4,543
edits
Jizyah: Difference between revisions
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
→Jizyah in the Modern World
| [checked revision] | [checked revision] |
mNo edit summary |
|||
| (31 intermediate revisions by 3 users not shown) | |||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{QualityScore|Lead= | {{QualityScore|Lead=3|Structure=4|Content=3|Language=3|References=3}}'''Jizyah''' or '''jizya''' (جزية) is the extra, lunar-yearly tax<ref> Lewis B, Pellat, Ch, Schacht J,, 1991, , "Djizya," THE ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF ISLAM vol II Madison, E.J. Brill, Leiden, Netherlands, p.561</ref> imposed on non-Muslims ([[Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Dhimmitude|Dhimmis]]) who live under Muslim rule according to the [[Qur'an]] and [[hadith]] (quotes can be found at [[Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Jizyah]]). It is the the linchpin of the system of religious apartheid and Islamic supremacism which is the [[dhimma]]. Its payment is both a payment for the cessation of the state of [[Jihad]] upon the dhimmi, as well as a sign of the humiliation and degradation of the dhimmi before the authority of Islamic religion. The jizya itself was only one of many special taxes paid by non-Muslims to their Muslim governments, but amongst them it is the only one which was specifically delineated in the [[Qur'an]]. Other taxes on non-Muslims such as the ''kharaaj'' were often equated with and sometimes used interchangeably with the word ''jizya'' in Arabic and other languages of Islamic empires. Unlike with the other taxes, various other traditions of humiliation and abuse accompanied the jizya; the dhimma was required to pay it عن يد "''<nowiki/>'an yadin''" that is "by hand" and صاغرون "''saaghiruun''" that is "humiliated/lowered/in subjugation." As such the traditional mufassirun have decreed that while paying the tax the dhimmi must receive blows about the head and/or neck from the Muslim collecting it to symbolize his humiliated state, and Islamic fuqahaa' (legal scholars) throughout the ages have reiterated the legislation of this humiliating practice throughout the ages. Upon payment of the tax the dhimmi would receive a receipt of payment, either in the form of a piece of paper or parchment or as a seal humiliatingly placed upon their neck, and was thereafter compelled to carry this receipt wherever he went within the realms of Islam. Failure to produce an up-to-date jizya receipt on the request of a Muslim could result in death or forced conversion to Islam of the dhimmi in question <ref> Yeʼor., B., 2011. The decline of Eastern Christianity under Islam. Madison, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, p.79 </ref>. | ||
==Definition== | ==Definition== | ||
The jizya's origin is found in the Qur'an: | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran|9|29}}|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.}} | {{Quote|{{Quran|9|29}}|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.}} | ||
The text is clear that the tax is a sign of their submission to the Muslims. Its role is thus not only fiduciary but also social; it is a sign of vilification and humiliation which the person of the book under Muslim rule (id est, the [[Dhimmia|dhimmi]]) must suffer as the price for the right to live under Muslim rule. The Arabic text is specific that the dhimmi must pay the jizya عن يد "'an yadin" that is "by hand" and صاغرون "saaghiruun" that is humiliated and lowered. | |||
The institution of the [[dhimma]] and its linchpin the jizya is in Islamic [[fiqh]] part and parcel to the larger theory of [[Jihad in Islamic Law]]. Paying the tax is one of the three choices that Muslims imams (leaders) are to offer infidels before declaring jihad upon them: | |||
{{Quote|Khalid bin Al-Waheed (Muslim General, 632AD)|"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. We will then fight you until God decides between us and you." (Al Tabari, Volume XI)}} | {{Quote|Khalid bin Al-Waheed (Muslim General, 632AD)|"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. We will then fight you until God decides between us and you." (Al Tabari, Volume XI)}} | ||
{{Quote|Umar ibn al-Khattab during the conquest of al-Basrah (636 CE)|Summon the people to God; those who respond to your call, accept it from them, but those who refuse must pay the poll tax 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. (Al Tabari, Volume XII)}} | {{Quote|Umar ibn al-Khattab during the conquest of al-Basrah (636 CE)|Summon the people to God (''id est to convert to Islam''--WikiIslam Editor); those who respond to your call, accept it from them, but those who refuse must pay the poll tax 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. (Al Tabari, Volume XII)}} | ||
Once a land is conquered by Islamic armies the ruler must impose a taxation on those non-Muslims who will not convert to [[Islam]]. | |||
{{Quote|Abu Yusuf Ya’kub, 189, Le Livre de l’Impôt Foncier (Kitab al-Kharadj), trans. and annotated by E. Fagnan (Paris: Paul Geuthner, 1921), English quotation in Ye’or, The Dhimmi 165|But I thought that we had nothing more to conquer after the land of Kesra [Persia], whose riches, land, and people Allah has given us. I have divided the personal possessions among those that conquered them after having subtracted a fifth, which under my supervision was used for the purpose for which it was intended. I thought it necessary to reserve the land and its inhabitants, and levy from the latter the kharaj by virtue of their land, and the capitation [jizya] as a personal tax on every head, this poll tax making up a fay in favor of the Muslims who have fought there, of their children and of their heirs.}} | |||
Jizyah is paid as a sign of submission and humiliation and gives Dhimmis some legal protection in return. Under dhimmitude (the status that [[Islamic law]], the Sharia, mandates for non-Muslims) Dhimmis usually are not allowed to carry arms to protect themselves, serve in the army or government, display symbols of their faith, build or repair places of worship etc. Further stipulations can include the requirement for dhimmis to dress differently, live in inferior houses, use inferior transport, and oblige themselves to the feeding and housing of Muslims as needed. If the conquered do not wish to pay or convert, their fate may very well be slavery (under which, [[rape]] is permitted) or (as evidenced in the quotes above) death. | Jizyah is paid as a sign of submission and humiliation and gives Dhimmis some legal protection in return. Under dhimmitude (the status that [[Islamic law]], the Sharia, mandates for non-Muslims) Dhimmis usually are not allowed to carry arms to protect themselves, serve in the army or government, display symbols of their faith, build or repair places of worship etc. Further stipulations can include the requirement for dhimmis to dress differently, live in inferior houses, use inferior transport, and oblige themselves to the feeding and housing of Muslims as needed. If the conquered do not wish to pay or convert, their fate may very well be slavery (under which, [[rape]] is permitted) or (as evidenced in the quotes above) death. | ||
The amount of the Jizyah tax and the way it was collected varied from time to time and from place to place, but when imposed, the forced payment of Jizyah greatly stimulated the conversion of non-Muslims into Islam.<ref>[http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/article?tocId=9368576 Jizya] - Encyclopedia Britannica</ref> In some cases the taxation of the non-Muslims was so profitable that some Islamic rulers discouraged their subjects from converting to Islam, lest they should lose their income.<ref>Hawting, G.R. ''The First Dynasty of Islam: The Umayyad Caliphate AD 661-750''. Routledge. p. 77. ISBN 0-415-24073-5.</ref> | The amount of the Jizyah tax was based on income <ref> Ye'or, Bat ''The Decline of Eastern Christianity Under Islam: From Jihad to Dhimmitude'' Cranbury, New Jersey, USA, Associated University Press, 1996, 77</ref> and the way it was collected varied from time to time and from place to place, but when imposed, the forced payment of Jizyah greatly stimulated the conversion of non-Muslims into Islam.<ref>[http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/article?tocId=9368576 Jizya] - Encyclopedia Britannica</ref> In some cases the taxation of the non-Muslims was so profitable that some Islamic rulers discouraged their subjects from converting to Islam, lest they should lose their income.<ref>Hawting, G.R. ''The First Dynasty of Islam: The Umayyad Caliphate AD 661-750''. Routledge. p. 77. ISBN 0-415-24073-5.</ref> | ||
== | ==Historical Precedents and Influences== | ||
Jizyah was not entirely an Islamic initiative or the innovation of its prophet [[Muhammad]]. A certain form of Jizyah had existed among the tribes of Northern Arabia in pre-Islamic times. This fact is attested by the famous historian Philip. K. Hitti in his ''History of Arabs''. ''Ghazw'' (غزو) or raiding others for feeding mouths was an accepted norm among the Bedouin tribes of that time. As ''Hitti'' noted, "Ghazw was a manly occupation of Bedouins where fighting mood was a chronic mental condition". For people among the tribes, everything that belonged to the other tribes guaranteeing material gain made a legitimate target. The context made it necessary for a weaker tribe or a sedentary settlement on the borderland to buy protection from the stronger tribe by paying what it then called ''Khuwwah'' which later became Jizyah in Muhammad’s Islam. Along with the booty acquired through raids and wars, Jizyah turned out to be a good source of income for believers. | Jizyah was not entirely an Islamic initiative or the innovation of its prophet [[Muhammad]]. A certain form of Jizyah had existed among the tribes of Northern Arabia in pre-Islamic times. This fact is attested by the famous historian Philip. K. Hitti in his ''History of Arabs''. ''Ghazw'' (غزو) or raiding others for feeding mouths was an accepted norm among the Bedouin tribes of that time. As ''Hitti'' noted, "Ghazw was a manly occupation of Bedouins where fighting mood was a chronic mental condition". For people among the tribes, everything that belonged to the other tribes guaranteeing material gain made a legitimate target. The context made it necessary for a weaker tribe or a sedentary settlement on the borderland to buy protection from the stronger tribe by paying what it then called ''Khuwwah'' which later became Jizyah in Muhammad’s Islam. Along with the booty acquired through raids and wars, Jizyah turned out to be a good source of income for believers. | ||
== | ==The Jizya Verse and Commentary== | ||
{{Quote| | The jizya is meant both as a means of exploiting the dhimmi community, and as method of humiliating them, as ibn Kathir makes clear in his tafsir on the jizya verse from surat-at-Taubah: | ||
{{Quote|Tafsir of Ibn Kathir on Qur'an 9:29|2=Allah said, (until they pay the Jizyah), if they do not choose to embrace Islam, (with willing submission), in defeat and subservience, (and feel themselves subdued.), disgraced, humiliated and belittled. Therefore, Muslims are not allowed to honor the people of Dhimmah or elevate them above Muslims, for they are miserable, disgraced and humiliated. Muslim recorded from Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet said, "Do not initiate the Salam to the Jews and Christians, and if you meet any of them in a road, force them to its narrowest alley." This is why the Leader of the faithful `Umar bin Al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, demanded his well-known conditions be met by the Christians, these conditions that ensured their continued humiliation, degradation and disgrace.}} | |||
The jizyah is a sign of how miserable the dhimmis are, and as such good Muslims should avoid contact with them. Its function is thus not only to fill the coffers of the Islamic state, but also to seperate the Muslims from the dhimmis by way of the humiliation and villification of the later. In order that the seperation be maintained, the system of the [[dhimma]] includes many discriminatory laws meant to visual mark the dhimmis as different from the Muslims. In addition, the dhimmi is required to keep the receipt of his payment of the jizya at all times and to provide it upon request to Muslim officials. Failure to produce the receipt of payment for the jizya could result in fines, imprisonment, or even death depending on the time period and place of the infraction. | |||
==Approval from Islamic Scholars== | ==Approval from Islamic Scholars== | ||
The theory of the jizyah (and related taxes such as the kharaaj land tax) are well developed in Islamic [[fiq]] literature. Generations of scholars have spilled their ink on the subject. Although many differing opinions do exist within the topic, never the less the fuquhaa' (legal scholars) generally agree throughout the ages on the main points: the jizyah is to be a burden financially on the dhimmi, its collection is mandatory, failure to pay it can and should result in imprisonment, loss of property or death, the payer of the tax must do it in person before a Muslim official, and they must be phyisically humiliated during the act. Furthermore, the dhimmi must be able to produce at request proof of the payment of the tax to the Muslims; failure to produce proof of payment takes him from the status of a dhimmi to a harbi, whose blood can be legally spilled. | |||
{{Quote|Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid|The Muslims do not fight anyone until they have told them about the religion of Allaah and given them the choice between two things, either accepting Islam or, if they refuse Islam and keep their own religions, paying the Jizyah (tax) to the Muslims in return for protection. If they refuse both of these choices, then they are to be fought.|}} | {{Quote|Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid|The Muslims do not fight anyone until they have told them about the religion of Allaah and given them the choice between two things, either accepting Islam or, if they refuse Islam and keep their own religions, paying the Jizyah (tax) to the Muslims in return for protection. If they refuse both of these choices, then they are to be fought.|}} | ||
| Line 43: | Line 57: | ||
==Jizyah in History== | ==Jizyah in History== | ||
Although many aspects of the [[dhimma]] were not enforced in many places and times throughout Islamic history, the jizyah and associated taxes such as the kharaj were not one of these aspects. Consistently throughout Islamic history, in accordance with the Islamic doctrine that the dhimmis and all of their economic output constitute the fay of the Islamic state and ummah in perpetuity, the jizyah and related taxes were extracted from the dhimmi peoples with stark consistency. Unlike many other aspects of the dhimma which did fall out use in time (although many were brought back later), Islamic states also came up with new taxes on the dhimmis, such as the "blood tax" of the devshirme in the Ottoman Empire, whereby the first born sons of the rayah (dhimmis, literally flock of animals) would be collected, forcibly converted to Islam and pressed into the service of the Sultan's elite military corps, the janissaries. | |||
Muslim empires from Spain to Bangladesh and everywhere in between implemented the jizyah. Although theoretically only applicable to Jews and Christians, a "sahih" hadith exists in which the Prophet commanded that Zoroastrians be subject to the jizyah. Although Islamic scholars initially laid down the death penalty, practical considerations forced the Hanafi school of jurisprudence in India to countenance the collection of the jizyah from Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, and other non-people of the book "mushrikuun" or "polytheists" in the Islamic empires of India, since killing or forcibly converting the hundreds of millions of polytheists in the subcontinent was impractical for pre-modern pre-industrial age states. As the Hanafi school was the main school followed by Indian Muslims, this ruling is peculiar to them; the other 3 mainstream schools of Sunni [[fiqh]] and the salafis maintain that the polytheists should only be offered the choice of the sword or conversion to Islam by the imam of the Islamic state. | |||
{{Quote|1=[http://web.archive.org/web/20050625084731/http://www.turkishweekly.net/articles.php?id=68 The Historical Roots of Islamic Militancy in Pakistan and current scenario: Amicus]<BR>Mohammed Yousuf, Journal of Turkish Weekly, May 19, 2005|2=Not only Alamgir compiled Fatawa-u-Alamgiri, he re-imposed jizya (a tax on non-Muslims for protection under Muslim rule) that had been suspended by Akbar, destroyed some unauthorized temples and checked proselytizing activities of the Hindus.}} | {{Quote|1=[http://web.archive.org/web/20050625084731/http://www.turkishweekly.net/articles.php?id=68 The Historical Roots of Islamic Militancy in Pakistan and current scenario: Amicus]<BR>Mohammed Yousuf, Journal of Turkish Weekly, May 19, 2005|2=Not only Alamgir compiled Fatawa-u-Alamgiri, he re-imposed jizya (a tax on non-Muslims for protection under Muslim rule) that had been suspended by Akbar, destroyed some unauthorized temples and checked proselytizing activities of the Hindus.}} | ||
| Line 51: | Line 69: | ||
==Jizyah in the Modern World== | ==Jizyah in the Modern World== | ||
The practice of collecting any special tax from non-Muslims came to a complete end with the annhilation of the Ottoman Caliphate after the end of the 1st world war. No Islamic country including the Islamic Republic of Iran currently engages in the practice. Never the less, Islamic scholars today continue to call for the re-institution of the jizyah, and extremist groups in places like Iraq and Syria, including the Islamic State (AKA Daesh AKA ISIL AKA ISIS) have reinstituted the collection of the jizyah from the "people of the book", overwhelmingly local Christians, in the areas where they have taken military control from established governments. | |||
{{Quote|1=[http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/dettaglio.jsp?id=44202&eng=y The Mayor of Bethlehem is Christian, but It’s Hamas That’s in Charge]<BR>Sandro Magister, Chiesa News, December 29, 2005|2=The general plan of Hamas also includes the imposition of a special tax, called al-jeziya, upon all of the non-Muslim residents in the Palestinian territories. This tax revives the one applied through all of Islamic history to the dhimmi, the second-class Jewish and Christian citizens.}} | {{Quote|1=[http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/dettaglio.jsp?id=44202&eng=y The Mayor of Bethlehem is Christian, but It’s Hamas That’s in Charge]<BR>Sandro Magister, Chiesa News, December 29, 2005|2=The general plan of Hamas also includes the imposition of a special tax, called al-jeziya, upon all of the non-Muslim residents in the Palestinian territories. This tax revives the one applied through all of Islamic history to the dhimmi, the second-class Jewish and Christian citizens.}} | ||
| Line 96: | Line 116: | ||
Residents left the area within half an hour of the warning, leaving most of their valuables behind.}} | Residents left the area within half an hour of the warning, leaving most of their valuables behind.}} | ||
==Other Islamic Taxes== | ==Other Islamic Taxes== | ||
| Line 152: | Line 148: | ||
*Mughal emperor Aurangzeb (1618-1707), known for persecuting non-Muslims under his rule, used to collect a customs duty called ''sair-jihat''. It was applicable on the sale of sundry objects, including cloth, oil, grains, food, horses, camels, and animal skins.<ref>Abul Fazl. ''Ain-i-Akbari''. Translated by Col. Henry Sullivan Jarrett (1891). Vol. II, p. 63.</ref> The rate was fixed according to the religion of the payer. Hindu merchants paid 5 per cent, Christians 4 per cent and Muslims 2.5 per cent. Later, he exempted Muslims completely from this tax.<ref>Manucci, Niccolao. ''Storia do Mogor'' also known as ''Mogul India 1603-1708'', Vol. 2. pp. 415-417. Translated by William Irvine. London, J. Murray (1907).</ref> | *Mughal emperor Aurangzeb (1618-1707), known for persecuting non-Muslims under his rule, used to collect a customs duty called ''sair-jihat''. It was applicable on the sale of sundry objects, including cloth, oil, grains, food, horses, camels, and animal skins.<ref>Abul Fazl. ''Ain-i-Akbari''. Translated by Col. Henry Sullivan Jarrett (1891). Vol. II, p. 63.</ref> The rate was fixed according to the religion of the payer. Hindu merchants paid 5 per cent, Christians 4 per cent and Muslims 2.5 per cent. Later, he exempted Muslims completely from this tax.<ref>Manucci, Niccolao. ''Storia do Mogor'' also known as ''Mogul India 1603-1708'', Vol. 2. pp. 415-417. Translated by William Irvine. London, J. Murray (1907).</ref> | ||
==See Also== | ==See Also== | ||
{{Translation-links-english|[[Джизя - Данък|Bulgarian]]}} | {{Translation-links-english|[[Джизя - Данък|Bulgarian]]}} | ||
| Line 178: | Line 170: | ||
{{reflist}} | {{reflist}} | ||
[[Category: | [[Category:Dhimma]] | ||
[[Category:Islamic Law]] | [[Category:Shariah (Islamic Law)]] | ||
[[Category:People of the Book]] | [[Category:People of the Book]] | ||
[[Category:Human rights]] | |||
[[Category:Islamic finance]] | |||
[[ru:Джизья]] | [[ru:Джизья]] | ||
[[bg:Джизя (Данък)]] | [[bg:Джизя (Данък)]] | ||
[[Category:Society and human nature]] | |||
[[Category:Criticism of Islam]] | |||