The Jizya is a right that Allah (swt) enabled the Muslims to take from the Kuffar as a submission from their part to the rule of Islam. It is a general fund that can be spent on the welfare of the subjects as a whole. It becomes due every year and cannot be collected beforehand. The Jizya is established through the text of the Qur’an. Allah (swt) says:
“Until they pay the Jizya with willing submission (from their hands) and feel themselves subdued” [At-Tauba: 29]
Abu ‘Ubayd has reported in Al-Amwal (i.e. The Funds) on the authority of Al-Hassan ibn Mohammed who said: “The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) wrote to the Magi of Hajar calling them to Islam: ‘He who embraces Islam, it will be accepted from him, and He who does not, the Jizya will be imposed upon him, provided no slaughtered meat of his is to be eaten and no women of his is to be wed.’” The Jizya is taken from the Kuffar as long as they remain in Kufr; if they embrace Islam it will be waived from them. The Jizya is imposed on the head and not on the wealth; thus it is collected from every individual from the Kuffar, and not on the basis of the wealth. The word Jizya is derived from “Al-jazaa” (i.e. retribution). Hence it is taken as a retribution for being Kuffar and this means that it cannot be waived unless they embraced Islam. Also the Jizya cannot be waived from the Kuffar who take part in fighting, as it is not levied as a retribution for protecting them. It is only levied from the individual who is capable of paying it, because Allah (swt) says:
“With willing submission (from their hands)” [At-Tauba: 29]
meaning with capability; thus it is not levied on the invalid. The Jizya is only imposed upon men; thus it is not levied from women nor is it levied from children, nor is it levied from the insane. Even if a woman came to live in Dar al-Islam and offered to pay the Jizya in exchange for her right of abode, she is allowed in Dar al-Islam and would be given leave to reside and no Jizya will be levied from her. No fixed amount is estimated for the Jizya, rather it is left to the opinion of the Imam and his own Ijtihad, provided that the amount set by the Khalifah is no higher than the payer could bear. Bukhari extracted that Abu Najeeh reported: “I said to Mujahid: “What is with the people of Ash-Sham? They have to pay four dinars, while the people of Yemen have to pay only one dinar?” He said: “This was determined according to prosperity.” If the Jizya became due on a capable Kafir and He could not pay it, it will remain a debt on his neck and He would be treated like the indebted facing difficulty, thus He would be given time to pay it.