

Under Islamic law, jizya or jizyah (Arabic: جزية‎ ǧizyah IPA: [dÊ'izja]; Ottoman Turkish: cizye) is a per capita tax levied on a section of an Islamic state's non-Muslim subjects, who meet certain criteria. The tax is and was to be levied on able-bodied adult males of military age (but with specific exemptions). From the point of view of the Muslim rulers, jizya was a material proof of the non-Muslims' acceptance of subjection to the state and its laws. In return, non-Muslim subjects are permitted to practice their faith, to enjoy a measure of communal autonomy, to be entitled to the Muslim state's protection from outside aggression, and to be exempted from military service and from the zakat tax levied upon Muslim citizens. The jizya continued to be applied in Persia and many North African countries into the 19th century, but almost vanished in the 20th century. The tax is no longer imposed by nation states in the Islamic world. However, armed groups such as ISIS enforce it in some areas they have captured. In the 21st century, it is widely regarded as being at odds with contemporary secular conceptions of citizen's civil rights and equality before the law, although there have been occasional reports of religious minorities in conflict zones and areas subject to political instability being forced to pay jizya.

Etymology and meaning

In Arabic it means: "What is taken from the dhimmis, which is the amount of money agreed upon in the contract that gives the non-Muslim the Dhimmah status; and it's derived from the act of the verb "reward".

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

• 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.
• Yusuf Ali states "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 the laws enforced by the Muslim State."
• Edward William Lane, citing Ibn Athir in An Arabic-English Lexicon defines jizya as "the tax that is taken from the free non-Muslim subjects of a Muslim government whereby they ratify the compact that assures them protection, as though it were a protection for their not being slain.
• Ibn Rushd explains that jizya is in fact a broader concept than just a head-tax. It also includes monies exacted in times of war â€" what is normally understood in English by the word ‘tribute’ â€" as well as levies (‘ushr) on non-Muslim merchants who are trading in the Dar al-Harb.

Scholars disagree on the origin of the concept of jizya taxation, with some suggesting the subjugation tax was an adaptation of the Byzantine and Sassanian system of taxation.

Rationale

Jizya has been rationalized as a fee in exchange for the dhimma, that is the permission to practice one's faith with some communal autonomy, and to be entitled to Muslim protection. The second rationale offered is that the imposition of jizya on non-Muslims is similar to the requirement of Zakat from Muslims. Thirdly, jizya created a place for the inclusion of a non-Muslim dhimmi in a land owned and ruled by a Muslim, where routine payment of jizya was a tool of social stratification and treasury's revenue. Finally, jizya served as a reminder of subordination of a non-Muslim under Muslims, and created a financial and political incentive for dhimmis to convert to Islam.

And al-Razi says in his interpretation of the quranic verse^(9:29) in which the jizya was enacted:

The intention of taking the jizya is not to approve the disbelief of non-Muslims in Islam, but rather to spare their lives and to give them some time; in hope that during it; they might stop to reflect on the virtues of Islam and its compelling arguments, and consequently converting from disbelief to belief. That's why it's important to pay the jizya with humiliation and servility, because naturally, any sensible person cannot stand humiliation and servility. So if the disbeliever is given some time watching the pride of Islam and hearing evidences of its authenticity, and see the humiliation of the disbelief, then apparently this might carry him to convert to Islam, and that's the main rationale behind the enactment of the jizya.

Many Muslim rulers saw jizya as a material proof of the non-Muslims' acceptance of the authority of the Islamic state.

Islamic law

Quran

Jizya is sanctioned by the Qur'an, the primary source of Islamic law, based on the following verse:

Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden 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 jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued.

Since the verse does not define what jizya means, hadith texts are needed to provide the definition. Not all scholar agree on the exact definition, most notably the Quranist scholars as they generally avoid hadith-inspired interpretation of the Qur'an.

Hadith sources

Jizya is mentioned a number of times in the hadiths. 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 non-Muslim residents of Islamic lands, and the prediction of eventual abolition of jizya with the establishment of Islam as the only religion by Jesus' Second Coming. Specific specific hadith examples include:

• Muhammad commanded his military leaders to fight "those who disbelieve in Allah. Make a holy war, do not embezzle the spoils; do not break your pledge; and do not mutilate (the dead) bodies; do not kill the children. When you meet your enemies who are polytheists, invite them to three courses of action. If they respond to any one of these, you also accept it and withold yourself from doing them any harm. Invite them to (accept) Islam; invite them to migrate from their lands; If they refuse to migrate, if they refuse to accept Islam, demand from them the Jizya. If they agree to pay, accept it from them and hold off your hands. If they refuse to pay the tax, seek Allah's help and fight them."
• Non-Muslim kings, including those who were People of the Book (Christians, Jews), agreed to pay the jizya in return for being allowed to stay in their place.
• Muslim rulers collected the jizya from the "Magian infidels" (Zoroastrians), from people of Bahrain and others. The caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab spent jizya and spoils of war (fay) collected from non-Muslims as stipends for Muslims, and provided protection to non-Muslims for jizya they paid.
• Non-Muslims who failed to pay jizya were detained and punished.
• Jesus will come again, and at that time will (among other things) abolish jizya, will "perish all religions except Islam".

Islamic legal commentary

In 632 AD, Muhammad set the precedent of enforcing jizya as a poll tax, when he sent the following instructions, "Every adult, male or female, freeman or slave, must pay a dinar of full weight or its equivalent in garments. Whoever fulfills that has the protection of Allah and His Apostle. Whoever withholds that is the enemy of Allah, his Apostle and the Believers altogether."

Maliki

The 8th century founder of Maliki fiqh, Malik Ibn Anas, in Al-Muwatta Number 17.24.42 states that Muhammad collected jizya from the "Magians" (Zoroastrians) of Bahrain and Persia, and from the Berbers. In Number 17.24.44, he states that Umar ibn al-Khattab imposed a jizya tax of four dinars on those living where gold was the currency, and forty dirhams on those living where silver was the currency. As well, the non-Muslims had to "provide for the Muslims and receive them as guests for three days".

In Number 17.24.45, Malik states that Umar ibn al-Khattab took a camel branded as jizya (not zakat) and ordered for it to be slaughtered, the meat placed on platters with fruits and delicacies, and distributed to the wives of Muhammad. He then had the remainder prepared and invited the Muhajirun and the Ansar to eat it. Malik, of Maliki madhab of Sunni, stated regarding this "I do not think that livestock should be taken from people who pay the jizya except as jizya."

In Number 17.24.46, Malik interprets sharia to be, that jizya is only taken from male non-Muslims who are past puberty. Further, if they convert to Islam, they are relieved from paying jizya. Jizya, Malik adds, is imposed on non-Muslim "People of the Book" to humble them; also, they do not have to pay zakat, which is paid by Muslims. If the non-believers remain in one country, they pay no other property taxes; however, if they do business in multiple Muslim countries, then they have to pay ten percent of the value of the traded goods each time they visit or trade in another country.

Finally, in Book 21, Number 21.19.49a Malik states that when one collects jizya from a people who surrendered peacefully, then they are allowed to keep their land and property. However, if they resist and then surrender in battle and forced to give jizya, then their land and property is seized and becomes a booty for Muslims.

Hanafi

Abu Yusuf, the eighth century Hanafi jurist states in his Kitab al-Kharaj that jizya is mandatory on any Christian, Jew, Magian, Sabaean, or Samaritan, and no one can obtain a partial reduction. It is illegal for one to be exempted and another not, because their lives and possessions are spared only on account of the payment of the jizya.

Yusuf stated that all adult males must pay jizya, but jizya is not required from women and children. The jizya tax rate was declared to be 48 dirhams every year for wealthy non-Muslims, 24 dirhams for well off, and 12 dirhams for the poor, the farmers and the manual labourers. It must be collected from anyone who has any means (income, property), even if he is a cripple, invalid, monk or blind. Jizya should be collected in cash or in kind, such as goods, beasts of burden that can be slaughtered for food, or other property. However, jizya should not be collected from those non-Muslims who have neither income nor any property, but survive by begging and from alms.

Any non-Muslim who converts to Islam shall become exempt from Jizya, stated Yusuf. However, the new convert must pay Jizya for previous years, at the time of conversion, for the period he was a non-Muslim. Yusuf stated that non-Muslims should not be beaten in order to exact payment of the jizya nor punished if they fail to pay jizya. Instead, they should arrested and put in prison till jizya has been exacted from them in full.

Jariri

The Islamic historian Al-Tabari, whose Jariri school of Islamic law died out, emphasized the universal application of jizya and its justification. He noted the following precept of Umar: Summon the people to God; those who respond to your call, accept it from them, but those who refuse must pay the jizya out of humiliation and lowliness. If they refuse this, it is the sword without leniency. Fear God with regard to what you have been entrusted.

Application

As Muslim army commanders expanded their empire and attacked countries in Asia, Africa and southern Europe, they would offer three conditions to their enemies: convert to Islam, or pay jizyah (tax) every year, or face war to death. Those who refused war and refused to convert were deemed to have agreed to pay jizya.

Source of jizya tax

In early periods of Islam, jizya was applied to every free adult male non-Muslim. Slaves, women, children, the old, the sick, monks, hermits and the poor, were all exempt from the tax, unless any of them was independent and wealthy. Though there is no mention of any such exemptions in Sunni Islamic Law, or any example of exemptions being given by Muhammad or his companions. However, these exemptions were no longer observed during later periods in Muslim history, and discarded entirely by the Shāfi‘ī School of Law, which prevailed in Egypt, also in theory.

Though jizya was mandated initially for People of the Book, viz. adherents of other monotheistic faiths (Judaism, Christianity, Sabianism), under the Maliki school of Fiqh, jizya was extended to all non-Muslims. Thus some Muslim rulers collected jizya from Hindus and Sikhs under their rule.

Jizya tax had to be paid by each non-Muslim male in person, by presenting himself, arriving on foot not horseback, by hand, in order to confirm that he lowers himself to being a subjected one, accepts humiliation of having been conquered, willingly pays in gratitude for his life being spared in lieu of the taxes.

Rate of jizya tax

By time of Mohammed, the jiyza rate was one dinar per year imposed on male dhimmis in Medina, Mecca, Khaibar, Yemen, and Nejran and maximum of twelve dirhams under Achtiname of Muhammad for Saint Catherine's Monastery. Yusuf claims 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.

Other scholars claim the tax rates and amounts were fixed and strictly implemented. The rate of jizya and Kharaj tax, head tax and land tax respectively, exceeded 20% for all non-Muslims, and payable by new moon. In the western Islamic states, for dhimmis who were Christians and Jews of Egypt and Morocco, these taxes were often graded into three levels with minimum rate being 20% of all estimated assets and any sales. The highest rates ranged from 33% to 80% of all annual farm produce on land inside the Islamic empire. In the eastern Islamic states, for dhimmis who were Hindus and Jains, the tax structure were similar, with non-Muslims paying jizya and Kharaj tax rate at least twice the zakat tax rate paid by Muslims. The discriminatory and high tax rates led to mass civil protests of 1679 in India, these protests were crushed by Aurangzeb. In some regions, such as Lebanon and Egypt, jizya was payable collectively by the Christian or the Jewish community, and was referred to as maktu - in these cases the individual rate of jizya tax would vary, as the community would pitch in for those who could not afford to pay.

In return for the tax, those who paid the jizya were permitted to keep their religion, practice it in private without offending Muslims, but were not allowed to build new Churches, Synagogues or Temples. They were considered to be under the protection of the Muslim state, subject to their meeting certain conditions.

Associated taxes with jizya

Along with jizya as head tax (sometimes called neck tax), non-Muslims were also required to pay Kharaj as land tax. This was levied on anyone who worked on land or owned property on land. Both jizya and kharaj were not payable by Muslims or if the non-Muslim converted to Islam.

Other taxes payable, by or from the property of non-Muslim subjects, along with jizya were fai, ghanima and ushur. Fai (sometimes spelled fay) was non-Muslim property seized by a Muslim official; the non-Muslim was sometimes allowed to reclaim the seized property by paying 100% of assessed value of the seized property. Ghanima was the 20% tax paid by the Muslim army commander on the booty and plunder collected from non-Muslims by force (anwatan) after a war or after the commander launched a raid against non-Muslim trade posts, temples, or caravans. The commander and his Muslim soldiers were entitled to keep 80% of the booty. Ushur (sometimes spelled ushr) was customs tax payable when people entered or exited the borders of an Islamic state. Non-Muslims paid twice the rate than Muslims on assessed value of property in possession of the transiting person. This was in addition to the jizya.

Jizya and other associated taxes were payable by sedentary non-Muslim populations. Sadaqa was a tax levied on nomadic people, instead of jizya. There is some controversy is sadaqa was mandatory or voluntary.

Punishment for failure to pay taxes

According to Abu Yusuf, jurist of Harun al-Rashid, those who didn't pay jizya should be imprisoned not to be let out of custody until payment. If someone had agreed to pay jizya, leaving Muslim territory for non-Muslim land was, in theory, punishable by enslavement if they were ever captured. This punishment did not apply if the person had suffered injustices from Muslims.

In practice however, non-payment of jizya tax, or the associated Kharaj tax, by any non-Muslim subject in a Muslim state was punished by his and his family's arrest and enslavement. The women and girls of an enslaved family would become property of a Muslim master and serve as houseworkers and sex slaves (raqiq or baghiya). In South Asia, for example, seizure of dhimmi families upon their failure to pay annual jizya was one of the two significant sources of slaves sold in the slave markets of Delhi Sultanate and Mughal era.

In some regions of Islamic rule, the Sultans faced rebellion and the non-Muslim masses refused to convert to Islam or pay jizya. Militant opposition erupted to Islamic punishment for refusal to pay discriminatory jizya taxes, such as in India, Spain and Morocco. In some cases, this led to its periodic abolishment such as the 1704 AD suspension of jizya in Deccan region of India by Aurangzeb.

Use of jizya tax

Jizya was considered as one of the basic tax revenue, and was collected by the Bayt al-Mal (public treasury).

Jizya was used to build mosques, buy freedom for Muslim prisoners of war in non-Muslim states, fund Islamic charities meant to help Muslims, fund enlargement of armies, and pay for the wars of expansion. Non-Muslims and slaves owned by Muslims had no right to expenditures or grants from any collected jizya and other taxes. Jizya and associated taxes also ended up in "private" treasuries.

Jizya was used for the benefit of non-Muslims and non-residents in an Islamic state in some cases. The second Caliph Umar bin al-Khattab, after meeting a non-Muslim beggar on a roadside, issued an order that charity be provided to the beggar from Bayt al-Mal and that he no longer be required to pay jizya. Evidence of jizya benefitting non-residents and temporary residents of an Islamic state, is found in the treaty Khalid bin al-Walid concluded with the people of Al-Hirah of Iraq, wherein any aged person who was weak, had lost his or her ability to work, fallen ill, or who had been rich but became poor, would be exempt from jiyza and his or livelihood and the livelihood of his or her dependents, who were not living permanently in the Islamic state, would be met by Bayt al-Mal.

History

Taxation, from the perspective of people who came under the Muslim rule, was a concrete continuation of the taxes paid to earlier regimes, but now lower under the Muslim rule and from the point of view of the Muslim conqueror was a material proof of the payer's subjection to the state and its laws. In Ottoman Hungary the tax was known as jizzye (Hungarian: harács).According to Bat Ye'or, this fiscal policy in the forms of jizya, kharaj was a primary cause for the disappearance of dhimmi populations through conversion to Islam or flight.

During Muhammad's era

Jizya was levied in the time of Muhammad on vassal tribes under Muslim control and protection, including Jews in Khaybar, Christians in Najran, and Zoroastrians in Bahrain. William 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.

Three military campaigns during Muhammad's era culminated with the agreement requiring the new non-Muslim subjects to pay jizya, in return for Muslim protection: Battle of Khaybar and the expedition of Abdur Rahman bin Auf. During the Invasion of Banu Qaynuqa, Muhammad reportedly asked the Jews to pay the tribute (jizyah), but they refused and instead taunted Muhammad by claiming his God is poor. Islamic tradition says that the Quran verse ^{[Quran 3:118]} was revealed because of the comments. The verse states not to take non-Muslims as "Bitanah", which has been interpreted as meaning, advisors, consultants, protectors, helpers and friends.

Early Islam and the Rashidun Caliphate

The history of the origins of the jizya is considered to be extremely complex, according to the Encyclopaedia of Islam. This is attributed to three reasons:

• in historical texts, the term "jizya" is used with different meanings, and thus medieval historians (who collected the text) tended to interpret them according to the meaning which was best defined in their own time;
• the system established by the Arab conquest was not uniform, rather resulted from a series of non-identical agreements or decisions; and
• finally, the system that followed after the earlier systems are imperfectly understood and subject to controversy.

Historical development

Following his migration to Medina, Muhammad drafted a document, known as the Constitution of Medina, which codified the rights and duties among Medina's communities, including the Jews and Muslims. According to F. E. Peters, the Jewish tribes of Medina rejected Muhammad's claim to be a prophet, and secretly liaised with Muhammad's enemies in Mecca to overthrow him.

Moshe Gil writes that during the Tabuk campaign however, Muhammad altered his policies towards Jewish and Christian communities by offering them protection in exchange for certain promises as evidenced from the Qur'an. In this new policy, Gil sees a "paradigm" shift occurring in the treaties and letters of security that future Muslim leaders issued to conquered peoples. These letters of protection were sent to several of these towns, asking them to pay taxes (jizya) and to agree not to maintain military forces in return for protection by Muslim forces (dhimma).

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".

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.

Sir Thomas Arnold gives an example of a Christian Arab tribe which avoided paying the jizya altogether by fighting alongside Muslim armies, stating "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".

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.” Khalid bin Walid is also attributed to the following offer to different communities as he invaded Iraq and Persia,

I call you to God and to Islam. If you respond to the call, then you are Muslims: You obtain the benefits they enjoy and take up the responsibilities they bear. If you refuse, then you must pay the jizyah. If you refuse the jizyah, I will bring against you tribes of people who are more eager for death than you are for life.

India

In India, Islamic rulers imposed jizya on non-Muslims starting with the 11th century. The discriminatory taxation practice included jizyah and kharaj taxes. These terms were sometimes used interchangeably to mean poll tax and collective tribute, or just called kharaj-o-jizyah.

Jizya expanded with Delhi Sultanate and continued during most of the Mughal Empire rule. The tax rates varied, but typically was set at 50% of produce plus a fixed amount per person payable every month. Alā’ al-Dīn Khaljī, a Sultan of the Khilji dynasty who ruled over most of North, West and parts of Eastern India, from 1296 to 1316 AD, legalized the enslavement of the jizya and kharaj defaulters. His officials seized and sold these slaves in growing Sultanate cities where there was a great demand of slave labour. The Muslim court historian Ziauddin Barani recorded that Kazi Mughisuddin of Bayanah advised Alā’ al-Dīn that Islam requires imposition of jizya on Hindus, to show contempt and to humiliate the HIndus, and imposing jizya is a religious duty of the Sultan.

In late 14th century, mentions the memoir of Tughlaq dynasty's Sultan Firoz Shah Tughlaq, his predecessor taxed all Hindus but had exempted all Hindu Brahmins from jizya; Firoz Shah extended it over all Hindus. He also announced that any Hindus who converted to Islam would become exempt from taxes and jizya as well as receive gifts from him. On those who chose to remain Hindus, he raised jizya tax rate.

Hindus who paid Jizya in Muslim-ruled parts of India were not free to practice their religion openly, and those who did were persecuted and killed. Sultan Firoz Shah Tughlaq, for example, wrote

The Hindus and idol-worshipers had agreed to pay the money for toleration (zar-i zimmiya) and had consented to the poll tax (jizya), in return for which they and their families enjoyed security. These people now erected new idol temples in the city and environs in opposition to the Law of the Prophet which declares that such temples are not to be tolerated. Under Divine guidance I destroyed these edifices, and I killed those leaders of infidelity who seduced others into error, and the lower orders I subjected to stripes and chastisement, until this abuse was entirely abolished. â€" Autobiography of Sultan Firoz Shah Tughlaq, Futuhat-i Firoz Shahi

The Hindus hated and evaded jizya. During the early 14th century reign of Muhammad bin Tughlaq, expensive invasions across India and his order to attack China by sending a portion of his army over the Himalayas, emptied the precious metal in Sultanate's treasury. He ordered minting of coins from base metals with face value of precious metals. This economic experiment failed because Hindus in his Sultanate minted counterfeit coins from base metal in their homes, which they then used for paying jizya.

Jizya was temporarily abolished by the fourth Mughal emperor Akbar, in late 16th century. However, Aurangzeb, the sixth emperor, re-introduced and levied jizya on non-Muslims in 17th century. Aurangzeb ordered that the collected jizya from non-Muslims be distributed as annual income to Muslim clerics and other Islamic causes. Certain historians are of the view that the tax was aimed to encourage conversion of non-Muslims to Islam.

Sicily

After the Norman conquest of Sicily, taxes imposed on the Muslim minority were also called the jizya (locally spelled gisia). This poll tax was a continuation of the jizya imposed on non-Muslims in Sicily, by Muslim rulers in 11th century, before the Norman conquest.

Nineteenth and twentieth centuries

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

In 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.

The jizya was eliminated in Algeria and Tunisia in the 19th century, but continued to be collected in Morocco until the first decade of the 20th century (these three dates coincide with the French colonization of these countries).

It is important to note that in the Ottoman Empire the "jizya" was abolished in 1856. It was replaced with a new tax, which non-Muslims paid in lieu of military service. It was called "baddal-askari" (Arab. Military substitution), a tax exempting Jews and Christians from military service. The Jews of Kurdistan, according to the scholar Mordechai Zaken, preferred to pay the "baddal" tax in order to redeem themselves from military service. Only those incapable of paying the tax were drafted into the army. Interestingly, Zaken shows that paying the tax was possible to an extent also during the war. Zaken shows that some Jewish individuals paid 50 gold liras every year during World War I. Apparently - according to Dr. Zaken - "in spite of the forceful conscription campaigns, some of the Jews were able to buy their exemption from conscription duty." Based on the testimonies of several Kurdish Jews, Zaken came to the conclusion that the payment of the "baddal askari" during the war was a form of bribe that bought them only a brief relief from military service. "It may have been a deferment of the military service for a one year period or shorter."

Twenty-first century

As late as 2013, in Egypt jizya was reportedly being imposed by the Muslim Brotherhood on 15,000 Christian Copts of Dalga village.

The jizya poll tax is no longer imposed in the Islamic world. In the 21st century, jizya is widely regarded as being at odds with contemporary secular conceptions of citizen's civil rights and equality before the law, although there have been occasional reports of religious minorities in conflict zones and areas subject to political instability being forced to pay jizya.

In 2009 it was claimed that a group of militants that referred to themselves as the Taliban imposed the jizya on Pakistan's minority Sikh community after occupying some of their homes and kidnapping a Sikh leader.

In 2014, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) announced that it intended to extract jizya from Christians in the city of Raqqa, Syria, which it controls. Christians who refused to pay the tax would have to either convert to Islam or die. Wealthy Christians would have to pay the equivalent of USD 664 twice a year; poorer ones would be charged one-fourth that amount. In June, the Institute for the Study of War reported that ISIL claims to have collected jizya and fay.

Comparison between Zakat and Jizya

Criticism and support

Critics often cite jizya as a form of discrimination, persecution and oppression in Islamic law.

Supporters argue that it is fair, since all Muslims are obliged to pay Zakat. While the tax rate and nature of zakat and jizya were different, supporters often cite jizya as a form of protection money and a religious requirement against non-believers in Islam per Sharia.

In practice, however, Timothy H. Parsons states that during the early caliphate, non-Muslims had to pay the kharaj. The sum of the jizya and kharaj taxes levied on non-Muslims were considerably larger than the zakat tax on Muslims and conversion generally brought tax relief. Some evidence suggests that the jizya was sometimes double the Zakat; for example, the Hedaya (Guide on Mussalman Law), an Islamic legal text, declared it lawful to require twice as much of a Zimmee (dhimmi) as of a Mussulman (Muslim).

See also

• Protection money
• Jewish tax
• Leibzoll
• Tolerance tax
• Opferpfennig
• Rav akçesi
• Tribute
• DevÅŸirme system
• Dhimmi laws
• Gabr
• Kharaj
• Ottoman Millet system
• Minority religion
• Second-class citizen
• Zakat
• Islam and other religions
• Divisions of the world in Islam

References

Sources

External links

• jizya â€" Encyclopædia Britannica