What is jizya? Does it mean exempting the rich who can pay from punishment while punishing the poor who cannot? Does this contradict the noble verse: "To you your religion, and to me my religion"? Is it permissible for the acceptance of a religion to be by coercion?
The Jizya is what is taken from the People of the Book (Ahl al-Dhimma). It is obligatory upon every free, adult, sane, fighting male who is able to pay it. It is not taken from women, children, slaves, the insane, the extremely elderly, nor from the incapacitated. Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) exempted a poor Jew from it. It is one of the merits of Islam when compared to what the kings of Rome used to do, as they used to take one dinar from them. The imposition of Jizya does not mean compelling them to embrace Islam, as Allah the Almighty says: "There is no compulsion in religion." Rather, it is in exchange for protecting their lives and their properties.
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
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- Summary from Ftawy's records, reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
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