이슬람의 조세제도인 지즈야(Jizya)의 성격에 대한 연구 - 관용이 아닌 인권침해와 박해로서의 조세제도 -

Abstract

Historically justice in the principles of a country's tax imposition, the weight of the amount and the fairness of the method of collection can be used as a criterion for evaluating the legitimacy and excellence of the government of that country or its ruler. Jizya is a type of poll tax imposed annually on non-Muslims (especially Dhimmi people) living in Islamic countries. Therefore we can evaluate the legitimacy and excellence of the Islamic religion by examining the concept of the Jizya, collection process and amount of this Jizya. Today's modern Arabic dictionaries define Jizya as ‘received from the Dhimmi people in exchange for protecting or defending them’. However if we look at the authoritative dictionary of the mid-Islamic period, the Quran or the Sharia law, Jizya is defined as what the Dhimmi people pay in lieu of death. Quran 9:29 says of Jizya: Contrary to the explanations of Islamic scholars today, the meaning of this verse is that Jizya means a tax to be paid while ‘feeling shame in submission to Islam’. According to the collection process of Jizya, the Dhimmi people did not pay voluntarily in obedience to Islamic rule. The Muslim ruler intentionally inflicted all sorts of humiliation and shame on the Dhimmi people who paid the Jizya. Modern Islam says that the amount of Jizya is a very small amount that the Coptics can carry, and it is said that they imposed a smaller amount than before. However if we look at the records of those who were ruled by Islam, the amount was too large for an individual to bear, and many Coptics converted to Islam because they could not afford it. Jizya is closely related to conversion to Islam. Jizya is not a voluntary conversion to Islam after seeing Islam’s tolerance and generosity for the Jizya tax, as modern Islamic scholars claim. Conversely it is reasonable to view that the excessive weight of the Jizya and the oppressive element of the collection method led to involuntary conversion to Islam. When we consider Jizya’s excessive weight and human rights violations in the collection process, its nature should be seen as an indicator of human rights violations and persecution, not a symbol of fairness and tolerance. Also looking at the records of early and middle Islam, it is said that it was forcibly given to the Dhimmi people by the Islamic leaders, so it acted not as a ‘carrot’ but as a sharp ‘whip’ which led to involuntary and semi-forced conversion. Based on these studies, it is found that there are considerable problems in the records of Islam-related books or authorized textbooks for middle and high schools in Korea today. Authors of the authorized textbooks are biased toward Islam, relying too much on modern Islamic scholars’ Islamic beautifying expressions or their weakly grounded claims. This can be said to be the wrong direction that seriously undermines the publicity and neutrality of national education. It is urgently required to revise this and organize the correct and fair curriculum content.