Jizya - Etymology and Meaning

Etymology and Meaning

In Arabic it means:"What is taken from the Dhimmis, which is the amount of money agreed upon in the contract that gives the non-Muslim the Dhimmai status; and it's derived from the act of the verb "reward"; as if it (Jizya) is a requital for not being killed.".

The Arabic term jizya appears in verse Quran 9:29, but the Qur'an does not specify jizya as a tax per head. According to Paul Heck, the jizya taxation seems to be a developed form of the Sassanian practice of taxation.

Commentators disagree on the definition and derivation of the word jizya:

• Shakir and Khalifa's English translations of the Qur'an render jizya as "tax", while Pickthal translates it as "tribute". Yusuf Ali prefers to transliterate the term as jizyah.
• Yusuf Ali states "The derived meaning, which became the technical meaning, was a poll tax levied from those who did not accept Islam, but were willing to live under the protection of Islam, and were thus tacitly willing to submit to the laws enforced by the Muslim State."
• Monqiz As-Saqqar attributes the word jizya to the root word jaza meaning "compensate" and defines it as "a sum of money given in return for protection".
• Ibn Al-Mutaraz derives the word from 'idjzã, meaning "substitute" or "sufficiency" because "it suffices as a substitute for the dhimmi's embracement of Islam."
• Yusuf al-Qaradawi says the word jizya is derived from the jazaa', meaning "reward", "return", or "compensation", and defines it as "a payment by the non-Muslim according to an agreement signed with the Muslim state".
• Edward William Lane, in An Arabic-English Lexicon defines jizya as a "tax that is taken from the free non-Muslim subjects of a Muslim government whereby they ratify the compact that assures them protection.
• Ibn Rushd explains that jizya is in fact a broader concept than just a head-tax. It also includes monies exacted in times of war – what is normally understood in English by the word ‘tribute’ – as well as levies (‘ushr) on non-muslim merchants who are trading in the Dar al-Harb.

In practice, the word is applied to a special type of tax, levied upon the non-Muslim adult males living under an Islamic state.

After the Norman conquest of Sicily, taxes imposed on the Muslim minority were also called the "jizya".