subjugated, given the right to administer their own affairs, but only if they would pay a small sum by way of tribute towards the maintenance of the central government at Madīnah. It was an act of great magnanimity on the part of the Holy Prophet to confer complete autonomy on a people after conquering them, and a paltry sum of tribute (jizyah) in such conditions was not a hardship but a boon. There was no military occupation of their territories, no interference at all with their administration, their laws, their customs and usages, or their religion: and, for the tribute paid, the Muslim state undertook the responsibility of protecting these small states against all enemies. In the later conquests of Islām, while it became necessary for the Muslims to establish their own administration in the conquered territories, there was still as little interference with the usages and religion of the conquered people as was possible, and for enjoying complete protection and the benefits of a settled rule they had to pay a very mild tax, the jizyah.
It may, however, be said that the Muslim state made a discrimination between the Muslim and the non-Muslim and that it was this feature of jizyah which gave it a religious colouring. A discrimination was indeed made, but it was not in favour of the Muslim but that of the non-Muslim. The Muslim had to do compulsory military service and to fight the battles of the state, not only at home but also in foreign countries, and in addition had to pay a tax heavier than that which the non-Muslim was required to pay, as will be shown presently. The non-Muslim was entirely exempt from military service on account of the jizyah he paid, and half a guinea or a dinār a year is certainly cheap for exemption from military service. So the Muslim had to pay the zakāt, a far heavier tax than jizyah, and do military service, while the non-Muslim had only to pay a small tax for the privilege of enjoying all the benefits of a settled rule.
The very name ahl al-dhimmah (lit., people under protection) given to the non-Muslim subjects of a Muslim state, or to a non-Muslim state under the protection of Muslim rule, shows that the jizyah was paid as a compensation for the protection afforded; in other words, it was a contribution of the non-Muslims towards the military organization of the Muslim state. There are cases on record in which the Muslim state returned the jizyah, when it was unable to afford protection to the