Umar bin al-Khattab passed by an old man begging. He asked him: “To which of the People of the Book do you belong?” He said: “I am a Jew.” He replied: “What has compelled you to that which I see?” He said: “I am begging in order to pay the jizya [head tax] and on account of my need and old age.” Then ‘Umar got hold of his hand, took him to his house and gave him something from his home, then sent him to the treasurer of the Bayt al-Mal [State Treasury] and said: “Take care of this man and other similar men. By Allah, we have not done justice to him that we ate (jizya) from him when he was young but we forsook him when he was old. Verily, the alms are for the poor and destitute. The poor are the Muslims and this one is a destitute from the People of the Book.” So he removed the jizya from him. Abu Bakr said, “I have witnessed this (incident) of ‘Umar and I also have seen that old man.” (Abu Yusuf, Kitāb al-Kharāj)
