the dynastic caliphates: the umayyads and the reforms 147of war and the way the revenue of the Fai" was to be spent was
provided earlier in the second chapter and hence there is no need
for repetition.
Sawàfìland, crown estates or fiefs
The term referred to the land, the ownership of which was trans-
ferred to the state because of several reasons. These are mainly: (a)
the original owners deserted the land after the Islamic conquest, (b)
the death of non-Muslim landowners in wars against Muslims with-
out leaving heirs, and (c) the death of the landowner, Muslim or
non-Muslim, without leaving heirs (Abù-Yùsuf ). The first large scale
appearance of sawàfìland took place during the Islamic expansion
under the reign of the second caliph Umar when a large number
of Persian and Byzantine owners abandoned their lands in Iraq and
Syria. The state managed those lands on an economic basis and
with revenue reported as ranging between 4,000,000 and 9,000,000
dirham (Al-Rayyis, 1977), which was a considerable sum by the stan-
dard of the day, sawàfì land seemed to have been of a great impor-
tance to the Islamic Treasury.
Although the land had been viewed as belonging to Muslims in
general, a view which the second caliph Umar maintained, a change
took place during the reign of the third caliph Uthmàn which trans-
ferred the ownership of sawàfìland from the state to individuals. As
said previously, the development started with a request from the gov-
ernor of Syria, Mu"awiyah, to give him the land from which the
Byzantine governors fled on the argument that his salary was not
sufficient to cover his expenses.
Although the third Caliph Uthmàn opened the door for a marked
change in land ownership, his views could be based on the follow-
ing sound reasons (Muœammad, 1986):
i. the land was given to individuals on a rental, not ownership,
basis,
ii. the new system would enhance the personal incentive of the
keeper, and increase productivity
iii. it would alleviate the state public expenses as it would eliminate
the state administrative cost from operating the lands,
iv. as a result of the above two factors, the net revenue from this
land would increase.