Historians said it was about three hundred and sixty million dirhams a year...

Historians said it was about three hundred and sixty million dirhams a year,[^1] and it was about five hundred million dirhams in some years.[^2] In that age a dirham had a good value.

It equaled the price of a sheep, a jar of honey, or a jar of oil, whereas a dinar equaled the price of a camel.[^3] Unfortunately, these abundant monies were not spent to develop the scientific, medical, and economical life as Islam wanted, but they went to the pockets of rulers who spent them on building high palaces, as al-Mutawakkil did, and on singers, dancers, drinking companions, and other fields of debauchery and pleasures.

Violence In Collecting The Land Tax Violence, oppression, and punishments were common methods in collecting the land taxes during most of the Abbasid ages. People suffered exhausting kinds of oppression from the publicans, who had no bit of mercy and kindness in their hearts. They imposed taxes according to their desires and greed, and whoever refused or delayed to pay the imposed taxes his fate would be either be the grave or prison.

Al-Jahshiyari said, ‘The people of kharaj (who did not or could not pay the land tax) were punished severely with different kinds of torment like being thrown to beasts of prey and bees. Muhammad bin Muslim was a close companion to al-Mahdi (the Abbasid caliph). When al-Mahdi became the caliph and found that the people of kharaj were tortured severely, he consulted with Muhammad bin Muslim who said to him, ‘O Ameerul Mu’minin, this is a situation that can be changed.

They are debtors of Muslims and must be treated as debtors.’ Then the caliph ordered to stop punishing them.’[^4] During the reign of ar-Rashid, people criticized al-Fadhl bin Yahya al-Barmaki who was the wali of Khurasan. They complained a lot about him til ar-Rashid deposed him and appointed in place of him Ali bin ‘Isa, who killed many notables from the people of Khurasan and farmed great monies.

Once, he sent to ar-Rashid ten million dirhams in a sack made of silk.[^5] The people of Mosul also suffered terrible oppression because of the farming of the kharaj (land tax). The wali, appointed by ar-Rashid, on them was Yahya bin Sa’eed. He ordered them to pay him the kharaj of past years, and he whipped most of them.[^6] Islam has bound walis to be kind to their subjects and to improve their economical conditions.