Surah At-Tawba (9) — Ayah 29

(Ayah29) ➊ {قَاتِلُوا الَّذِيْنَ لَا يُؤْمِنُوْنَ بِاللّٰهِ … :} After giving the command to fight (battle) against the polytheists of Arabia, now the command to fight the People of the Book is being given, and four reasons for this have been stated: (1) They do not have faith in Allah Almighty. As for their claim of faith in Allah Almighty, it is not valid, because it is not according to what the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and all the messengers have told, rather, instead of believing in Allah, they hold beliefs that insult Allah Almighty. Thus, Allah Almighty said in the next verse: «وَ قَالَتِ الْيَهُوْدُ عُزَيْرُ ا۟بْنُ اللّٰهِ وَ قَالَتِ النَّصٰرَى الْمَسِيْحُ ابْنُ اللّٰهِ » [ التوبۃ : ۳۰ ] "And the Jews said, 'Uzair is the son of Allah,' and the Christians said, 'The Messiah is the son of Allah.'" That is, the Jews and Christians, by declaring a son for Allah Almighty, are proving Him to be in need and are denying His oneness. (2) Their faith in the Day of Judgment is also null and void, because firstly, they do not believe in the Seal of the Prophets (peace and blessings be upon him), and whatever is not according to what he has told is as good as non-existent, and yet, despite all their evil deeds, they claim to be the sole inheritors of Paradise. It is said: «وَ قَالُوْا لَنْ يَّدْخُلَ الْجَنَّةَ اِلَّا مَنْ كَانَ هُوْدًا اَوْ نَصٰرٰى » [ البقرۃ : ۱۱۱ ] "None shall enter Paradise except those who are Jews or Christians." Then the Jews, at most, claimed to stay in Hell for a few days, that is: «وَ قَالُوْا لَنْ تَمَسَّنَا النَّارُ اِلَّاۤ اَيَّامًا مَّعْدُوْدَةً » [ البقرۃ : ۸۰ ] and the Christians, by considering the Messiah (peace be upon him) as atonement for their sins, have cherished hopes in their hearts of being completely safe from Hell. Can any sane person consider such a Day of Judgment as a Day of Recompense? If someone says that now this attitude has also appeared among some Muslims, that they have become unconcerned about Hell relying on the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and their leaders, then the answer is that these people are also following in their footsteps, whereas the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade his Ummah from following them. (3) They do not consider unlawful those things which Allah and His Messenger have declared unlawful. As for the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), they do not even believe in him, so considering what he has declared unlawful as unlawful is out of the question; they do not even consider unlawful those things mentioned as unlawful in their own book, the Torah. In the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), they had adopted usury, bribery, and eating unlawful things. It is said: «وَ اَخْذِهِمُ الرِّبٰوا وَ قَدْ نُهُوْا عَنْهُ وَ اَكْلِهِمْ اَمْوَالَ النَّاسِ بِالْبَاطِلِ » [ النساء : ۱۶۱ ] that the reason for their curse was their taking of usury, even though they had been forbidden from it, and eating people's wealth by false means was also a reason for the curse. The Christians invented a new religion of monasticism, it is said: «وَ رَهْبَانِيَّةَ اِبْتَدَعُوْهَا مَا كَتَبْنٰهَا عَلَيْهِمْ » [ الحدید : ۲۷ ] "And monasticism—they invented it themselves; We did not prescribe it for them." And now the Jews and Christians have crossed every limit of decency and humanity, declaring adultery, the act of the people of Lot, and countless unnatural acts as lawful in the name of democracy, and have started striving to force the entire world into them. (4) They do not accept the true religion, even though there are clear commands from their prophets to accept it, and clear proofs of Islam being the truth are before them.
Hafiz Ibn Kathir (may Allah have mercy on him) said that in this verse Allah Almighty commanded the Muslims to fight the People of the Book. This was in 9 AH; the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prepared for jihad against the Romans, invited people for it, called people from around Madinah as well, and set out with about thirty thousand mujahideen. Only the hypocrites of Madinah and its surroundings, or a few sincere Muslims, stayed behind. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) headed towards Syria, reached Tabuk, stayed there for about twenty days, but the Romans did not come forward, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) made treaties with the people of that area and returned. (Summarized) After that, the Rightly Guided Caliphs, the Umayyads, the Abbasids, and other caliphs continued this process, so the honor and dominance of the Muslims remained established, and their rule extended from east to west. But alas! When the Muslims forgot this command, as a result of opposing Allah Almighty's legal and universal system, they had to accept living a life of humiliation. Yes, there is a group that still remains firm on this and will remain so, and according to the statement of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), will remain dominant.

➋ {حَتّٰى يُعْطُوا الْجِزْيَةَ عَنْ يَّدٍ وَّ هُمْ صٰغِرُوْنَ:} From this it is understood that the purpose of jihad is not to force them to become Muslims by the sword, but if they accept obedience and continue to pay jizyah, they can live a peaceful life while remaining on their religion, and in return, the Islamic government will be responsible for the protection of their lives and property. Here, only the collection of jizyah from the People of the Book is mentioned, that is, the People of the Book have three options: become Muslims, or accept subordination by paying jizyah, or be ready for battle. As for other disbelievers, the polytheists of Arabia had only two options: accept Islam or be ready to be killed, unless they left the Arabian Peninsula before that. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) also dealt with the Magians as with the People of the Book. [ بخاری، الجزیۃ، باب الجزیۃ والموادعۃ مع أھل الذمۃ والحرب : ۳۱۵۶، عن عبد الرحمن بن عوف رضی اللہ عنہ ] As for the rest of the world's polytheists, there is no mention in Islamic history of them being treated like the polytheists of Arabia, such as Hindus, Buddhists, and other idol worshippers, rather, Muslims made them their subjects and treated them excellently. If the purpose of Islamic warfare was to forcibly convert people to Islam, then just as the Christians erased every trace of Islam and Muslims from Andalusia for not being Christian, similarly, in Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Iran, India, China, Turkestan, etc., the disbelievers would have been wiped out by the sword everywhere. Muslims would not be a minority in the subcontinent, rather, the whole of India would be Muslim and there would not be a trace of disbelievers here, but Allah Almighty forbade this, as He said: «لَاۤ اِكْرَاهَ فِي الدِّيْنِ» [ البقرۃ : ۲۵۶ ] "There is no compulsion in religion." Whoever becomes Muslim should do so thoughtfully. Yes, it is true that Allah Almighty does not accept in any way that the rebels against Allah should be dominant in the world and Islam and Muslims should remain subdued, because in such a case neither peace can be established in the world nor can mischief and disorder be eliminated. Peace is only possible through Islam, so the command was given to fight all the disbelievers of the world until they accept Islam or pay jizyah, and it was also made necessary that the disbelievers should never have enough power to confront the Muslims, rather, it is necessary that they withdraw from confronting Islam and pay jizyah with their own hands and live in humiliation. The meaning of {’’ صٰغِرُوْنَ‘‘ } is that they should live as subordinates under the shadow of Islam. The amount of this jizyah will be determined keeping in view the financial condition of the people of each area, which will be paid annually by every individual. When Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him) went to Yemen, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) instructed him to collect one dinar or its equivalent in local garments from every adult. [ أبو داوٗد، الخراج، باب فی أخذ الجزیۃ : ۳۰۳۸ ]

29. 1. After the command for general fighting against the polytheists, in this verse the command is being given to fight the Jews and Christians (if they do not accept Islam), or they should accept living under the authority of Muslims by paying Jizyah. Jizyah is a fixed amount that is taken annually from such non-Muslims who reside in an Islamic state. In return, the Islamic state is responsible for the protection of their lives, wealth, and honor. Although the Jews and Christians believed in Allah and the Last Day, it is said about them that they do not believe in Allah and the Last Day. This clarifies that a person's faith in Allah is not valid until he believes in Allah in the way Allah has explained through His messengers. And it is also clear that their faith in Allah was considered invalid because the Jews and Christians fabricated the belief in the sonship and divinity of Hazrat Uzair and Hazrat Masih (علیہما السلام), as the next verse expresses their belief.

Fight those among the People of the Book who do not believe in Allah [27], nor in the Last Day, nor forbid what Allah and His Messenger have forbidden, nor follow the religion of truth [28], until they pay the jizyah [29] by hand while they are humbled.

[27]
The True Meaning of Faith in Allah and the Hereafter:

This address is to the People of the Book, although they claimed to have faith in Allah and the Hereafter. The meaning of this verse is that they did not have faith in the way that is the right of faith in Allah. They associated partners with Allah, fabricated things and attributed them to Allah, concealed Allah’s verses, sold them, and altered and interpreted them. If they truly had faith in Allah and His attributes, they would never have done these things. Similarly, their faith in the Hereafter was such that they believed only they would enter Paradise and everyone else would go to Hell, because they were Allah’s favorites and the descendants of the Prophets. And if the Fire were to touch them, it would only be for a few days. Likewise, the Christians invented the doctrine of the atonement of the Messiah and became fearless of accountability before Allah. Faith in the Hereafter means that a person also believes that there, no intercession, no lineage, no ransom, no association with a saint—whether by blood or by spiritual discipleship—will be of any benefit.

[28] That is, they are not even fully prepared to accept what was revealed to them in their own Shariah, and as for this Messenger, they have openly taken to opposing him.

[29]
Jizyah from Non-Muslims:

In this verse, only the collection of jizyah from the People of the Book is mentioned, whereas the Messenger of Allah ﷺ also took jizyah from the Magians. From this, it is understood that jizyah can be taken from non-Muslims of any religion, as is also mentioned in the following hadith regarding the demand for jizyah from Khosrow, the king of Iran, and it is clear that these people were sun-worshippers and fire-worshippers.

The Address of Mughira bin Shu’bah ؓ to the Generals of Khosrow:

Sayyiduna Mughira bin Shu’bah ؓ, on the occasion of a battle, said to the general of Khosrow: “We Arabs were afflicted with great misery and severe hardship. Because of hunger, we used to suck on leather and date pits, and wore clothes made of leather and hair. We used to worship trees and stones. Then the Owner of the heavens and the earth, Mighty and Majestic, sent to us a Prophet from among ourselves, whose parents we knew well. Our Prophet, the Messenger of our Lord, commanded us to fight you until you worship Allah alone or pay the jizyah. Our Prophet also conveyed to us this message from our Lord: whoever among us is killed will enjoy such blessings in Paradise as no one has ever seen, and whoever survives will become the master of your necks.” [بخاري۔ كتاب الجهاد۔ باب الجزية الموادعة مع اهل الذمة والحرب]

Jizyah is taken from those non-Muslim nations who do not wish to accept Islam, whether they are a conquered people or reside as dhimmis in an Islamic state, which in today’s language is called a minority. It is obligatory for Muslims to pay zakat, the rate of which is fixed, but for non-Muslim nations, instead of zakat, the payment of jizyah is obligatory, and its rate can be increased or decreased according to the financial status of the nation, and all these funds are deposited in the state treasury. In return for this jizyah, the Islamic government relieves that nation of defensive responsibilities and gives them full permission to perform their religious rituals, but they are not allowed to malign Islam or create obstacles in its path. And if at any time Muslims are unable to fulfill their defensive responsibilities towards non-Muslims, they must return the amount of jizyah to them, and there are examples of this in Muslim history. Thus, during the conquests of Syria, when for certain military reasons the Islamic commander Sayyiduna Abu Ubaidah bin al-Jarrah had to leave Homs, he called the dhimmis and said: “Our relationship with you remains as it was, but since we are now unable to protect you, your jizyah is being returned to you.” Accordingly, several hundred thousand that had been collected were returned to them. This incident had such an effect on the Christians that they wept as they went and kept saying with passion, “May Allah bring you back.” The Jews were even more affected. They swore by the Torah that as long as they lived, Caesar could not capture Homs. Saying this, they closed the city gates and posted guards everywhere. [الفاروق۔ شبلي نعماني 191]

In the neighboring and civilized government of Iran, there were two types of taxes: one was land tax, which was taken only from landowners and was called kharaj by them. The word kharaj is derived from this. The second tax was taken from the general public for defensive needs, which they called guzait. The word jizyah is derived from this. When Muslims conquered these areas, they did not impose any new burden on the conquered peoples, but imposed the same two types of taxes that the king of Iran used to collect from his subjects. Whereas, during war, in addition to jizyah, the king of Iran also collected forced taxes from the public.

Jizyah and Its Related Rulings:

Since jizyah has been greatly maligned by Orientalists and Western nations, a few clarifications regarding it seem necessary:

1. Jizyah is imposed only on those individuals who are capable of fighting. Non-combatants such as children, the elderly, women, disabled people, Sufis, and reclusive individuals are exempt from it. After paying jizyah, these people are relieved of defensive responsibilities, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ strongly emphasized fulfilling the responsibilities towards such people (commonly known as ahl al-dhimmah or dhimmis).

2. Jizyah is imposed considering the financial condition of the people. Thus, Sufyan bin ‘Uyaynah says: “I asked Mujahid, ‘The disbelievers of Syria are charged four dinars annually, while the disbelievers of Yemen are charged only one dinar. What is the reason for this?’ He said, ‘Because the disbelievers of Syria are wealthier.’” [بخاري۔ كتاب الجهاد۔ باب الجزية الموادعة]

3. Extreme leniency was exercised in the collection of jizyah, and Sayyiduna ‘Umar was very particular about two things in this regard. One, that the rate of jizyah should be such that people could easily pay it. Thus, he appointed eminent Companions like Sayyiduna Hudhayfah bin al-Yaman and Sayyiduna ‘Uthman bin Hanif ؓ, who were experts in this field, to determine the kharaj on the conquered lands of Iraq. When these elders presented their calculations, he called them and asked, “Did you make things difficult in the assessment?” Sayyiduna ‘Uthman bin Hanif ؓ replied, “No, in fact, they could have paid double that amount.” [كتاب الخراج ص 21]

And secondly, every year when the kharaj of Iraq arrived, ten trustworthy persons from Kufa and the same number from Basra were summoned. Sayyiduna ‘Umar would make them swear a legal oath four times and ask whether any injustice or excess had been committed in the collection of the amount. [الفاروق ص 326]

4. Since jizyah is taken in exchange for defensive responsibilities, those who themselves accepted such services were not charged jizyah. For example, the chief of Jurjan, a district city of Tabaristan, made peace with the Muslim commander Suwayd, and it was explicitly written in the peace treaty that the Muslims were responsible for the security of Jurjan and Tabaristan, etc., and that those among the locals who assisted the Muslims in repelling external attacks would be exempt from jizyah. [الفاروق ص 239 ]

After the conquest of Azerbaijan, the chief of Bab Muttasil city, Shahrbaraz, himself came to the Muslims and said, “I am obedient to you, but my request is that I not be charged jizyah; rather, when needed, military assistance may be taken.” This condition was accepted. [الفاروق ص 243]

When ‘Amr bin al-‘As ؓ conquered Fustat, Muqawqis, the governor of Egypt, accepted the condition instead of jizyah that whenever the Islamic army moved, the Egyptians would provide travel services (i.e., clearing the way, building roads, constructing bridges, etc.). Thus, when ‘Amr bin al-‘As ؓ advanced towards Alexandria to face the Romans, the Egyptians themselves built bridges, roads, and markets at every stage. Allama Maqrizi has written that since the conduct of the Muslims had won over the entire country, the Copts themselves happily performed these services. [الفاروق ص 194]

Objection to Jizyah and Its Answer:

Now listen to the condition of these civilized and cultured Western nations. They are making every effort to malign jizyah and prove it a sign of humiliation. After victory, these people collect all the war expenses from the conquered nation as war indemnity. In the past few centuries, in addition to war indemnity, conquered nations have also been forced into political and economic slavery. However, after the Second World War, political slavery was declared obsolete, but instead, the bonds of economic slavery have been made even stronger. They occupy the most fertile regions for a long period, and in this matter, they act with such severity that the conquered nation is left with no strength to rise again. Islam, after the payment of jizyah under such lenient conditions, neither allows the imposition of war indemnity nor any form of economic slavery.