Al-Kafi · Hadith 1

The Book of al-Zakat · Zakat of Tax Payers · Volume 3, book 5, chapter 46, Hadith 1

Original Arabic text

1ـ عَلِيُّ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ عَنْ أَبِيهِ عَنْ حَمَّادِ بْنِ عِيسَى عَنْ حَرِيزٍ عَنْ زُرَارَةَ قَالَ قُلْتُ لأَبِي عَبْدِ الله (عَلَيْهِ الْسَّلام) مَا حَدُّ الْجِزْيَةِ عَلَى أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ وَهَلْ عَلَيْهِمْ فِي ذَلِكَ شَيْ‏ءٌ مُوَظَّفٌ لاَ يَنْبَغِي أَنْ يَجُوزُوا إِلَى غَيْرِهِ فَقَالَ ذَاكَ إِلَى الإِمَامِ أَنْ يَأْخُذَ مِنْ كُلِّ إِنْسَانٍ مِنْهُمْ مَا شَاءَ عَلَى قَدْرِ مَالِهِ بِمَا يُطِيقُ إِنَّمَا هُمْ قَوْمٌ فَدَوْا أَنْفُسَهُمْ مِنْ أَنْ يُسْتَعْبَدُوا أَوْ يُقْتَلُوا فَالْجِزْيَةُ تُؤْخَذُ مِنْهُمْ عَلَى قَدْرِ مَا يُطِيقُونَ لَهُ أَنْ يَأْخُذَهُمْ بِهِ حَتَّى يُسْلِمُوا فَإِنَّ الله تَبَارَكَ وَتَعَالَى قَالَ حَتَّى يُعْطُوا الْجِزْيَةَ عَنْ يَدٍ وَهُمْ صاغِرُونَ وَكَيْفَ يَكُونُ صَاغِراً وَهُوَ لاَ يَكْتَرِثُ لِمَا يُؤْخَذُ مِنْهُ حَتَّى يَجِدَ ذُلاًّ لِمَا أُخِذَ مِنْهُ فَيَأْلَمَ لِذَلِكَ فَيُسْلِمَ قَالَ وَقَالَ ابْنُ مُسْلِمٍ قُلْتُ لأَبِي عَبْدِ الله (عَلَيْهِ الْسَّلام) أَ رَأَيْتَ مَا يَأْخُذُ هَؤُلاَءِ مِنْ هَذَا الْخُمُسِ مِنْ أَرْضِ الْجِزْيَةِ وَيَأْخُذُ مِنَ الدَّهَاقِينِ جِزْيَةَ رُءُوسِهِمْ أَ مَا عَلَيْهِمْ فِي ذَلِكَ شَيْ‏ءٌ مُوَظَّفٌ فَقَالَ كَانَ عَلَيْهِمْ مَا أَجَازُوا عَلَى أَنْفُسِهِمْ وَلَيْسَ لِلإِمَامِ أَكْثَرُ مِنَ الْجِزْيَةِ إِنْ شَاءَ الإِمَامُ وَضَعَ ذَلِكَ عَلَى رُءُوسِهِمْ وَلَيْسَ عَلَى أَمْوَالِهِمْ شَيْ‏ءٌ وَإِنْ شَاءَ فَعَلَى أَمْوَالِهِمْ وَلَيْسَ عَلَى رُءُوسِهِمْ شَيْ‏ءٌ فَقُلْتُ فَهَذَا الْخُمُسُ فَقَالَ إِنَّمَا هَذَا شَيْ‏ءٌ كَانَ صَالَحَهُمْ عَلَيْهِ رَسُولُ الله (صلّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِه).

Published English translation

1. Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from his father from Hammad ibn ‘Isa from Hariz from Zurarah who has said the following: “I once asked abu ’Abd Allah (a.s.), about al-Jizyah (taxes paid by a non-Muslim taxpayer) of the people of the book. Is there anything definite, which does not change? He (the Imam) said, ‘It is up to the Imam. He may receive from every one of them what he decides which they can afford in proportion to their assets. They have been spared their lives and from being exiled by their agreement to pay taxes; so al-Jizyah is received from them in proportion of their assets to the limit that they can afford to pay until they become Muslims. Allah, most Blessed, most High, has said, ‘. . . until they pay al-Jizyah with their hands with humbleness. How can they be humble if what they pay is negligible to them? Such payment must make them feel humiliated so that they accept Islam? Ibn Muslim has said that I asked abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about what they (rulers) receive as one-fifth from land of al-Jizyah, from the farmers per head. Is there anything in definite amounts?’ He (the Imam) said, ‘It was just that much which they had agreed to pay. Imam has no other choice but to receive al-Jizyah. He (the Imam) can assign it per head and not their assets or vice versa? I then asked, ‘What is the rule about this al-Khums (one-fifth)?’ He (the Imam) said, ‘This is how the Messenger of Allah had settled with them.”

Narrator and transmission

See the transmission information preserved in the original source text.

Attributed scholarly assessments

Allamah Baqir al-Majlisi: مجهول

Mirʾāt al-ʿUqūl fī Sharḥ Akhbār Āl al-Rasūl (6/122)

Assessment transcribed from the source's named scholar and reference. No new grading or consensus is asserted; differing entries remain separate.

Shaykh Baqir al-Behbudi: صحيح

Ṣaḥīḥ al-Kāfī, vol. 2, pp. 41, 42

Assessment transcribed from the source's named scholar and reference. No new grading or consensus is asserted; differing entries remain separate.

Source, rights, and attribution

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translator: Muhammad Sarwar
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