114 chapter three
In addition to the above taxes, there were two other sources of
public finance: Khums and the revenue of sawàfìland. The Khums,
one fifth, was the share of the state of the spoils of wars gained by
Muslim warriors (with the exclusion of lands in the reign of Umar
as detailed above). It also included the share of the state of the trea-
sure (and the minerals) that might be extracted from earth. Swafi
land was the land which was deserted by its owners who fled the
country after the Islamic conquest in pursuit of their masters. That
land was put under the direct control of the state and managed by
state employees.
State Expenditure
Turning our attention to the expenditures side of public finance, we
find that avenues of expenditures varied depending upon the source
of revenue. Revenue of Zakàh and that of Khums, one fifth of war
spoils, were to be spent in a certain manner specified in the Qur"àn.
Revenue of Jizyah was general since neither the Qur"àn nor the
Sunnah specified the way it was to be spent. As for custom duties,
Ushùr, these were introduced at the time of Caliph Umar and as
such they were to be spent on general purposes of state affairs. But
the bulk of revenue was that of Kharàj. An examination of the types
of public spending at the time of the second caliph reveals that those
could be divided into three main types: social-caring spending and
stipends expenditure, current expenditure and investment expendi-
ture. The first category was stated above with no need for repeti-
tion. The second category of state expenses related to those expenses
which were necessary for running the every day affairs of state admin-
istration, or current expenses. Stipends paid to Muslim soldiers, gov-
ernors, local treasurers, judges and clerks lay in that category.
Investment expenditures were of a more permanent nature: build-
ing bridges, road maintenance, digging canals and rivers, and help-
ing those who needed capital to set up entrepreneurial ventures
(Abù-Ubaid). Umar was conscientious about the need for public facil-
ities and road maintenance so much so that he is reported to have
said that if a mule stumbled in a road as far as the Euphrates
embankment he would be responsible for not paving the road for it.
State Administration
During the reign of caliph Umar’s predecessors, the state was run
by the central government in al-Medìnah, though during Umar’s