Zakah For Non-Muslims, and Jaziya
Question:
I am in a heated debate with some brothers and sisters over the recipients of zakat.
While Muslims pay the zakat, is the distribution of zakat only for the benefit of Muslims?
Also, is there any population on this earth right now that has to pay the jizya?
Please provide sources for this explanation and your response is eagerly awaited.
Thank you
Answer:
The verse of zakah, that is 9:60, has categorically listed the receivers of zakah. There is no condition for being a Muslim in this verse. We do not need to look any further for evidential sources. If a person claims that zakah can only be given to Muslims then the onus is on him to provide evidences from the primary sources of Islam and to answer, why the above mentioned verse does not list such condition.
Jaziya was the punishment that those people of book in Arabia who hold their implicit enmity towards the prophet (pbuh) and Muslims at the time of the prophet (pbuh) and the era of companions needed to pay. Apart from helping with finances this was in fact a symbol of their humiliation and submission to Muslims as a punishment. The punishment was due to the fact that they rejected the messenger of God (pbuh) only out of arrogance and therefore showed enmity towards him and did not use the opportunity to correct some of their false beliefs and practices. This is why the verse of Jaziya (9:29) is mentioned among the verses of punishment of Kuffar in the sura of Tau’bah and the word Sagherun (degraded) is stressed in the verse.
We do not have the same authority that the prophet (pbuh) and his companions had, and (obviously) people of the book today are not those who lived in Arabia at the time. The directive of Jaziya was specific to them and that time. We are not allowed to impose any jaziya on non-Muslim minorities.
Therefore the answer to your question is, no, we do not know anywhere on Earth where people need to pay jaziya. A Muslim state however may impose any tax on its minority citizens that is deemed necessary and fair to manage their affairs.
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December 2013
Revised: October 2016
I am in a heated debate with some brothers and sisters over the recipients of zakat.
While Muslims pay the zakat, is the distribution of zakat only for the benefit of Muslims?
Also, is there any population on this earth right now that has to pay the jizya?
Please provide sources for this explanation and your response is eagerly awaited.
Thank you
Answer:
The verse of zakah, that is 9:60, has categorically listed the receivers of zakah. There is no condition for being a Muslim in this verse. We do not need to look any further for evidential sources. If a person claims that zakah can only be given to Muslims then the onus is on him to provide evidences from the primary sources of Islam and to answer, why the above mentioned verse does not list such condition.
Jaziya was the punishment that those people of book in Arabia who hold their implicit enmity towards the prophet (pbuh) and Muslims at the time of the prophet (pbuh) and the era of companions needed to pay. Apart from helping with finances this was in fact a symbol of their humiliation and submission to Muslims as a punishment. The punishment was due to the fact that they rejected the messenger of God (pbuh) only out of arrogance and therefore showed enmity towards him and did not use the opportunity to correct some of their false beliefs and practices. This is why the verse of Jaziya (9:29) is mentioned among the verses of punishment of Kuffar in the sura of Tau’bah and the word Sagherun (degraded) is stressed in the verse.
We do not have the same authority that the prophet (pbuh) and his companions had, and (obviously) people of the book today are not those who lived in Arabia at the time. The directive of Jaziya was specific to them and that time. We are not allowed to impose any jaziya on non-Muslim minorities.
Therefore the answer to your question is, no, we do not know anywhere on Earth where people need to pay jaziya. A Muslim state however may impose any tax on its minority citizens that is deemed necessary and fair to manage their affairs.
------------
December 2013
Revised: October 2016
