With the first Muslim conquests in the 7th century, the kharaj initially denoted a lump-sum duty levied upon the lands of conquered provinces, which was collected by hold-over officials of the defeated Byzantine Empire in the west and the Sassanid Empire in the east; later and more broadly, kharaj refers to a land-tax levied by Muslim rulers on their non-Muslim subjects, collectively known as dhimmi. At that time, kharaj was synonymous with jizyah, which later emerged as a per head tax paid by the dhimmi. Muslim landowners, on the other hand, paid ushr, a religious tithe on land, which carried a much lower rate of taxation,[2] and zakat. Ushr was a reciprocal 10% levy on agricultural land as well as merchandise imported from states that taxed Muslims on their products.
kitab al kharaj abu yusuf pdf 88
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Changes soon eroded the established tax base of the early Arab Caliphates. Additionally, a large, but unsuccessful, expedition against the Byzantine Empire undertaken by the Umayyad caliph Sulayman in 717 brought the finances of the Umayyads to the brink of collapse. Even before Sulayman's ascent to power, the powerful governor of Iraq, al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, attempted to raise revenues by demanding from Muslims a full rate of taxation, but that measure met with opposition and resentment. To address these problems, Sulayman's successor Umar II worked out a compromise in which, beginning from 719, land from which kharaj was paid could not be transferred to Muslims; instead, they could lease such land, but in that case they would be required to pay kharaj from it. With the passage of time, the practical result of that reform was that kharaj was levied on most land without regard for the cultivator's religion. The reforms of Umar II were finalized under the Abbasids and would thereafter form the model of tax systems in the Islamic state.[3] From that time on, kharaj was also used as a general term describing all kinds of taxes: for example, the classic treatise on taxation by the 9th century jurist Abu Yusuf was called Kitab al-Kharaj, i.e. The Book On Taxation.[2]
A comparison between pre-Islamic documents and those of the Islamic period reveals that conquering Arabs increased the land taxation without exception. Thus, raising taxes of each acre of wheat field to four dirhams and each acre of barley field to two dirhams, whereas during reign of Khosro Anushiravan it used to be a single dirham for each acre of wheat or barley field. During the later stage of the Umayyad Caliphate, conquered and subjugated Persians were paying from one fourth to one third of their land produce to the Arab Empire as kharaj.[4]
Two other taxes which figured prominently in the public finance of the early Islamic period were jizya and kharaj. Jizya represented the per capita financial contribution that non-Muslims were expected to make for the provision of amenities and protection that they enjoyed in an Islamic state without being obligated to fight for the defense of the state. It is noteworthy that while zakah is payable by all Muslims who possess nisab irrespective of age, sex or profession, jizya was not levied on women, children, the old, the infirm, and the monks. This shows that it was only levied on those capable of bearing arms and was in lieu of exemption of non-Muslims from compulsory military service. Kharaj was a tax on agricultural land located outside the Arabian peninsula in countries conquered by Muslims. It was sometimes applied as a fixed tax on the basis of acreage and sometimes as a proportional levy related to the output of particular crops. The following factors were given due consideration while fixing kharaj: (a) quality of land, (b) kinds of crops grown, and (c) method of irrigation of land. Kharaj on land irrigated with water carried on the backs of beasts or raised by water-wheel was less than on land watered by running water or rain. No kharaj was charged if the entire crop was destroyed by factors beyond the control of the cultivators of land.
A new tax that was imposed during the period of first four Caliphs was known as kharaj. Originally imposed by Umar on agricultural land of Iraq after its conquest by Muslims, kharaj was generalized to cover all agricultural land located outside the Arabian peninsula that came under the suzerainty of the Muslims. In some cases the tax was levied as a fixed annual payment per unit of land while in others it took the form of proportional levy related to the output of particular crops. The tax varied in accordance with the quality of the land, kinds of crops grown and method of irrigation of land. Lowest rates were applied to lands producing staple foodgrains like wheat and barley while higher rates were applied in the case of other crops. The tax on land irrigated with water carried on the backs of beasts or raised by water wheel was less than on land watered by running water or rain. The rates of kharaj varied between 20 and 50 percent of the output. If a piece of land could not be cultivated every year and was allowed to lie fallow for some time, this fact was taken into consideration while fixing the rate of the tax. However, if the land was kept unutilized without any genuine reason, it had to pay kharaj in full. No kharaj was charged if the entire crop was destroyed by factors beyond the control of the cultivators of land while concessional rates were applied in the case of substantial loss of crop on account of unavoidable factors. 2ff7e9595c
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