the abbasìd’s golden age 175Introduction
Expenditures and distribution of revenue
Taxation
Land Taxation
Kharàj
Ushr
Administrative Reform in Land Taxation
Other taxes on derived products
Zakàh
Jizyah
Custom Dues
Public administration, “law and order”
Other issues
Leasing of land
Public Goods and Externalities
Pricing, scarcity and value
The above will be discussed below with different emphasis depend-
ing upon level of complexity.
Introduction
The introduction is devoted to the preaching of the Caliph, prais-
ing him and reminding him, in a highly spiritual manner, of his
duties towards his people, as explained above.
Expenditures of the state and the distribution of revenue
The distribution of the spoils of war was the starting point of Abù-
Yùsuf ’s treatment of the topic. This merited a discussion by Abù-
Yùsuf for perhaps two reasons: (a) how the share of the Prophet,
and his kinfolk who were not entitled to receiving from Zakàh revenue,
be distributed after the Prophet’s death, and (b) whether a variation
from that of the Rightly Guided caliphs, particularly that of Umar,
could be adopted. On the first question he maintained that the
Prophet’s share should be distributed to his relatives, and on the sec-
ond he, after clarifying some of the problems that had arisen after
the Prophet and the Rightly Guided caliphate, proposed a distribu-
tion that varied slightly from that of Caliph Umar’s.