Signs of The Hour Which Have Happened

[ابوالوليد المسلم]

Signs of The Hour Which Have Happened (4/4)

Dr. `Umar S. al-Ashqar

4 - The Jizyah and Kharaaj will no Longer be Collected
The jizyah which was paid by Ahl adh-Dhimmah (Jews and Christians living under Islamic rule) to the Muslim state, and the khiraaj which was paid by those who made use of the lands which had been conquered by the Muslim state, were among the most important sources of income for the Bayt al-Maal (treasury) of the Muslims. The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace be upon him) told us that this would come to a halt, and that because of this the Muslims would lose one of their main sources of income. In Muslim it is narrated that Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace be upon him) said:
“Iraq will withhold its dirhams and qafeez, Syria will withhold its madd and dinars, and Egypt will withhold its irdab and dinars. You will go back to where you started, you will go back to where you started. ”" The flesh and blood of Abu Hurayrah testified to that.[1]


The qafeez, madd and irdab were weights and measures used by the people of that time in those lands. Some of them are known even nowadays. The dirham and dinar were the names of the currencies known at that time. These lands will withhold the things mentioned in the hadith because they were taken over by the kuffaar at various times. First the Romans, then the Tartars, took over a large portion of the Muslims' lands. In our own times the kuffaar have taken over the Muslims' lands, abolished the khilaafah (caliphate) and done away with the rule of Islamic Shari'ah.


An-Nawawi said in his commentary on this hadith: "The most correct meaning is that the Persians and Romans will take over the land at the end of time, and they will deprive the Muslims of this source of income. A few pages later, Muslim narrated this from Jaabir who said: 'Soon you will not receive any qafeez or dirham.' We said, 'Where from?' He said, 'From the Persians, who will withhold it.' And he also mentioned that the Romans would prevent that in Syria too. This is happening now in 'Iraq ... It is said that it is because they will turn apostate at the end of time, so they will withhold their zakaah etc. Or it was said that the kuffaar who are obliged to pay jizyah will become strong enough at the end of time, so they will withhold the jizyah and khiraaj etc. that they used to pay."[2]


All of the reasons which an-Nawawi gave to explain why this income would be withheld from the Islamic state have happened, in addition to the collapse of the Islamic state whose economy was based on Shari'ah. And it is to Allah that we complain.
[1] Muslim, Kitaab al-Fitan, 412220, hadith no. 2896

[2] Sharh an-Nawawi 'ala Muslim, 18/20