190 chapter five
practice of an intermediary holding himself responsible for the
required payment, paying it to the government on time, or even in
advance, and collect that from the tax payers was a notable feature
of land taxation during the Umayyad and Abbasìd caliphate, as men-
tioned earlier. It was easier for the Treasury, and even more beneficial,
if the tax was paid by the intermediary agent in advance. But that
method had adverse consequences as the agent very often charged
the real tax payer more than the due tax. In effect it was a feature
of injustice. Abù-Yùsuf was entirely against it, “in such a system
lies the devastation of the country and the destruction of the sub-
jects”. He strongly recommended that the system of intermediary be
abolished.
Other Taxes on Derived Products
These products could be mainly divided into three categories: (a)
products derived from agriculture, (b) products extracted from the
ground, and (c) what is produced from the sea. For the produce
derived from agriculture, Abù-Yùsuf turned to products such as
honey, nuts and almonds and clarified how these were to be taxed.
Notably, he suggested that nothing should be levied on cane, fuel-
wood, grass, straw, nor on palm-boughs; except for sweet rush because
it is a useful plant even though it is not edible, and sugar-cane which
is edible. Also, nothing was to be imposed on petroleum, tar, mer-
cury, or asphalt, found in the land. With regard to sea products,
one-fifth, Khums, was suggested on whatever was brought out from
the sea such as ornaments and amber. With respect to other sea
products, Abù-Yùsuf was in disagreement with his teacher Abù-
Hanìfah who believed that nothing was taxable, because they were
like fish which was not taxable. Relying on evidence from the prac-
tice of the second caliph Umar, Abù-Yùsuf believed that one-fifth,
Khums, should be imposed on all sea products. One wonders what
Abù-Yùsuf ’s opinion would be on the taxation of the excavation of
oil and other minerals on such a large commercial scale today.
Zakàh
Abù-Yùsuf ’s treatment of the tax base and tax rate did not stop at
land taxation; it went beyond that to look into Zakàh. However, he
confined his treatment of the subject to Zakàh on animals. In exam-