WikiIslam:Sandbox/Responses to Apologetics: Jizya
Moderate Muslims reject the dhimmi system, including jizya, as inappropriate for this age of nation-states and democracies
Umar spent the jizya revenue on needy non-Muslims and this is a truly Islamic practice
The majority of scholars say that the jizya must be taken with gentleness, not harshness
It was an unusually tolerant practice by the early caliphates contrary to the practices of the Byzantine Empire
The tax was so little that avoiding it cannot be a motive for conversion to Islam
It protected Jews from other atrocities that they frequently suffered in the West
Muslims paid higher taxes
This may have been occasionally true but it is unlikely to be true for 1400 years (the period in which jizya was actively collected).