Monday, May 04, 2009

Indian Muslims condemn "jizya" tax on Pakistan's Sikhs‏

Got this one from my friend and activist Yusuf Saeed. Jizya is one of the most misunderstood concepts (remember the Mughal history and Aurangzeb!) and the Talibans, amongst the many horrible things that they do in the name of Islam, are also misusing it in Afghanistan/Pakistan.

Here is the copy of the statement from Indian Muslim leaders:

Joint Statement of Indian Muslim leaders

Pakistani Taliban’s treatment of Sikhs in tribal areas is illegal and barbaric

We, religious, political and community leaders of the Indian Muslims, are alarmed at the reports coming out of Pakistan’s tribal areas about the Pakistani Taliban’s kidnapping, extortion of huge amounts of money from their Sikh compatriots as “Jizya” and demolition of the houses and shops of those who fail to pay the demanded sums.

We would like to say that Jizya is a tax paid in an Islamic state for exemption from military service by healthy non-Muslim adults who are free to follow their vocations without restriction or fear, and that there is no other tax payable by them after paying this tax, unlike Muslims who have to pay various taxes including Zakat and have to perform military service as well.

Jizya was payable by non-Muslims only in lands conquered by Muslims like Egypt, Syria and Iraq but not in unconquered areas like Madina where during the time of the Holy Prophet no Jizya was ever imposed on non-Muslim citizens who enjoyed equal rights and duties under the Constitution of Madina. For many centuries Jizya has not been levied by Muslim states and today even the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Islamic Republic of Iran do not levy Jizya on non-Muslims for the simple reason that non-Muslims in these states pay all taxes payable by others. Prominent Islamic scholars of the modern times like Shaikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi are of the view that Jizya should not be imposed now as non-Muslims are equal citizens of Muslim states and pay all taxes paid by other citizens and shoulder all the duties.

We wish to make it clear that the imposition of the so-called Jizya is nothing more than extortion by an armed and lawless gang which does not constitute a sovereign government or state or even an organ thereof. Moreover, Pakistan’s tribal areas are not “conquered lands” as their non-Muslim population has been living there for centuries. These areas were part of the British India and became part of the new
State of Pakistan as a result of peaceful transfer of power on Partition.

As regards the huge amounts in millions reported to be demanded, these are arbitrary and exorbitant as the amount of annual Jizya paid by non-Muslims in early Islam was merely one to one and a half dinar, which is 4.24 gram to 6.36 grams of gold. Moreover, this tax was payable only at the end of the year and not in advance.

We regard this as an act of injustice incompatible with the letter and spirit of Islam and the international covenants accepted by all Muslim states.

We demand that the Pakistani authorities must take earliest steps to retrieve the extorted sums and pay them back to their affected non-Muslim citizens and facilitate their peaceful return to their homes and properties in their traditional homelands and give them all due protection.

Maulana Mufti Mukarram Ahmad
Shahi Imam, Jama Masjid Fatehpuri, Delhi

Hafiz Muhammad Yahya
President, All India Jamiat Ahl-e Hadees

Maulana Abdul Hameed Nomani
Secretary, Jamiat Ulama-e Hind

Syed Shahabuddin
Former PM & ex-President, All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat

Prof Tahir Mahmood
Member Law Commission of India

Mujtaba Farooq
Secretary, Jamaat-e Islami Hind

Maulana Ataur Rahman Qasmi
President, Shah Waliullah Institute, Delhi

Maulana Waris Mazhari
Editor, Monthly Tarjuman, Delhi

Dr Zafar Mahmood
President, Zakat Foundation of India

Dr SQR Ilyas
Member, Muslim Personal Law Board

Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan
President, All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat

Mirza Yawar Baig
President of Yawar Baig & Associates

Shahnawaz Ali Raihan
Secretary, Students Islamic Organisation

Issued at New Delhi on 2 May 2009

Issued by the All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat, Delhi

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8 comments:

Jay Kactuz said...

Quote: Jizya was payable by non-Muslims only in lands conquered by Muslims like Egypt, Syria and Iraq but not in unconquered areas like Madina where during the time of the Holy Prophet no Jizya was ever imposed on non-Muslim citizens who enjoyed equal rights and duties under the Constitution of Madina.

This is a lie - and stupid.
The Quran is clear - all non-Muslims must pay this. It is a "humiliation" tax. The medina covenant was discarted later after Mohammad conquered mecca. It was just to fool non-Muslims.

Oh yes, by the way,the "Holy Prophet" raided and plundered non-Muslims and enslaved them. Later he expelled them from Arabia. Muslims don't even know their own writings and history.

Indian Muslims should be glad their are in India!

Unknown said...

Jay, I am not as certain as you are. You seem to be a scholar of Islam or Islamic history?

Jizya was not a humiliation tax as you put it. See the acceptable sources such as Britannica and even Wikipaedia for basic info on Jizya.

Britannica: "Islamic law made a distinction between two categories of non-Muslim subjects—pagans and dhimmis (“protected peoples,” or “peoples of the book”; i.e., those peoples who based their religious beliefs on sacred texts, such as Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians). The Muslim rulers tolerated the dhimmis and allowed them to practice their religion. In return for protection and as a mark of their submission, the dhimmis were required to pay a special poll tax known as the jizya. The rate of taxation and methods of collection varied greatly from province to province and were greatly influenced by local pre-Islamic customs. In theory the tax money was to be used for charitable purposes and the payment of salaries and pensions. In practice, however, the revenues derived from the jizya were deposited in the private treasuries of the rulers. The Ottomans usually used the proceeds of the jizya to pay their military expenses."

Source: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/304125/jizya

According to Wikipedia, Quran is not very clear about Jizya. I quote: "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."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jizya

blackmoley said...

Your facts about jizyah is a complete distortion of facts. No where it is said Jizya is a tax paid in an Islamic state for exemption from military service by healthy non-Muslim adults who are free to follow their vocations without restriction or fear, and that there is no other tax payable by them after paying this tax, unlike Muslims who have to pay various taxes including Zakat and have to perform military service as well.Read the quran before making up stories. Do read this link line to line http://www.wikiislam.com/wiki/Jizyah

Unknown said...

blackmoley, I know what I am talking about. YOU should stop distorting facts. Read my previous answer carefully. And if you have disagreemets, go and change the wikipedia article and send me the link. Stop using this space for unnecessary debate please.

blackmoley said...

Lets not get into a debate on jizyah. Its a waste of time talking, when you dont accept what Islam and koran is actually all about.I am very much informed about Islam from my friend who quit Islam as he could no longer lie to himself as to what it teaches. you could learn what he says from his website. good luck i have posted the link below.
http://www.considerationsofacanadianex-muslim.org/

Saffronized said...

Jizya is a barbaric tax forced on non-muslims to force them to accept islam...

Every other definition for this barbaric tax is just an attempt to portray islam as a tolerant religion...

http://www.iiu.edu.my/deed/quran/nobelquran/nobe009.html

Here is a definition of Jizya from a University under the guradianship of islamic rulers of islamic state Malaysia... which is more reliable than Wiki on islamic matters...

Muslims are just trying to portray their religion as a tolerant religion with all these new interpretations... else let them explain what is written in Quran 9:29....

Anonymous said...

@blackmoley: I went through the link - http://www.considerationsofacanadianex-muslim.org/

it is not so hard to copypaste things from faithfreedom.com ....
his basic premise is that "Prophet Mohammads (PBUH)- life is that of a gangster godfather. He raided merchant caravans, looted innocent people, massacred entire male populations and enslaved the women and children. One who claims to be a messenger of God is expected to live a saintly life. He must not be given to lust, he must not be a sexual pervert, and he must not be a rapist, a highway robber, a war criminal, a mass murderer or an assassin."
Nauzubillah

I'll give you some things to read into if you really want to know what Mohammad got and what He gave back....
1)The state of the Arab just before Mohammad was born - 1AD-500AD....
2)The normal age of marriage and consummation around 500AD. The normal age of puberty for women in 500AD.
3)Taxes levied on people during that period..

Please read into this and get back to me.. I hope you will....

Anonymous said...

And please don't get blown away by the followers and likes of Ali Sina... Because most of these people are not up for face to face debates... They hide behind curtains and selectively give only that data which can be easily misunderstood by any person who is not aware of minute details... I personally have seen them selectively chopping out portions(which of course were not in their own favour) from online debates and use the doctored debates on their sites.....