ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Biography of Imam `alĪ Ibn AbĪ-tĀlib The System of Tribute Of the territories annexed by the Muslims, certain were those that were acquired through warfare and some others were annexed peacefully. In the areas annexed through warfare, the uncultivable barren land consisting of mountainous and marshlands were termed as anfal or the land that belong to Allah and the Prophet (a.s).

The cultivated lands that were acquired through warfare used to be distributed amongst the Muslims so that they took crops on them and boosted the prosperity of the people. Those areas where the people, of their own free consent, embraced Islam, their ownership of the lands were not disturbed and they continued to use them as in the past. The examples of such areas are al-Madinah, Bahrain and a major part of Yemen.

They were only required to pay the zakat on the returns they derived from the cultivation of those lands. If the people in such places wished not to embrace Islam, they will be bound by the terms of truce with them. If in the terms of truce it was decided that they would continue to have the use and ownership of the land, they will not be evicted from them. However, they will be treated as Dhimmis and were liable to pay the jizyah .

If the truce was with the condition that they would forego the ownership of the lands, then such lands were to be distributed amongst the Muslims. Such lands were called the lands of tribute. They are called the lands of tribute because they have been received as tribute from the people who had surrendered in terms of the truce with them.

From the persons who cultivate such lands, in addition to the zakat , they have to pay land revenue which is either in kind called in cash that is termed khiraj . The quantity of khiraj is fixed by the wali al-amr at his discretion. During his time, Amir al-Mu’minin (a.s) fixed the limits of the khiraj and determined the norms for the collection of this revenue.