206 chapter five
edition in hand), there were already two well established judicial
schools of thought and a third beginning to make its mark. The
Œanafì, founded by Imam Abù-Œanìfah, was well established in Iraq
where the capital and the caliphate headquarters were, the Màlikì,
founded by Imam Màlik, was very stable in al-Medìnah, and the
Shafi"ì, instituted by Imam al-Shafi"ì, was beginning to make its pres-
ence obvious in al-Sham and Egypt (see earlier sections). By that
time two major books of Kharàj, Abù-Yùsuf ’s and Yahya ibn-Adam’s,
were in circulation. Two main reasons could have perhaps moti-
vated Abù-Ubaid to write his book, besides his own personal drive
as a jurist: (a) to fill in the gaps in the work of his predecessors, as
shown below, and (b) to assess the issue from the contemporary, but
different schools of thought.
The Author
He is Abù-Ubaid al-Qasim ben Sallàm (d. 224 A.H./838 A.C.).
Like previous writers, he was also a judge, though he did not reach
the position of Abù-Yùsuf as chief justice. He was highly appreci-
ated by his contemporaries for his piety, and his knowledge of jurispru-
dence, Sunnah, history, and Arabic literature (Harras, 1986). From
his Kitàb al-Amwàl, it does not appear for sure to which of the then
existing schools of thought he could be attributed; he would look
into what “the people in Iraq”, œanafì, had done and what Imam
Màlik said, and derive an opinion of his own, leaning to one or another,
or state his own. In that sense he was an innovator more than a
follower. He wrote many books on the Qur"àn, Sunnah, jurisprudence
and poetry (ibid.). During one stage of his life he seemed to have
been able to devote all of his time to his writing, being helped in
that by the financial support of a wealthy governor who is reported
to have said after seeing his work, “The possessor of such brain that
produced such work should not be distracted by the burden of seek-
ing a living” (ibid.). This was the utmost expression of admiration
by an able, noble and knowledgeable supporter for an able scientist.
The Book
In a work almost three times the size of Abù-Yùsuf ’s Kitàb al-
Kharàj, Abù-Ubaid wrote his Kitàb al-Amwàl, “the Book of Wealth”.
The book has three distinctive features that previous books on al-