جزية
Jizya
The tax paid by non-Muslim adult men of means in an Islamic state, in place of the zakat required of Muslims.
What it means
Jizya is the poll tax that the Islamic state took from its non-Muslim citizens who were free, adult, male and able to pay. Faruqi’s definition notes that the rate could differ by year or place, and that it stood in place of the zakāh that every Muslim must pay. The Quran mentions it once (9:29). In return for payment the state protected the lives, property and worship of those who paid, and it exempted them from military service. The classical jurists excused women, children, the poor, the sick and monks. The tax ceased to apply in most modern states, where non-Muslims are citizens with equal duties.
Often misunderstood as
It is often described as a punishment or a payment to avoid conversion, whereas jurists treated it as a fixed due in return for protection and exemption from service.
Term and Arabic as listed in Ismail al Faruqi, Toward Islamic English (International Institute of Islamic Thought, 1995), p. 27, listed as JIZYAH. The definition is restated here.