Jizyah—Not a Religious Tax

It must be pointed out that Jizyah was not a religious tax. Even before the Muslims this tax was there and people used to pay it. As a matter of fact, there is historical evidence to prove that the tax under the Muslims was exactly the same as the tax levied by Nosherwan’s government in Iran. The famous Christian historian Jurjy Zaidan writes thus:

"In the 5th century B.C., Jizyah was imposed on the inhabitants of Asia Minor by the Greeks who took them under protection and saved them from the attacks of Phoenicians. These people used to pay it gladly enough in lieu of the security of life they enjoyed under the Greeks. Similarly they imposed an annual tax of 9 to 15 guineas on the residents of France when they conquered Gaul. From Greeks the tax was adopted by the Persians who called it Gazeet, which means, money the government realizes from the citizens every year. Jizyah is the Arabic form of Gazeet. Hence it was not a religious tax by any means and was in fact an age old tax, on payment of which the government guaranteed the security of citizens."1

On the other hand the Muslims were not exempt from taxes. They had to serve in the army in lieu of Jizyah and apart from voluntary contributions and emergency collections they had to pay an annual tax called Zakat which was calculated on the basis of the value of their total holdings. The Muslim citizens, therefore, were under a much greater burden, for, in addition to service in the army, they had to pay more than Dhimmi citizens.