Short answer
The jizya was a yearly tax on free adult non-Muslim men living under Muslim rule in the past. In return they were protected, and they did not have to serve in the army. No woman or child paid it. The judge Abu Yusuf also exempted the old and blind without means, and the poor who lived on charity. Muslims paid a different tax, the zakat, which others did not pay. The Prophet (ﷺ) warned against tormenting people, and Abu Yusuf ruled that no one be beaten over the jizya. When the Muslims could no longer defend the city of Hims, they gave its tax back. Judaism and Christianity both have their own version of the jizya, and it is harsher. The Old Testament, scripture to them both, has a law of tribute with servitude and labour as well as payment. The jizya was money only. No Muslim country today asks its non-Muslim citizens to pay it.
Full explanation
Where the jizya comes from
The jizya is named in the Qur'an, at 9:29. The verse came in the ninth year after the Hijra, at the time of the march to Tabuk, in the north of Arabia. Reports had reached the Prophet (ﷺ) that the Byzantine Romans had gathered a large army in Syria, that Arab tribes had joined them, and that their vanguard had already reached al-Balqa, in what is now Jordan. The march was the answer to that threat. The verse told the Muslim army that the fighting ended once the other side agreed to pay the jizya. In the end the Prophet's (ﷺ) army fought no battle at Tabuk. The Muslims met no enemy there, and after twenty days he went home to Medina. The historian Ibn Sa'd, who died in 845, records all of this. The page "Does Qur'an 9:29 command Muslims to fight Jews and Christians?" explains the verse and when it came.
“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.”
Explains that after the pagans of Arabia were defeated, Allah commanded the Prophet (ﷺ) to fight the People of the Book in the ninth year after the Hijra. The Prophet then called the people to arms and marched with an army of about thirty thousand towards Syria against the Romans: the campaign of Tabuk.
Ibn Sa'd records that the campaign of Tabuk came in Rajab of the ninth year after the Hijra. Word reached the Prophet (ﷺ) that the Romans had gathered large forces in Syria, that Heraclius had paid his soldiers a year's wages, that the Arab tribes of Lakhm, Judham, 'Amilah and Ghassan had joined him, and that they had sent their vanguards to al-Balqa. The Prophet called the people to march, reached Tabuk with thirty thousand men, stayed there twenty days, and returned from Tabuk without an encounter, reaching Medina in Ramadan.
What the jizya was, and who paid nothing
The jizya was a yearly tax on free adult non-Muslim men. It bought protection, and it freed them from service in the Muslim army. The Muslim, for his part, paid the zakat, the yearly charity tax, which the non-Muslim did not pay. It was not taken from women or children. Abu Yusuf, who died in 798, was the leading student of Abu Hanifa, founder of the Hanafi school of law. He was chief judge of Baghdad under the caliph (Muslim ruler) Harun al-Rashid. He also exempted the old and the blind who had no means, and the poor who lived on charity. He set this out in his book on taxation.
A book of taxation written for the caliph Harun al-Rashid by the chief judge of Baghdad. It sets out that the jizya is taken from free adult non-Muslim men, and not from women or children, the old, the blind and the chronically ill who have no means, or the poor who live on charity.
Arnold writes that the jizya was paid by non-Muslim subjects whose religion kept them from serving in the army, in return for the protection of Muslim arms, and that it was levied on able-bodied men in lieu of the military service they would have owed as Muslims. He quotes Khalid's treaty with towns near Hira: "If we protect you, then jizyah is due to us; but if we do not, then it is not due." He records that Christians who fought in the Muslim army, such as the Jarajima near Antioch, were exempted from it.
| Person | The jizya |
|---|---|
| A free adult non-Muslim man | Paid, by class, and was protected and free of army service |
| A woman | Paid nothing |
| A child | Paid nothing |
| The old or the blind without means | Paid nothing |
| The poor who lived on charity | Paid nothing |
| A Muslim | Paid the zakat instead |
A tax given back at Hims
The jizya was the price of protection, and the early Muslims treated it that way. When the Byzantine army gathered against Syria before the battle of Yarmuk, the Muslims could no longer defend the city of Hims. So they gave its people back the tax they had paid. The historian al-Baladhuri, who wrote in the ninth century, records it.
In the account of the battle of Yarmuk (636 CE), al-Baladhuri records that when the Byzantine emperor Heraclius massed his army against the Muslims, the Muslims gave back to the people of Hims the tax they had taken from them, saying they were now too occupied to defend them. The people of Hims answered that they preferred Muslim rule and justice to the tyranny they had known before.
No torment, even over the tax
Islamic law also set limits on how the jizya was collected. A Companion, Hisham ibn Hakim, once found farmers made to stand in the sun, held over the jizya. He bore witness that he had heard the Prophet (ﷺ) say: Allah (﷾) will torment those who torment people in this world. He told the governor the hadith, and the governor had them let go (Muslim 2613). Abu Yusuf wrote the rule into his book for the caliph. No protected person may be beaten over the jizya, or made to stand in the sun, or have anything hateful done to his body. He may be held until he pays, but he is to be treated gently.
Hisham ibn Hakim ibn Hizam passed by farmers in Syria who had been made to stand in the sun. He was told that they had been detained over the jizya. He said that he bore witness that he had heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: Allah will torment those who torment people in this world. In another narration he went to Umayr ibn Sa'd, then governor of Palestine, and told him the hadith, and the governor ordered them to be let go.
Abu Yusuf sets the jizya by class: 48 dirhams a year on the well-off, such as money-changers, cloth merchants, landowners, traders and physicians; 24 on the middle class; and 12 on those who work with their hands, such as tailors and dyers. He reports that Umar ibn al-Khattab set the same three rates in Iraq. He rules that none of the protected people may be beaten in collecting the jizya, nor made to stand in the sun or the like, nor have anything hateful done to their bodies. They are to be treated gently, and may be held until they pay.
No Muslim country takes it today
No Muslim country today asks its non-Muslim citizens to pay the jizya. The Encyclopaedia Britannica gives the reason. Citizenship is no longer defined by religion. And there is usually a national army that all adult male citizens are free to join. The jizya belonged to the states of the past. It was the price of protection, and of freedom from army service. Muslims keep the law of whatever country they live in, because the Qur'an binds them to their agreements (17:34).
Says the jizyah is not collected in modern Muslim nation-states, since citizenship is no longer defined in religious terms and there is typically a standing national army, which all adult male citizens are free to join.
“Come not nigh to the orphan's property except to improve it, until he attains the age of full strength; and fulfil (every) engagement, for (every) engagement will be enquired into (on the Day of Reckoning).”
The Torah's tribute, as the rabbis explain it
Deuteronomy, part of both the Jewish and the Christian Bible, has its own law of tribute. A city may accept an offer of peace. Then "all the people that is found therein shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee" (20:11). Targum Onkelos, the Aramaic translation read in synagogues, calls them "payers of tribute". Rashi, the best-known Jewish commentator, says their surrender is not accepted until they take on both the tribute and the servitude. Maimonides, one of the greatest teachers of Jewish law, sets out the terms in his Laws of Kings and their Wars. The city must accept the seven laws given to Noah's descendants, the tribute and the servitude. The servitude, he writes, means being despised and lowly, never raising their heads in Israel, and never being appointed over an Israelite in anything. The tribute means serving the king with their bodies and their wealth, building walls, fortresses and the king's palace. The king may also take half their wealth, or their land, or their goods. Once peace is made, Maimonides forbids anyone to break faith with them. No king ruled Israel in his day, so he wrote these as the laws for when one does.
“And it shall be, if it make thee answer of peace, and open unto thee, then it shall be, that all the people that is found therein shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee.”
The Aramaic translation read beside the Hebrew in synagogues renders the verse: all the people found in the city shall be to you payers of tribute (massqei missin), and shall serve you.
On "tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee", Rashi writes that their surrender is not accepted until they take on themselves both tributes and servitude. On "all the people that is found therein" he adds that even people of the seven nations found in the city may be kept alive. His source is the Sifre.
Maimonides rules that no war, whether optional or commanded, is waged against anyone until peace is offered, citing Deuteronomy 20:10. If the city makes peace and accepts the seven commandments given to Noah's descendants, none of them is killed, and they become tributaries, as Deuteronomy 20:11 says. If they accept the tribute but not the servitude, or the servitude but not the tribute, they are not heard until they accept both. The servitude means that they are to be despised and lowly (nivzim u-shefalim), never raising their heads in Israel but subject under their hand, and never appointed over Israel in any matter. The tribute means that they are ready to serve the king with their bodies and their wealth, such as building walls, strengthening fortresses and building the king's palace, as Solomon laid a tribute of bond-service on the Amorites who remained (1 Kings 9:15-22). The king may stipulate that he takes half their wealth, or their land, or their movable goods (6:2). It is forbidden to lie in the covenant with them or to deceive them once they have made peace and accepted the seven commandments (6:3).
How the jizya compares
So Judaism and Christianity both have their own version of the jizya, and a harsher one. Tribute from a people who make peace is not Islam's invention. It is in the Torah, which Christians also hold to be God's (﷾) word. Most Christians say Israel's civil laws were for ancient Israel alone. The Westminster Confession says they "expired together with the State of that people". But Christians still hold that God (﷾) gave them. The jizya was the lighter law. It was a fixed yearly sum in money, with no forced labour. In return the payer was protected, and he did not have to fight in the army; the Muslims fought to defend him. Women and children paid nothing, nor did the poor who lived on charity, or the old and the blind who had no means. Abu Yusuf set the rate by class. It was 48 dirhams a year for the well-off, 24 for the middle class and 12 for those who worked with their hands. A Muslim paid zakat of one-fortieth of all his savings each year, once they passed the threshold below which nothing was due. Above the top class the jizya rose no further, however rich the man, so for a man of means it was often less than the zakat. A Muslim with 4,000 dirhams saved owed 100 dirhams in zakat. A non-Muslim of the highest class owed 48 in jizya.
The Reformed confession says that God gave Israel, as a body politic, various judicial laws, which "expired together with the State of that people", and which bind no one now beyond what their general equity may require.
A book of taxation written for the caliph Harun al-Rashid by the chief judge of Baghdad. It sets out that the jizya is taken from free adult non-Muslim men, and not from women or children, the old, the blind and the chronically ill who have no means, or the poor who live on charity.
Abu Yusuf sets the jizya by class: 48 dirhams a year on the well-off, such as money-changers, cloth merchants, landowners, traders and physicians; 24 on the middle class; and 12 on those who work with their hands, such as tailors and dyers. He reports that Umar ibn al-Khattab set the same three rates in Iraq. He rules that none of the protected people may be beaten in collecting the jizya, nor made to stand in the sun or the like, nor have anything hateful done to their bodies. They are to be treated gently, and may be held until they pay.
Anas reports the written rules of zakah that Abu Bakr sent with him to Bahrain, as the Prophet (ﷺ) had laid them down. They set the amounts due on camels and sheep, and for silver one-fortieth (2.5%), with nothing due if a man has only a hundred and ninety dirhams.
In the account of the battle of Yarmuk (636 CE), al-Baladhuri records that when the Byzantine emperor Heraclius massed his army against the Muslims, the Muslims gave back to the people of Hims the tax they had taken from them, saying they were now too occupied to defend them. The people of Hims answered that they preferred Muslim rule and justice to the tyranny they had known before.
Arnold writes that the jizya was paid by non-Muslim subjects whose religion kept them from serving in the army, in return for the protection of Muslim arms, and that it was levied on able-bodied men in lieu of the military service they would have owed as Muslims. He quotes Khalid's treaty with towns near Hira: "If we protect you, then jizyah is due to us; but if we do not, then it is not due." He records that Christians who fought in the Muslim army, such as the Jarajima near Antioch, were exempted from it.
The usual answers
Deuteronomy 20:11 — Torah, Devarim, chapter 20, verse 11
“And it shall be, if it make thee answer of peace, and open unto thee, then it shall be, that all the people that is found therein shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee.”
Cited for
Critics say the jizya is a humiliating tax found only in Islam.
The response
Judaism and Christianity have their own version of the jizya, and a harsher one. It is in the Old Testament, scripture to Christians as well as Jews. A people who make peace become "tributaries" and "serve" (Deuteronomy 20:11). Rashi says their surrender is not accepted without both, and Maimonides adds a despised, lowly standing and labour for the king. The jizya was money only. It freed the payer from army service, and women, children and the poor who lived on charity paid nothing. As for "subdued" in 9:29, al-Shafi'i reports that a number of scholars explained it as being bound by the law of Islam.
Where it lands — Tribute from those who make peace is in the Bible too, and the jizya was the lighter form of it.
Perspectives
The critic's reading
Critics say the jizya was a tax meant to humiliate Jews and Christians. They say it is found only in Islam, and was a way to take their money.
Critics say the jizya was a humiliating tax found only in Islam.
Rebuttal
Judaism and Christianity have their own version of the jizya, and a harsher one. It is in the Old Testament, scripture to Christians as well as Jews. A people who make peace become "tributaries" and "serve" (Deuteronomy 20:11). Rashi says their surrender is not accepted without both, and Maimonides adds a despised, lowly standing and labour for the king. The jizya was money only. It freed the payer from army service, and women, children and the poor who lived on charity paid nothing. As for "subdued" in 9:29, al-Shafi'i reports that a number of scholars explained it as being bound by the law of Islam.
Critics say the jizya was a way to squeeze money out of non-Muslims.
Rebuttal
Abu Yusuf set it as a fixed yearly sum by class: 48 dirhams for the well-off, 24 for the middle class, and 12 for those who worked with their hands. It went no higher than the top rate, however rich the man was. So for a man of means it was often less than the zakat a Muslim paid. Women, children, and the poor who lived on charity paid nothing. And when the Muslims could not defend Hims, they gave its tax back. No Muslim country takes the jizya today.
The Islamic perspective
The jizya was the price of protection and of freedom from army service. It was taken only from men able to pay, and Abu Yusuf, chief judge of Baghdad, forbade beating anyone over it. The verse that names it came at the march to Tabuk, a response to a Byzantine threat, where no battle was fought. No Muslim country takes it today. Judaism and Christianity have their own, harsher version in the Old Testament.
The jizya was not taken from women or children. Hanafi law also exempted the old and blind without means and the poor who lived on charity.
Al-Baladhuri records that when the Muslims could no longer defend the people of Hims, they gave them back their tax.
The Prophet (ﷺ) warned that Allah (﷾) will torment those who torment people. And Abu Yusuf, the chief judge of Baghdad, ruled that no one was to be beaten, or made to stand in the sun, over the jizya.
The march to Tabuk answered reports of a Byzantine army gathering in Syria. And the Prophet (ﷺ) came back from Tabuk without fighting a battle.
No Muslim country today asks its non-Muslim citizens to pay the jizya.
The Old Testament, scripture to Jews and Christians, has its own law of tribute, with servitude as well as payment. Rashi says a surrender is not accepted without both, and Maimonides adds a lowly standing and labour for the king. The jizya was money only.