Jizya - Criticism

Criticism

Critics often cite Jizya as a form of oppression in Islamic law.

Others argue that it is fair, since all Muslims are obliged to pay Zakat (charitable donations) and the Shiite Muslims must pay the Khums Tax (1/5 of one's earnings). Additionally, Islamic law requires Muslims to do military duties when required but exempts the non-Muslims.

In practice, however, Timothy H. Parsons states that during the early caliphate, non-Muslims had to pay the kharaj. The sum of the jizya and kharaj taxes levied on non-Muslims were considerably larger than the zakat tax on Muslims and conversion generally brought tax relief. Some evidence suggests that the Jizya was sometimes double the Zakat; for example, the Hedaya, an Islamic legal text, declared it lawful to require twice as much of a Zimmee as of a Mussulman ."

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