polytheists and People of the Book among them. He instructed Mu‘ādh to take from every adult male a dinar or its equivalent in Ma‘āfirī garments, without distinguishing between polytheists and People of the Book. This indicates that the Arab polytheists embraced the faith, as did those of the People of the Book who believed, while those of the People of the Book who did not believe paid jizyah.

The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, took jizyah from the people of Bahrain, who were Magians, while ‘Abd al-Qays and others among the people of Bahrain embraced Islam voluntarily. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, had not imposed jizyah on any of the Jews in Medina or Khaybar. Rather, he fought them before the verse concerning jizyah was revealed. He allowed the Jews of Khaybar to remain as cultivators without paying jizyah until ‘Umar expelled them. They had a truce with him and cultivated the land, so he allowed them to remain because the Muslims needed them. Then, before his death, he ordered their expulsion and commanded that the Jews and Christians be removed from the Arabian Peninsula.

Some have said that this ruling applies exclusively to the Arabian Peninsula. Others have said that it applies generally to all non-Muslims living under Muslim protection: if the Muslims no longer need them, they are to expel them from Muslim lands. This is the view of Ibn Jarīr and others.

Those who hold that jizyah is not to be taken from a polytheist argue that the verse concerning jizyah was revealed while polytheists were still present, yet he did not take it from them.

The point is that he did not single out the Arabs for a distinct ruling, even if it is said that he singled out the Arabian Peninsula, which surrounds the Sacred Mosque, just as he singled out the Sacred Mosque in His words:

“The polytheists are indeed unclean, so let them not approach the Sacred Mosque after this year of theirs.”