Return of the Jizya

Islamic culture is based upon a strict series of rules that govern virtually every aspect of a devout Muslim's life. Unfortunately, when there is a non-Muslim minority in a country dominated by Sharia they must also live under its guidelines or face severe penalties. I have already discussed this topic in my previous post "Better Dead than Dhimmi" but now I want to discuss a very specific aspect of dhimmitude: the jizya. The jizya is a poll tax levied against any "protected" people, or dhimmis. The jizya is what America's Founding Fathers would have called "taxation without representation;" that is, those who pay this tax are not allowed an active voice in how that money is spent. It is extortion plain and simple that serves two purposes: it funnels wealth from the productive class of farmers and craftsmen to a consumer class of soldiers and bureaucrats while serving as a constant reminder to Jews, Christians, and Hindus (among select others) of their inferiority. This tax was established to break any possible spirit to resist Islamic occupation among conquered (and unconverted) peoples as well as deny them the funds and resources to put up a fight.

Since the glorious events of the Arab Spring, there has been extensive talk about the establishment of a new Caliphate (discussed in the previous post "Keys to the Caliphate"). Sharia-based governments are springing (no pun intended) up all over the Middle East. Naturally, with the world economy the way it is right now, some very influential Muslim scholars have called for the official return of the jizya to help cover costs. Nowhere is this talk more rampant than Egypt. Egypt's Coptic population has been a target of violence and discrimination for decades, but the heat has really been turned up in the months since Mubarak's exit. Recent testimony to the United States House of Representatives by Cynthia Farahat has provided insight as to why the Copts have been so persecuted: "The large and educated minority of Copts in Egypt is the biggest obstacle for Islamists to turn Egypt into another Iran or another Saudi Arabia." Such a large, educated minority of non-believers is the perfect target for repressive taxes designed to transfer wealth toward the least productive elements of Islamic societies.

Ahmed Imran of Egypt's Salafi "Party of Light" said, "I say to those who fear we might govern, that it was the Muslims who liberated the Copts from Roman slaughter and that Copts are obligated to pay the jizya, and it will only be half a dinar, taken from the rich and given to the poor." Wow, somebody's been watching re-runs of old Robin Hood movies, haven't they? If you were listening to that speech, you could be forgiven for mistaking the position of the "Party of Light" with the position of the Occupy Wall Street crowd. Actually, there really isn't a mistake: it's the same position. Socialists, Communists, and Islamists all want someone else to pick up the tab for their lifestyles. This is one reason that they all work well together despite what may seem like irreconcilable differences (the whole "Religion is the opiate of the masses" thing doesn't mesh well with Islamic fervor). Once the actual productive members of society are either exterminated or dominated, the various "-ism" groups will fight for power. But that is the subject of another article for another day.

The words of Koran 9:29 may sum it up best: "Fight those who believe not in Allah or the Last Day...until they pay the jizya with willing submission and feel themselves subdued." The purpose of targeted economic pressure is to express dominance, whether over dhimmis or the German Jews of the 1930s. That is why the Founding Fathers chose the issue of taxation as the hill that they were willing to die on. They understood that the ability of a free man to control his destiny is inexorably linked to his ability to control his wealth. When a portion of that wealth is claimed by someone who has not earned it, whether a government bureaucrat or an Islamic invader, you lose a portion of your self-determination.