Question
I have read your answers regarding the topic of Jizya. Can you inform me of what the rate of Jizya is? is it heavier or lighter than Zakat?
Jazak Allah for your time
Answer
Jizyah was a tax imposed upon the People of the Book who had decided to refuse the Truth even though it had been proven to them beyond a shadow of doubt. Muslim Jurists have stipulated several conditions regarding its imposition: it should not be paid by the women and children of the Book. Only men (of the Book) who have reached puberty are to pay it. Jizyah can be paid in the shape of a service, for instance, if the men serve in the military then this service may be considered as a form of payment of Jizyah. As for the rate at which Jizyah can be imposed, there is a significant difference of opinion in this regard among the Muslim Jurists.
Zaka’h has a different function and therefore cannot be compared with Jizya which is a Divine Injunction to humble people who deliberately rejected the Truth. Zaka’h is a tax imposed by an Islamic state on its Muslim citizens. It is to be paid by every Muslim man and woman who owns wealth or herds over and above a particular limit or produces any thing over and above a particular limit.
To sum up, Jizyah and Zaka’h are, in fact, incomparable: Firstly, Jizyah ended after the reign of the Banu Ishmael, Zaka’h is still observed by Muslims; and secondly, Jizyah was, in fact, a part of the punishment imposed upon the rejecters among the people of the Book, while Zaka’h was a tax imposed on the Muslim citizens of a Muslim state.
I hope I have clarified the issue.
God knows best.