Lenient Approach to the Manner of the Collection of Jizyah
A member of the Thaqeef tribe narrated that Hazrat Ali (ra) appointed him as the governor of Sabur. Sabur is an area in Iran which is situated approximately 75 miles from the city of Shiraz. Hazrat Ali (ra) instructed him that he should not punish anyone even over one dirham of tax, nor go after their wealth or their clothes whether it be the season of summer or winter. In other words, the tax should not be sought in a manner that they become deprived of even their clothing. He also admonished that he should not take any animal from them in tax which they used for their work. No one should be made to endure trouble if they paid less tax by even a dirham. In other words, he was not to cause the people to endure any kind of hardship or trouble in the collection of the tax or the Jizyah. Upon this, he submitted, “O Leader of the Faithful! In that case, I shall return to you in the same state as I am leaving for I will not be able to collect anything.” Hazrat Ali (ra) replied, “Indeed, even if it means that you return empty handed, because I have been commanded that we are only to take [tax/Jizyah] from the surplus wealth of people.”
(Ali Ibn al-Athir, Usdul Ghabah fi Ma‘rifatis Sahabah, Vol. 4, [Beirut, Lebanon: Dar al-Fikr, 2003], p. 98) (Mujam-ul-Buldan, Vol. 3, p. 188)