The Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought

jizya

The jizya was a poll tax that all non-Muslim, adult males living in territories controlled by Islamic governments were required to pay. It was the substantive proof of a people’s or region’s subjugation to Islamic rule. The term appears once in the Qur’an (9:29), meaning tax or tribute, and refers to the tribute owed by “the People of the Book” (ahl al-kitāb), specifically Jews and Christians. The jizya became one of the most public stipulations of a pact between the People of the Book and the Muslim ruler, under which they were accorded the protection of the state and the freedom to practice their religion in return for abiding by public Islamic law and adhering to a number of restrictions regulating their behavior. In recognition of their protection under this pact, they became termed dhimmīs. Followers of other religions, such as Zoroastrians and Hindus, were later incorporated into the category of dhimmīs and were required to pay the jizya.

The Persian and Byzantine empires and pre-Islamic Arab tribes had already established systems of taxation and tribute. As Islam spread, previous structures of taxation were replaced by the Islamic system, but Muslim leaders often adopted practices of the previous regimes in the application and collection of taxes. Examples of the application of the jizya are found in a number of the hadith.

Prior to the Abbasid epoch, the jizya was not strictly defined or applied, which frustrated the efforts of later scholars attempting to understand the early Islamic tax system. The jizya during the early centuries of Islam was used interchangeably with another term for tax, kharāj. Lack of clarity regarding the categories of people to which jizya was applied further convoluted matters. In some instances jizya was applied to individuals; in other cases jizya was applied to entire communities or provinces. Sometimes the jizya meant a land tax. Under the Abbasids, the jizya was delineated as a poll tax all dhimmīs were required to pay. Rules for the application of the jizya were devised. Free, adult males who were not afflicted by any physical or mental illness were required to pay the jizya. Women, children, handicapped, the mentally ill, the elderly, and slaves were exempt, as were all travelers and foreigners who did not settle in Muslim lands. In exchange for paying the jizya, dhimmīs were permitted to practice their religion, were not obligated to serve in the military, and were offered protection by Muslim rulers. Collected yearly, the jizya was used to pay salaries, pensions, and charities.

The jizya remained in place for centuries and was applied by various Muslim regimes. The Ottoman Empire applied the jizya to its Jewish and Christian subjects for centuries. While adhering to traditional parameters of the jizya, the Ottomans allowed religious clerics and people of certain provinces, such as Serbia and Bosnia, exemption from or lower rates of taxation. A form of jizya was instituted in India near the 14th century, but the practice was eradicated by the early 18th century. Following the Mongol invasion, many regions of the Middle East saw the disappearance of the jizya. However, the jizya continued into the 19th century in many North African countries and Persia. With the disappearance of Islamic states and the spread of religious tolerance, the jizya nearly vanished in the 20th century. Reports of religious minorities being forced to pay jizya have occasionally surfaced in countries plagued by war and political instability, such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iraq during the early 21st century. The imposition is seen to be at odds with modern secular conceptions of citizenship in the nation-state, which entail the equality of citizens who adhere to different religions.