Short answer
Jizya was a yearly payment from able-bodied adult non-Muslim men living under an Islamic state, in return for protection and exemption from military service and zakat. In the Hanafi school it was 48 dirhams a year for the rich, 24 for the middle class and 12 for working poor people. Women, children, the elderly and the poor who could not work paid nothing.
Jizya is due only from free, adult, sane, able-bodied non-Muslim men in an Islamic state, at three levels: 48, 24 or 12 silver dirhams a year by wealth. Women, children, the very old, the disabled, the poor who cannot earn, and secluded monks are exempt. Collecting it is the job of the government, never of individuals.
Other madhhabs
- Shafi'i
- The minimum is one dinar a year per man, and more may be agreed; the poor are not exempt in the main Shafi'i view.
- Maliki
- Four dinars a year for those who pay in gold, or forty dirhams for those who pay in silver, reduced for those who cannot pay.
Explanation
The Quran mentions jizya in 9:29, and the Prophet ﷺ took it from the Magians of Hajar and set it at one dinar per adult man in Yemen. Umar later set three levels by wealth, which the Hanafi school follows: 48 dirhams for the wealthy, 24 for the middle class and 12 for people who work but have little. A dirham was a silver coin of about three grams.
What it was for:
- Non-Muslim citizens were not required to fight in the army, and the state was bound to protect them, their worship and their property.
- They did not pay zakat, which Muslims paid every year.
- When Muslim armies could not protect a town, there are reports of commanders returning the jizya they had taken.
Who paid nothing: women, children, the very old, the blind and disabled, the poor who could not earn, and monks living apart from people. A man who became Muslim stopped paying.
Jizya is a rule for the government of an Islamic state, set alongside its duties of protection. It is not something an individual or a group may demand from anyone, and there is no jizya for Muslims living in the West or for their neighbours. For the wider picture of public revenue, see What does Islam say about taxation?
The evidence
Quran, Surah At-Tawba 9:29
قَٰتِلُوا۟ ٱلَّذِينَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِٱللَّهِ وَلَا بِٱلْيَوْمِ ٱلْءَاخِرِ وَلَا يُحَرِّمُونَ مَا حَرَّمَ ٱللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُۥ وَلَا يَدِينُونَ دِينَ ٱلْحَقِّ مِنَ ٱلَّذِينَ أُوتُوا۟ ٱلْكِتَٰبَ حَتَّىٰ يُعْطُوا۟ ٱلْجِزْيَةَ عَن يَدٍۢ وَهُمْ صَٰغِرُونَ ﴿٢٩﴾
Fight those who do not believe in Allah or in the Last Day and who do not consider unlawful what Allah and His Messenger have made unlawful and who do not adopt the religion of truth from those who were given the Scripture - [fight] until they give the jizyah willingly while they are humbled.
This is the ayah that establishes jizya.
Sunan Abi Dawud 3038
Grading to be checked... أمره أن يأخذ من كل حالم يعني محتلما دينارا ...
"He instructed him to take one dinar from every adult man."
The Prophet ﷺ set the amount when he sent Mu'adh to Yemen.
Sahih al-Bukhari 3157
Sahih... أخذها من مجوس هجر ...
"He took it from the Magians of Hajar."
The Prophet ﷺ took jizya himself.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Siyar, Bab al-Jizya. The three levels of 48, 24 and 12 dirhams and the list of those exempt.
- Minhaj al-Talibin, Kitab al-Jizya. The Shafi'i minimum of one dinar.
- Mukhtasar Khalil with al-Sharh al-Kabir, Bab al-Jizya. The Maliki amounts of four dinars or forty dirhams.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.