...born with the gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad

Clash of Wikis: Did you know that Wikipedia has an Islamic rival—Wikislam? No? Me neither. When you think about, though, it makes perfect sense that, just as there are two “Dars” (al-Harb and al-Islam) so, too, there would be two Wikis.

What’s the diff? Well, here, for instance is Wiki-al-Harb’s definition of “jizya,” the tax imposed on non-Muslims who live under Islam’s thumb:

Under Islamic law, jizya or jizyah (Arabic: جزْية; IPA: [ʤɪzjæh] Ottoman Turkish: cizye) is a per capita tax levied on a section of an Islamic state's non-Muslim citizens, who meet certain criteria. The tax is/was to be levied on able bodied adult males of military age and affording power,^[1] (but with specific exemptions,^[2][3] though these were discarded at various points in history^[4]). From the point of view of the Muslim rulers, jizya was a material proof of the non-Muslims' acceptance of subjection to the state and its laws, "just as for the inhabitants it was a concrete continuation of the taxes paid to earlier regimes."^[5] In return, non-Muslim citizens were permitted to practice their faith, to enjoy a measure of communal autonomy, to be entitled to Muslim state's protection from outside aggression, to be exempted from military service and taxes levied upon Muslim citizens.^[6][7][8]

The Arabic term jizya appears in verse Qur'an 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.^[9] 

And here’s the Wiki-al-Islam definition:

Jizyah is the extra tax imposed on non-Muslims (Dhimmis) who live under Muslim rule according to the Qur'an and hadith:

Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold forbidden that which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizyah with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued.

Qur'an 9:29

"I call you to God and to Islam. If you respond to the call, then you are Muslims: You obtain the benefits they enjoy and take up the responsibilities they bear. If you refuse, then you must pay the jizyah. If you refuse the jizyah, I will bring against you tribes of people who are more eager for death than you are for life. We will then fight you until God decides between us and you." (Al Tabari, Volume XI)

Khalid bin Al-Waheed (Muslim General, 632AD)

Once a land is conquered by Islamic armies the ruler can impose a taxation on those non-Muslims who will not convert to Islam.

Jizyah is paid as a sign of submission and gives Dhimmis some legal protection in return. Dhimmis usually are not allowed to carry arms to protect themselves or serve in the army. If the conquered do not wish to pay or convert, their fate may very well be slavery (and possibly rape) or death.

The amount of the Jizyah tax and the way it was collected varied from time to time and from place to place, but when imposed, the forced payment of Jizyah greatly stimulated the conversion of non-Muslims into Islam. In some cases the taxation of the non-Muslims was so profitable that the Islamic rulers prohibited their subjects from converting to Islam, lest they should lose their income.

Interesting. The Wikislam entry appears to be pretty bald about the ins-and-outs of the jizya, while the kafir Wiki seems to downplays it somewhat (with nothing, for example, about the punishment for resisting subjugation—slavery, rape or death, or, presumably, some combination of the three.) One might conclude the kafir Wiki is endeavouring not to offend, while the Islam Wiki is concerned with merely stating the facts.

Posted by: scaramouche at 11:46 | link | comments

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