20,000 Egyptian pounds is about $2,900 — giving the to the common claim from Islamic supremacists today that the jizya was merely a token tax and even lower than the amount of zakat that Muslims were required to pay.
Above all, as I explain here, the jizya is a Qur’an-mandated tax meant to show the humiliation and subjection of the conquered peoples who are made to pay it.
In December 2011, Yohanna Qulta, Deputy Patriarch of the Coptic Catholic Church, was asked what the Christians in Egypt would do if the jizya were reimposed in Egypt. He responded: “We will oppose this fiercely, to the point of martyrdom.” And here we are.
“Al-Shamiya Christians murdered for failure to pay extortion,” from MidEast Christian News, January 24 (thanks to Pamela Geller):
Christians in Al-Shamiya village in Assiut are subjected to constant threats, and are threatened with death unless they can pay at least 20 thousand pounds in jizya extortion payments.