Jizya: Extorting Money from Other Religions

Christian: Allah (=God) orders Muslims to fight unbelievers until they accept Islam (Koran 9:29).

Muslim: This is not true. The Quran 9:29 doesn’t say to forcibly convert people of other religions to Islam. This is what the Quran 9:29 says-

“Fight those who do not believe in God or in the Last Day and who do not consider unlawful what God and His Messenger have made unlawful and who do not adopt the religion of truth from those who were given the Scripture - [fight] until they humbly pay jizyah (tax).”

God tells Muslims to fight Non-Muslims until they pay tax. God doesn’t tell Muslims to fight non-Muslims until they convert to Islam. Non-Muslims who live in an Islamic state need to pay tax. Note that it is not only Non-Muslims who pay tax in an Islamic state. Muslims who live in an Islamic state need to pay tax too. The tax that Non-Muslims pay is called “jizyah”. The tax that Muslims pay is called “zakah”. Note that the rate of “zakah” is higher than the rate of “jizyah”. This means Muslims pay higher tax than Non-Muslims in a Muslim state.

If you live in a Non-Muslim country and deny paying the government tax, then the government will fight you until you pay the tax. The government will send police to arrest you and put you in jail. There is nothing wrong with punishing citizens if they don’t pay tax.