178 chapter five
of Iraq, al-Sawad, was conquered: a fixed rate with a threshold. In
his treatise, Abù-Yùsuf deviated from Umar’s ruling and proposed
another method which was based on crop-sharing, muqàsamah.
Abù-Yùsuf went to some length to introduce his method. Before
introducing his suggestion he provided a synthesis of what Caliph
Umar had done and the opinion to which he resorted. “I have
looked into the taxation system in the territory of Iraq, al-Sawad, and
the ways it was collected, and have obtained the opinions of the
experts and others and discussed this issue with them. They pointed
out that it was impossible to continue with the systems laid down
during the reign of Umar”, Abù-Yùsuf stated, preparing for his
favourable pragmatic approach to solving the problem. Abù-Yùsuf ’s
recommendation for a different tax system had come, therefore, as
a result of his thorough examination and consultation with the experts
on the subjects.
But deviating from Caliph Umar’s practice could not have been
an easy task. Caliph Umar’s view was a focal point in the core of
the consensus of opinion in jurisprudence from which jurists should
not depart in reaching a juridical ruling, a fatwa. It would be worth-
while therefore to look into Abù-Yùsuf ’s argument in defending the
new system in his proposed treatise.
First, to safeguard his opinion against potential criticism he stressed
that it was the outcome of intensive examination of the problem and
consultation with others. A public relation exercise perhaps that was
inevitable to begin with in order to ensure that he was not alone
on this matter.
Second, Abù-Yùsuf proceeded to discuss his proposal from a cru-
cial juridical question, as summarised below:
- Caliph Umar was assured at the time that the land was able to
bear the Kharàj tax which was imposed on it. This may be
inferred from the next point. - After the return of Œuûaifah and Uthmàn, Caliph Umar’s admin-
istrators, from surveying the land and levying the tax, Umar asked
them, “How did you levy on the land? Perhaps you imposed on
the inhabitants more than they could bear?” Œuûaifah replied, “I
left a surplus” and Uthmàn said, “I left twice as much as I could
take if I wanted to”. Umar said, “Beware not to levy tax on the
land beyond what it could bear”. By asking his officers these ques-
tions, Caliph Umar was perhaps in doubt whether his fixed-rate