174 chapter five
The subject of the book was to provide a comprehensive study,
on “... the collection of the Kharàj, tithes, alms, Jizyah, and other
matters (italics ours) of what he (the caliph) ought to look into and
act upon”, and the objective was to “avert oppression from his sub-
jects, and benefit their interests”. The “other matters” in the above
statement suggests that the book was not meant to be exclusively on
taxation, or, even, purely on land taxation as it has been conceived
and presented by some writers. It was wider than that, even if land
taxation was one of its main components. This will become clear
when we look into the structure of Kitàb al-Kharàj.
The book is written in the form of answering questions posed by
the Caliph. Whether the Caliph actually asked these questions or if
Abù-Yùsuf used them as a stylistic approach to his writing is not
clear. It could be assumed however that when the Caliph asked Abù-
Yùsuf to write for him a treatise on taxation and state revenue with
a view to answering potential questions, Abù-Yùsuf presumed implic-
itly that the Caliph would ask these questions. It is also important
to note that in his book, which is directed to the Caliph himself,
Abù-Yùsuf gives Sharì"ah rulings, advice and opinions, not decisions.
The decisions were left to the Caliph, “It is up to you, O Commander
of the Faithful, to decide which view to follow”; Abù-Yùsuf invari-
ably ends his ruling.
Abù-Yùsuf ’s approach to writing on the subject of al-Kharàj was
a pragmatic approach. He looked into the prevailing practice, examined
past applications, studied the problems arising from present and past
policies, scrutinised the Qur"ànic rules, the Aœadìthand jurisprudence
to insure conformity with the Sharì"ah, and then reached an opin-
ion which would provide in his view a plausible answer. The deductive
approach he used was for the purpose of proving a point, debating
an issue, defending an idea, or criticising a judgment. But the prag-
matic approach was the general scientific approach he followed. In
that sense it can be said with Yusri (1992) that Abù-Yùsuf was the
first writer to have taken Islamic economics towards the “scientific”
nature of the subject as a proper subject for scientific research.
Structure of the Book
For convenience of discussion, but not necessarily in the strict sequence
in which Abù-Yùsuf ’s book appeared, the structure of the book could
be rearranged as follows: