Jizya and Other Humiliations of Non-Muslims in an Islamic State

Dear Muslims! Are the 'minorities' also 'human beings' in your eyes?

Just as you were unaware that Islamic law forces a slave woman to provide sexual services to her owner, and that you only became aware of this aspect of Islamic law after the establishment of ISIS. Similarly, you are unaware of that dark corner of Islam where Islamic law does not treat minorities as humans but rather commands them to be treated as animals and subjects them to humiliation and degradation, considering it a matter of faith.

Quran 9:29:

قَٰتِلُوا۟ ٱلَّذِينَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِٱللَّهِ وَلَا بِٱلْيَوْمِ ٱلْءَاخِرِ وَلَا يُحَرِّمُونَ مَا حَرَّمَ ٱللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُۥ وَلَا يَدِينُونَ دِينَ ٱلْحَقِّ مِنَ ٱلَّذِينَ أُوتُوا۟ ٱلْكِتَٰبَ حَتَّىٰ يُعْطُوا۟ ٱلْجِزْيَةَ عَن يَدٍ وَهُمْ صَٰغِرُونَ

Fight against the People given the Book(s) who do not accept faith in Allah and the Last Day, and who do not treat as forbidden what is forbidden by Allah and by His Noble Messenger, and who do not follow the true religion, until they pay the tariff (tax) with their own hands with humiliation (disgraced/belittled). 

Here صَـغِرُونَ is an Arabic word, which means humiliation (link). This same word has also been used in the Quran in verse (7:119) and verse (27:37) with the same meaning of "Humiliation".

 Ibn Kathir recorded an incident of how the 2nd Caliph Umar Ibn Khattab dealt with non-Muslims of Syria by humiliating them. Ibn Kathir writes under the commentary of verse 9:29:

... [{ وَهُمْ صَٰغِرُونَ } أي ذليلون حقيرون مهانون]  And صَٰغِرُونَ means disgraced, humiliated and belittled.

Therefore, Muslims are not allowed to honor the people of Dhimmah or elevate them above Muslims, for they are (أذلاء صغرة أشقياء) miserable, disgraced and humiliated. Imam Muslim recorded (a hadith) from Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet said: "Do not initiate the Salam to the Jews and Christians, and if you meet any of them in a road, force them to its narrowest alley."

This is why the Leader of the faithful `Umar bin Al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, demanded his well-known conditions be met by the Christians, these conditions that ensured their continued ( إذلالهم وتصغيرهم وتحقيرهم) humiliation, degradation and disgrace.

The scholars of Hadith narrated from `Abdur-Rahman bin Ghanm Al-Ash`ari that he said, "I recorded for `Umar bin Al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, the terms of the treaty of peace he conducted with the Christians of Ash-Sham: `In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. This is a document to the servant of Allah `Umar, the Leader of the faithful, from the Christians of such and such city. When you (Muslims) came to us we requested safety for ourselves, children, property and followers of our religion. We made a condition on ourselves that:

1. We will neither erect in our areas a monastery, church, or a sanctuary for a monk, nor restore any place of worship that needs restoration nor use any of them for the purpose of enmity against Muslims.
2. We will not prevent any Muslim from resting in our churches whether they come by day or night, and we will open the doors of our houses of worship for the wayfarer and passerby.
3. Those Muslims who come as guests, will enjoy boarding and food for three days.
4. We will not allow a spy against Muslims into our churches and homes or hide deceit or betrayal against Muslims.
5. We will not teach our children the Qur'an, publicize practices of Shirk, invite anyone to Shirk or prevent any of our fellows from embracing Islam, if they choose to do so.
6. We will respect Muslims, move from the places we sit in if they choose to sit in them.
7. We will not imitate their clothing, caps, turbans, sandals, hairstyles, speech, nicknames and title names,
8. Or ride on saddles, hang swords on the shoulders, collect weapons of any kind or carry these weapons.
9. We will not encrypt our stamps in Arabic, or sell liquor.
10. We will have the front of our hair cut (i.e. we will shave all hairs from the front side of our heads in order to be immediately recognised by Muslims that we are non-Muslims).
11. We will wear our customary clothes wherever we are, wear belts around our waist,
12. We will refrain from erecting crosses on the outside of our churches and demonstrating them and our books in public in Muslim fairways and markets.
13. We will not sound the bells in our churches, except discretely, or raise our voices while reciting our holy books inside our churches in the presence of Muslims, nor raise our voices with prayer at our funerals, or light torches in funeral processions in the fairways of Muslims, or their markets.
14. We will not bury our dead next to Muslim dead,
15. We will not buy servants who were captured by Muslims.
16. We will be guides for Muslims and refrain from breaching their privacy in their homes.

When I gave this document to `Umar, he added to it, `We will not beat any Muslim. These are the conditions that we set against ourselves and followers of our religion in return for safety and protection. If we break any of these promises that we set for your benefit against ourselves, then our Dhimmah (promise of protection) is broken and you are allowed to do with us what you are allowed of people of defiance and rebellion.'''

This treaty is such a humiliation to humanity that Islamic preachers don't find any excuses for it. Their initial reaction is to somehow reject this treaty by making any excuse (like denying it altogether). However, this is not possible because the Muslim scholars themselves have deemed this treaty as 'authentic' and have incorporated it as a part of Islamic jurisprudence, considering it a fundamental aspect of Islamic law. For example:

• Ibn Hazm (Grade: Authentic)
• Abdul Haq al-Asbaili (Grade: Authentic)
• Ibn Qayyim (Grade: Acceptable)
• Ibn Kathir (Grade: Jayyad جيد)
• Ibn Taymiyyah (Grade: Jayyad جيد)

Furthermore, this pact of Umar is also proved to be true without any doubts due to the presence of a letter, that Imam Abu Yousuf (the Chief Justice of Harun al-Rashid) wrote to the caliph. We will read this letter later. 

Ibn Kathir mentioned above a hadith from Imam Muslim. Here it is: 

Sahih Muslim, 2167a:

Ibn Kathir also mentioned above a hadith from Imam Tirmidhi. Here it is:

Jami` at-Tirmidhi 1602:

Narrated Abu Hurairah: That the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: "Do not precede the Jews and the Christians with the Salam. And if one you meets one of them in the path, then force him to its narrow portion." ... [Abu 'Eisa said:] This Hadith is Hasan Sahih. And regarding the meaning of this Hadith: "Do not precede the Jews and the Christians": Some of the poeple of knowledge said that it only means that it is disliked because it would be honoring them, and the Muslims were ordered to humiliate them. For this reason, when one of them is met on the path, then the path is not yielded for him, because doing so would amount to honoring them.

Note: 

There is no excuse for such xenophobic behaviour and even the Humanity within Muslims makes it impossible for them to accept such Sharia orders (i.e. not to initiate greetings to non-Muslim minorities, in order to belittle them). Therefore, Muslims came up with an excuse that these orders were specific to the incident of Banu Qurayzah, while there was a war-like situation between them and the Muslims. 

But this is a lame excuse. The orders in the Hadith are not limited to the Banu Qurayzah incident, but these are the "General" orders for "all times" and for "all" the non-Muslims who are living in an Islamic State and paying the Jizya. 

Banu Qurayzah were only Jews, but the hadith is very clear that "Jews and the Christians" should not be greeted and should be pushed on the corner of the road. Thus, Muslim deception is not going to work here. 

More details can be read here. 

The purpose of Jizya is to humiliate non-Muslims

Muslim preachers claim:

Jizya is not to humiliate non-Muslims. But it is for their protection, and making them free from the obligation of taking part in Jihad for the Islamic State.

Response:

This is not true, while: 

• The Islamic States are engaged in "offensive" wars in the name of Jihad (spreading the religion of Allah). Why should non-Muslims contribute to it? 
• A Muslim, even if he does not participate in a war, then he has to pay no Jizya tax. But if a non-Muslim does not participate, then he has to pay Jizya. Are you able to see the difference? 
• And if Muslims participated in the wars, then they got a share in the "War Booty". But non-Muslim minorities got absolutely no share in the war booty, despite paying Jizyah.
• The Quranic verse is very clear that humiliation is a part of Jizya.
• The hadith is clear about this humiliation of non-Muslims.
• Islamic Jurisprudence (4 Fiqh Imams) are clear about this humiliation. 
• Islamic History is clear about this humiliation. 

Abu Bakr al-Jassas wrote in his book "Ahkam-ul-Quran" (link):

لَيْسَ أَخْذُ الْجِزْيَةِ مِنْهُمْ رِضًا بِكُفْرِهِمْ وَلَا إبَاحَةً لِبَقَائِهِمْ عَلَى شِرْكِهِمْ وَإِنَّمَا الْجِزْيَةُ عُقُوبَةٌ لَهُمْ لِإِقَامَتِهِمْ عَلَى الْكُفْرِ ۔۔۔ إمْهَالُهُمْ بِالْجِزْيَةِ جَائِزٌ فِي الْعَقْلِ إذْ لَيْسَ فِيهِ أَكْثَرُ مِنْ تَعْجِيلِ بَعْضِ عِقَابِهِمْ الْمُسْتَحَقِّ بِكُفْرِهِمْ وَهُوَ مَا يَلْحَقُهُمْ مِنْ الذُّلِّ وَالصَّغَارِ بِأَدَائِهَا

Taking jizyah from the disbelievers does not imply approval of their disbelief or granting permission for them to persist in their polytheism. Jizyah is a punishment imposed on them for their disbelief. Rationally and logically, it is permissible to collect jizyah and grant them respite because nothing more is done through this method than delivering the deserved punishment for their disbelief. A portion of this punishment is implemented upon them in the form of humiliation and degradation, which is incurred upon them through the payment of jizyah.

And Imam Surkhisi wrote in his book "al-Mabsoot" (link):

أنه إذا سكن دار السلم فما دام مصرا على كفره ل يخل عن صغار وعقوبة وذلك بالجزية التى تؤخذ منه ليكون ذلك دليل على ذل الكافر وعز المؤمن 

When a disbeliever resides in the abode of peace (Dar al-Islam) and persists in his disbelief, he should not be exempt from humiliation, punishment, and subjugation. This is achieved through the collection of jizyah from him, which serves as evidence of the humiliation of the disbeliever and the honor of the believer.

Decrease in Jizya Tax due to forced conversion to Islam

The purpose of the jizya was to humiliate and demean the Dhimmis (non-Muslims living under Islamic rule). As a result, the Dhimmis became so frustrated with these restrictions that they began converting to Islam "under duress," leading to a decrease in jizya revenue. In response, the Muslim ruler decreed that the Dhimmis, despite converting to Islam, would still be subjected to Jizya as before, ensuring that government revenue would not decrease.

Ibn Athir (a Muslim historian) recorded in his book al-Kamil (source):

أن عمال الحجاج كتبوا اليه أن الخراج قد انكسر وان أهل الذمة قد أسلموا ولحقوا بالأمصار فكتب إلى البصرة وغيرها أن من كان له أصل من قرية فليخرج إليها فأخرج الناس لتؤخذ منهم الجزية فجعلوا يبكون وينادون يا محمداه يا محمداه ولا يدرون أين يذهبون

al-Hajjaj's administrators wrote to him that the tax revenues had decreased and that the dhimmis (non-Muslim citizens) had converted to Islam and migrated to the cities. Thus, he wrote to Basra and other places, instructing that those people (i.e. those Dhimmi non-Muslims who converted to Islam, and) with roots in a village should return there, intending to collect the Jizya (from those ex-Dhimmis). The newly converted people (i.e. ex-Dhimmis) started to weep and cry out, "O Muhammad! O Muhammad!" without knowing where to go. 

Restrictions on Clothing of Non-Muslims in Islamic Law

Imam Abu Yusuf was a student of Imam Abu Hanifa, and during the era of Abbasid Caliph Harun al-Rashid, he served as the Chief Judge (Qadi al-Qudat) in the Islamic state. In his book titled "Kitab al-Kharaj," he discussed the issues of jizyah (tax) and the responsibilities of non-Muslim subjects according to Islamic law.

Regarding the clothing of non-Muslims, he wrote to Caliph Harun al-Rashid (link):

Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (link) has also narrated similar principles for non-Muslims, and Imam Shafi'i has mentioned the same in his book Al-Umm (link) regarding this issue.

Ahmad ibn Naqib al-Misri (1302 - 1368 AD, Shafi'i) wrote in Umdat as-Salik (p. 236):

External Links:

1. Wealth Tax on non-Muslims by the Turkish State