economic thought of the rightly guided caliphs 111(4) The tax was an annual tax, though it could be paid by installment.
(5) It was paid in kind or in money.
(6) The liability of tax lay on the occupiers of land, either Muslims
or non-Muslims.
(7) The revenue of Kharàj was not to be mixed with that of Zakàh,
because the revenue of Zakàh was to be spent in a manner
specified in the Qur"àn, while the state had the discretion as to
the way the Kharàj revenue would be spent.
A discussion has arisen among historians as to whether Kharàj was
the same as Jizyah. Hitti, for example, argues, “The differentiation
between the two forms of taxation implied in Jizyah and Kharàj was
not made until the time of the late Umayyads” (Hitti, 1963). The
importance of the discussion, therefore, is that if Kharàj were in fact
the Jizyah as imposed by the Qur"àn and the Sunnah, it would mean
that Caliph Umar could not have introduced it as a new tax to the
Islamic tax system. It suffices to say that Hitti, and others, seemed
to have overlooked what Umar is reported to have said in the debate
between him and Muslims regarding the distribution of conquered
land. Caliph Umar said, “I impose Kharàj on them for the land
they hold and levy a Jizyah on their persons” (Abù-Yùsuf, Màwardì,
and Abù-Ubaid). The second caliph, differentiated clearly between
the two types of taxes: Kharàj and Jizyah. He specifically related
Kharàj to land but Jizyah to persons. As mentioned above, the own-
ership of the land rested with the state. The state in its turn entrusted
the original owners or keepers with the utilisation of land—a form
of ownership by trusteeship. Kharàj was, therefore, a financial reward
charged by the state from the keepers for delegating the right of
utilising the land to them. Furthermore, in levying Kharàj the sec-
ond caliph called for the measurement and registration of the lands.
At the instruction of Umar, as Abù-Yùsuf said, “Uthmàn ibn Hanif
surveyed the lands and imposed ten dirhams per jarib on grapes,
eight dirhams per jarib on sugar cane, four dirhams per jarib on
wheat, and two dirhams per jarib on barely” (Abù-Yùsuf ). It does
not seem conceivable to regard Jizyah as Kharàj while Jizyah was
imposed as a fixed sum per head and Kharàj was levied on a mea-
sure of produce ( jarib). It reinforces this further to quote the rest of
Abù-Yùsuf ’s report, “... and twelve dirhams, twenty four dirhams
and forty eight dirhams per head (according to their capacity)”, (Abù-
Yùsuf). Bearing that in mind and taking into account what has been