1137 – ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that “the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) took it—that is, the jizya—from the Magians of Hajar.” Narrated by al-Bukhari, and it also has a route in the Muwattaʾ, though that chain is disconnected. (1)

Lexical notes
– Magians: singular majusī. The term denotes the followers of Zoroastrianism, a religion that all but vanished after the Muslim conquest of Persia.
– Hajar (with two short a-vowels) is the area now called al-Ahsaʾ. In early times the whole province bore the name Bahrain and its capital was Hajar. Today the name Bahrain is restricted to the islands that include Manama, Muharraq, and their suburbs.

Points derived from the ḥadith

1. Disbelievers fall into two categories:
   a. People of the Scripture—Jews and Christians. These two communities are first invited to Islam; if they refuse, they are offered the option of paying jizya; should they decline both, they are to be fought.
   b. All others—idol-worshippers, materialists, Hindus, Buddhists, and anyone who is neither Jewish nor Christian. From such people only Islam is accepted; otherwise, war is waged against them.
2. The Magians are grouped with the People of the Scripture because they are thought to possess something akin to a revealed book. The Vizier said,