A stone inscription in the historic Balaji or Vishnu Temple, located north of Chitrakut Balaghat, still shows that it was commissioned by the Emperor himself. The proof of Aurangzeb%u2019s land grant for famous Hindu religious sites in Kasi, Varanasi can easily be verified from the deed records extant at those sites. The same text book reads: "During the 50-year reign of Aurangzeb, not a single Hindu was forced to embrace Islam. He did not interfere with any Hindu religious activities." (p. 138) Alexander Hamilton, a British historian, toured India towards the end of Aurangzeb%u2019s 50-year reign and observed that every one was free to serve and worship God in his own way. These above references clearly show that accusations of forced conversion and religious intolerance are false. It is also evident that since the independence of India in 1947, there has been an overt attempt by revisionist, bigoted Hindu historians in India to malign the Muslim history. Now let us deal with Aurangzeb%u2019s imposition of Jizya tax which had drawn severe criticism from many Hindu historians. It is true that Jizya was lifted during the reign of Akbar and Jahangir and that Aurangzeb later reinstated this. Before I delve into the subject of Aurangzeb%u2019s Jizya tax, or taxing the non-Muslims, it is worthwhile to point out that Jizya is nothing more than a war tax which was collected only from able-bodied young non-Muslim male citizens living in a Muslim country who did not want to volunteer for the defense
RE:THE GREAT MOGHUL EMPEROR - AURANGZEB
by JATIN HALDANKAR on Jul 10, 2007 05:18 PM Permalink
JIZIYA is not a tax as many people think .its a set of around 20 restrictions to be imposed on non-muslim subjects in a country occupied by muslims. the terms were set by caliph umar when he invaded egypt and subjugated christians and jews. in india, jiziya was applied to Hindus , sikhs, buddhist and jains.. those who pay jiziya are called Dhimmi which means subjugated , miserable , inferior.
the terms of jiziya are as follows..
1. Display of non-Muslim religious symbols was prohibited on buildings and on clothing.
2. Loud prayers were forbidden.
3. Dhimmis were prohibited from proselytizing.they were also forbidden from preventing a dhimmi from being converted to islam.
4. Dhimnmis were prohibited fromn publishing or sale of non-Muslim religious literature and a ban on teaching the Qur%u2019an.
5. Dhimmis had to bury their dead without loud lamentations and prayers.
6. Dhimmis were not to rebuild or repair destroyed temples.
7. Dhimmi testimony and oaths were not valid against Muslims.On the other hand, Muslims could testify against Dhimmis.
8. Dhimmis had no right to bear arms of any kind.
9. Dhimmis were forbidden to ride horses or camels; they were only allowed to ride donkeys.
10.Dhimmis could not to build houses higher than those of Muslims.
11.Dhimmi man could not marry a Muslim woman.
12.Dhimmis had to build their houses away from muslim localities.
RE:THE GREAT MOGHUL EMPEROR - AURANGZEB
by JATIN HALDANKAR on Jul 10, 2007 05:36 PM Permalink
Zakat is a religious duty, but Jizyah is discrimination and way to eventually convert non-muslims to Islam. The two are very different. Taxation was a concern for non-Muslims who were paying a higher tax than the zakat tax paid by Muslims. It was also an important factor persuading many dhimmis to convert to Islam, though during the first century after the Arab conquest of Syria and Palestine conversion to Islam was not encouraged "partly because the jizyah constituted an important source of state revenue"
