the abbasìd’s golden age 179
tax reflected the complete fairness he wanted to achieve. But by
the assertion of the two administrators that they had not charged
the land with more than it could bear, the land must have been
able to pay the tax imposed. Abù-Yùsuf in putting this point for-
ward seemed to have wanted to stress the point of the condition
for complete fairness in taxing the land, which although it could
have been achieved during Caliph Umar’s time it might not have
been realised afterwards. The following point clarifies this further.
- At the time of Caliph Umar the cultivated lands were much
greater than the uncultivated lands which were very minor. While
the fixed rate system on cultivable land, either cultivated or uncul-
tivated, worked in forcing the keepers to cultivate the land, there
were lands left uncultivated for one hundred years or so after
Caliph Umar’s time. These could not be developed and cultivated
without the heavy expenditures and investment that lay beyond
the ability of the peasants. Therefore, the cultivation of these
neglected lands in the near future was virtually impossible. The
principle of complete justice could not, therefore, exist without a
change in the system.
- Consequently, a fixed rate of tax could be harmful to the ruler,
the Treasury, and the taxpayer. To the ruler, if it happens that
the corn is very cheap in a certain year, with the fixed measure
of crops the revenue from the collected tax will not be sufficient
when converted into cash to cover the state expenses. On the
other hand, if the price of crops rises the ruler will not be ready
to give up what is collected of crops which might be regarded as
excessive (in monetary terms) by the taxpayers. Moreover, the
fixed tax rate, in cash or in kind, is harmful to the taxpayer
because the possibility that they may entail unjust distribution of
the taxes and the oppression of the weak by the strong.
- If what Caliph Umar imposed on the land was final it would not
be lawful to increase or reduce the tax. But Umar did not say that
what he imposed of Kharàj was final or that it was not permis-
sible for him or for a Caliph after him to reduce or increase it.
- Caliph Umar’s question to Œuûaifah and Uthmàn “Perhaps you
levied on the land more than what it could bear?” furnishes an
argument that if they had informed him that the land could not
bear such taxes he would have reduced the Kharàj tax. As Caliph
Umar’s question implied, the tax was imposed on what the land
could bear and this could be changeable.
