economic thought of the rightly guided caliphs 113was introduced after the death of the Prophet, while (c) the rate on
others was an outcome of the reciprocal treatment which the sub-
jects of the Islamic state received from other states.
Other characteristics of the Ushùr tax were that the tax had a
threshold, 200 dirhams, it was levied once a year on the same goods
transferred regardless of the number of times they crossed the bor-
ders and it was imposed on external trade with no levy on the trans-
fer of goods among the state provinces (Abù-Yùsuf ).
Turning our attention to Zakàh, we recall that Caliph Abù-Bakr
established the right of the state to collecting Zakàh as one of its
affairs. That practice continued in the reign of Umar. The second
caliph, however, initiated two issues in Zakàh: (a) he postponed the
collection of the tax, as well as other taxes, when the Islamic state
experienced severe economic problems, such as those that happened
in the years of the famine, and (b) he modified the manner in which
Zakàh revenue was to be spent by taking non-Muslim chieftains off
the list of beneficiaries, stating that Islam was strong enough to defend
itself with no need to buy someone’s peace or loyalty. The modification
made by caliph Umar was an example of a man who was not sim-
ply copying those before him, but who questioned the wisdom of
the law and the purpose in the stipulated rule even if it was stipu-
lated in the Qur"àn and exercised by the Prophet and Abù-Bakr
before him. The second caliph demonstrated, in this example and
several others, the purpose of revealing a verse. This is an impor-
tant principle in understanding the Qur"ànic rule that relates to socio-
economic activities and deriving rules from it. The principle is widely
acknowledged among jurists.
Jizyah tax which was imposed on non-Muslim men, not on women
or children, had three different rates: forty eight dirhams, twenty
four dirhams and twelve dirhams depending upon the ability-to-pay.
Exemptions were given to the destitute to whom charity was given,
the blind who had no provision or any work, persons receiving char-
ity, disabled unless they were prosperous, monks living in monasteries
and people living in synagogues unless they were prosperous, women
and children even if they were well off, old men who were incapable
of doing work and had no wealth, the insane and the ûimmi if he
converted to Islam (Abù-Yùsuf ). The tax was an annual tax and it
was personal in the ultimate sense, which meant that if the person
died before paying it his heirs were not responsible for it, nor would
the deceased inheritance be reduced by the unpaid tax (ibid.).