Surah At-Tawba (9) — Ayah 29

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.