the implications of Jesus abolishing Jizya?

Question

Sahih Bukhari Volume 3, Book 43, Number 656:

Allah's Apostle said, "The Hour will not be established until the son of Mary (i.e. Jesus) descends amongst you as a just ruler, he will break the cross, kill the pigs, and abolish the Jizya tax. Money will be in abundance so that nobody will accept it (as charitable gifts).

Since Jizya is abolished the verse 9:29 will have only two options to people of the book.

Fight against those who (1) believe not in Allah, (2) nor in the Last Day, (3) nor forbid that which has been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger (4) and those who acknowledge not the religion of truth (i.e. Islam) among the people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians), until they pay the Jizyah with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued.(9:29)

Can we conclude people of book will be only given option of Islam or death under jesus?

Answer 1

The following interpretations exist of this hadith:

• يضع does not mean abolish, rather it can mean place or enforce. The meaning is that Jesus will take Jizyah from the disbelievers. It might mean that he will be able to overpower all of the disbelievers and enforce Jizyah on all of them. It could also mean that many rulers of that time would have abandoned collecting Jizyah (in transgression of Shariah Law) and Jesus will revive the practice. Hence the action of Jesus will be in exact accordance with our Shariah.

• The Jews and Christians will all accept Islam and those religions will become extinct. Hence no one will remain on whom Jizyah is obligatory according to our Shariah.

  وإن من أهل الكتاب إلا ليؤمنن به قبل موته

  And there is none from the People of the Scripture but that he will surely believe in Jesus before his death.

  ^{— Quran 4:159}

  ويهلك الله في زمانه الملل كلها إلا الإسلام

  Allah will perish all religions except Islam

  ^{— Abu Dawud}

• Some scholars have suggested that that Jesus will force them all to accept Islam or be executed (similar to the pagan polytheists who were forced in accordance to 9:5). This will not be an abrogation of 9:29 rather the verse is made specific by this hadith, so the ruling in our Shariah is that Jizyah is only an option until the return of Jesus, and after that everyone is to be forced to accept Islam. Jesus will not abrogate our Shariah rather he would be acting on the saying of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ (this hadith itself) which commands him to not accept Jizyah at that time.

  بل لا يقبل إلا الإسلام أو القتل

  Rather he will not accept anything from them except Islam or execution

  ^{— Sharah Nawawi}

• Some have suggested that there will be excess of wealth so that the need for taking Jizyah and Zakat will not exist, so he will not collect them as there will be no recipient for spending it.

  ويفيض المال حتى لا يقبله أحد

  Money will be in abundance so that nobody will accept it (as charitable gifts).

  ^{— Bukhari}

  This is however an extremely weak explanation, since there is no evidence that the collection of Jizyah is subject to need.

Answer 2

It's a moot point. If Jesus (pbuh) does return and proves beyond doubt that he is indeed Jesus with his miracles, preaching, etc, there will no longer be any debate about Islam as the only acceptable faith.

He will lay to rest the cruci-fiction by showing that he was not crucified but only appeared that way. He will abolish the current world order of tyranny through capitalism, which is symbolized by the pig. And jyzya will be meaningless since everyone will be muslim.

Answer 3

Jizyah is a fundamental commandment of the Quran. So there is no case that it would be abrogated. Such a concept goes against the sanctity of the Quran.

The concept of a bloody messiah goes against Islam's fundamental teachings of peace and free will and there being no compulsion in religion. Mention of killing the disbelievers in the Hadith refer to killing their logic with clear signs and proofs. Hadith are filled with metaphors anyway so we should try to reason out Hadith rather than sticking to the literal meaning.

About Jizyah, among the many Ahadith about Jesus's (as) coming, we also come across one that includes this phrase:

وَتَضَعُ الْحَرْبُ أَوْزَارَهَا – "And war will cease" (Sunan Ibn Majah 4077 Book 36, Hadith 152)

So, in this sense, the reason why Jizyah would not be taken is that the coming of the Messiah (as) would be the end of religious wars since the times would have changed and the conditions required for Jihad by the Sword would not be present. Though, importantly, the commandments would not be abrogated, and if in the far future times would change again to require Jihad by the Sword, such commandments would once again come into effect. The Quran is everlasting, and its teachings forever, and they are never abrogated.

This viewpoint, once again, requires one to interpret the Ahadith about killing of disbelievers, Jews, etc, in a metaphorical manner that the Messiah (as) will defeat their viewpoints/logic with strong, disprovable arguments that would result in the fall of all other religions except Islam.