Posted in the comment section of the Facebook page of Imam Ahmed Alhasan احمد الحسن: November 17, 2017
Q: May the peace, mercy, and blessings of God be upon you. There is a question that came to my mind my dear Sir. Why did Islam force the jizya upon the Christians? I don’t see that the Christians have done this in exchange. I see that Christians do not force it on the Muslims that live and settle in their lands. I hope you can clarify why jizya is forced upon them. Does this same rule apply according to the Qaim (the Riser), or are there disagreements? I hope that you will answer this question. And all praise be to God.
A: May the peace, mercy, and blessings of God be upon you. May God welcome you, my beloved. Jizya is not a legislative ruling of worship. It is a law mandated within the Islamic nation that the Messenger of God, peace be upon him and his progeny, established. The Muslims pay the tax to the nation by means of zakat, khums, and sadaqah (charity). Those who are non-Muslim pay the tax to the Islamic nation, under the name of jizya. As for saying that the Christians or secular countries today do not force jizya upon the Muslims, that is incorrect. This is because there are taxes that are being forced on Muslims and non-Muslims in these countries today. In brief, jizya is the equivalent of taxation. Today, in the just Islamic nation, the believer pays tax under the title of “zakat and khums” and in turn, he is recompensed and rewarded. However the non-believer, or the one who averts zakat and khums pays it by hand compliantly and it is called a tax, or jizya. Call it whatever you’d like; there is no dispute about the names.