Jizyah and truce

The narration of Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Shaddad (may Allah be pleased with him) concerning the letter to Heraclius will come, if Allah Almighty wills, in the Book of Military Expeditions (al-Maghazi). And Imam Mujahid (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "The idol-worshippers are to be fought for the sake of the prayer (that is, until they accept Islam), and the People of the Book are to be fought for the sake of the jizyah." Both Imam Musaddad and Imam Waki' narrated this saying through the chain of Fudayl bin Iyad with the same wording.

Al-Ahnaf (may Allah have mercy on him) relates: "Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) imposed on the dhimmis the condition of hosting (Muslim travellers) for one day and one night, and that they would look after the bridges and not let them fall into ruin, and that if a Muslim was killed in their land, the payment of his blood money (diyah) would be binding on them."

It is narrated from Aslam, the freed slave of Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), that Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) wrote this order to the officials in charge of collecting the jizyah: "They are not to impose the jizyah on women and children." And Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) used to have the necks of those who paid the jizyah stamped with a seal (as a mark).

It is narrated from al-Hasan bin Muhammad bin Ali (may Allah have mercy on him): "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) sent a noble letter to the Magians of Hajar inviting them to Islam: whoever accepted Islam, his Islam would be accepted, and whoever refused, the jizyah would be imposed on him, on the condition that their women would not be married and their slaughtered animals would not be eaten." Imam al-Harith narrated something similar by way of Abd al-Aziz bin Aban from Sufyan.

Sayyiduna Farwah bin Nawfal al-Ashja'i relates that he raised this objection: "On what basis is the jizyah taken from the Magians when they are not People of the Book?" On hearing this, Sayyiduna al-Mustawrid (may Allah be pleased with him) went up to him, seized him by the collar and said: "O enemy of Allah! Do you find fault with the decision of Sayyiduna Abu Bakr and Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both)?" Then he took him to the palace, where Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) came out and said: "Al-Bada'!" (Imam Sufyan said that it means: Both of you sit down), so the two of them sat down in the shade of the palace. When Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) was informed of their conversation, he said: "I am the most knowledgeable of people about the Magians. They had knowledge which they used to learn and a Book which they used to study. Then one day their king, while drunk, committed an indecent act with his daughter or his sister. When he sobered up and some people of his kingdom came to carry out the prescribed punishment (hadd) on him, he resisted them, gathered his people and said: Do you know any religion better than the religion of Adam (peace be upon him)? He used to marry his sons to his daughters, and I too am on that same religion of Adam, so what objection do you have to this religion? So the people pledged allegiance to him and fought their opponents until they had killed them. Then one night their Book was taken away; it was lifted from among them, and the knowledge preserved in their breasts was also erased. So in origin they are indeed People of the Book, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), Sayyiduna Abu Bakr and Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) took the jizyah from them." Imam Abu Ya'la transmitted this report in abridged form from Sufyan, from Abu Sa'd.