Summarize and analyze the primary source document
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Summarize and analyze the primary source document
![Document Name: "How the Jizya is to be Collected and from Whom"
Author: Abu Yusuf (c.729-798)
Place source created: probably Baghdad (Abbasid Caliphate)
Period: Third-Wave
Original Language: Arabic
In printed source: The Jews of Arab Lands: A History and Source Book
Page numbers in printed source: 159-161
Editor and translator: Norman A. Stillman
Place of publication: Philadelphia
Publisher: The Jewish Publication Society of America
Date: 1979
Introduction: The jizya was the annual tax that all Christians and Jews (and some members of
other religions) were required to pay to the Muslim government of the region in which they
lived. Those who paid the tax were called ahl al-dhimma, "subjugated persons," and they lived
as second-class citizens who were not equal to Muslims under the law.
This is an excerpt from the Kitab al-Kharaj, a treatise written by the judge and scholar Abu
Yusuf for the Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad in the late eighth century. Based on his understanding
of figh-that is, on his secular legal interpretation of the Quran- Abu Yusuf in this treatise
advised the caliph (referred to as "The Commander of the Faithful" in the last paragraph) how he
should collect this tax according to sharia (divine law).
[159] The jizya is required of all the ahl al-dhimma in the Sawad [the lower half of Iraq], Hīra,
and the rest of the conquered lands, namely, the Jews, the Christians, Zoroastrians, Sabaeans, and
Samaritans. The only exceptions are the Christians of the Banu Taghlib tribe and the people of
Najran. The jizya is incumbent upon all adult males, but not upon women and children. For the
wealthy the tax is forty-eight dirhams, for those of medium income twenty-four, and for the poor,
the agricultural workers and manual laborers, twelve dirhams. It is to be collected from them
each year. It may be paid in kind, for example, beasts of burden, goods, and other such things.
These are to be accepted in accordance with their value. However, no animals not ritually
slaughtered, no pigs, and no wine may be accepted in payment of the jizya. Umar b. al-
Khattab may Allah be pleased with him-had already forbidden the acceptance of such things
for the jizya. "Leave them to their owners," he said. "They, however, may sell them, and the
proceeds from the sale may then be accepted from them." This kind of payment is permissible
when it is easier for the tributaries. 'Ali b. Abi Talib-may Allah honor him used to accept
large and small needles and would count their value toward their individual tribute, according to
what I have learned.](/v2/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcontent.bartleby.com%2Fqna-images%2Fquestion%2Fc45dfd55-2702-405b-9288-88cd78d06c07%2F17a1d5ad-e8f2-4892-8cf3-88dcd1167775%2F7vxmuq_processed.png&w=3840&q=75)
Transcribed Image Text:Document Name: "How the Jizya is to be Collected and from Whom"
Author: Abu Yusuf (c.729-798)
Place source created: probably Baghdad (Abbasid Caliphate)
Period: Third-Wave
Original Language: Arabic
In printed source: The Jews of Arab Lands: A History and Source Book
Page numbers in printed source: 159-161
Editor and translator: Norman A. Stillman
Place of publication: Philadelphia
Publisher: The Jewish Publication Society of America
Date: 1979
Introduction: The jizya was the annual tax that all Christians and Jews (and some members of
other religions) were required to pay to the Muslim government of the region in which they
lived. Those who paid the tax were called ahl al-dhimma, "subjugated persons," and they lived
as second-class citizens who were not equal to Muslims under the law.
This is an excerpt from the Kitab al-Kharaj, a treatise written by the judge and scholar Abu
Yusuf for the Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad in the late eighth century. Based on his understanding
of figh-that is, on his secular legal interpretation of the Quran- Abu Yusuf in this treatise
advised the caliph (referred to as "The Commander of the Faithful" in the last paragraph) how he
should collect this tax according to sharia (divine law).
[159] The jizya is required of all the ahl al-dhimma in the Sawad [the lower half of Iraq], Hīra,
and the rest of the conquered lands, namely, the Jews, the Christians, Zoroastrians, Sabaeans, and
Samaritans. The only exceptions are the Christians of the Banu Taghlib tribe and the people of
Najran. The jizya is incumbent upon all adult males, but not upon women and children. For the
wealthy the tax is forty-eight dirhams, for those of medium income twenty-four, and for the poor,
the agricultural workers and manual laborers, twelve dirhams. It is to be collected from them
each year. It may be paid in kind, for example, beasts of burden, goods, and other such things.
These are to be accepted in accordance with their value. However, no animals not ritually
slaughtered, no pigs, and no wine may be accepted in payment of the jizya. Umar b. al-
Khattab may Allah be pleased with him-had already forbidden the acceptance of such things
for the jizya. "Leave them to their owners," he said. "They, however, may sell them, and the
proceeds from the sale may then be accepted from them." This kind of payment is permissible
when it is easier for the tributaries. 'Ali b. Abi Talib-may Allah honor him used to accept
large and small needles and would count their value toward their individual tribute, according to
what I have learned.
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