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SOME NOTES ON THE TERMS JIZYA, KllARl\J., GllANTMA, AND F'AY'
I. Ghanima and i!!1.'._
In pre=IslamiC: times, both terms were U8Cd to mean "booty" to be divided
between the conquerors. Depending on whether the booty was divided into
fouths or fifths, the leader got eitl1er 1/4 or 1/5, since he received one
whole part, The Prophet established his share at 1/5, and the rest was
divded acc. to custom. After the revelation of.Sura LIX, a more specialized
use of the term i!!1.'._ emerged: it was spoil taken from people of towns that
surrendered (somewhat like tribute) nml "assigned by God" to Muhammad for
the .benefit of the Muslim community. This came to be used as a proof text for
the distinction that was made later between movable and immovable booty (althogh
there was no distinction made eurly on). Thus, .f.ill'...'.. was the immovable tings
that belonged to the Isl,. community as.n whole--this was introduced as a
principle by the caliph 'Umar. ~ r e v e n u e s thus went to the central treasury
and were used for the benefit of the whole community. Ghan1ma thus came to
mean the movable things that were distributed as booty to individual warriors.
A third term also bears monl.ion: s7ifT (pl. snwiifT). This referred originally
to any object that rnughl the cllier s <ye which he had the r-ight to tuke
jn addition to his shnrc of the booty. [11 l::;lnmic times, however, the term
$3w;iff came to mean .stntc land.s.
II. Khariij and ji7.Vi'l
These terms were both used to mL'iHl, gcnern 1 l y,
11
tnx
11
j n .the early period, but
later acquired the :;pccial iz<tl lllt.'C.l11i11g:-; of liincf l<IX antJ poll tax, respectively.
There are numerous prnblems surrn1111ding the history of these taxes and they
remain largely insolulilc bcu1use of Lhc nature of the sources: the literary
evidence is almost exclusiV<dy frum lrnq; t.h<> documentary evidence (papyri)
is from Egypt. RememLL'r, howev<.r, thnt thl' cupiLnl was ln DamBscus under the
Umayyads.
This issue of taxes is the principal inslit.utionnl problem of the Umayyad
period and it has implicntiJlllS in particular for the process or conversion to
Islam and for opposition to the llmayyads.
The old view espoused by Wellhausen was thnt both terms meant tribute in the
early period and that It wnsn't until the mi<ldlc of the 8th century that the
Arabs began to dlstinguisl1 bctwec11 !1111d und poll tuxes. Converts were freed
from all tribute and this created u strong economic i11centive to convert.
Conversion had three effects: rev..,nues declined, the fiscal burdens of tributary
communities became intolerable, aud converts migrated to Arab towns where they
became clients (mnwiilf) of the Arubs. In 1950, D.C. Dennett 'wr'ote his
Conversion and the Poll TAx in Enrly Islam, which challenged \ellhausen's view.
Dennett's carefuly study exnmined jizya und khariij regiou by region and his
conclusions that there was u great disparity of practice among the provinces
and that this disparity survived lnLo tho later period hnve in general stood
the test of time.
We can make a numb0I- of gt-"nera i' remarks about j i zya nnd khc.i l :ij.
!. Regional variation: after the conquests, the Arabs did levy tribute to reflect
sovereignty, but Lhey lefl the levying <>f tnxes to the
indigenous authorities. 111Pse authorit ics levied taxes acc. to
their own traditions, even after the finarlcial system of the
Arabs was set up. Thus, ll1crc was 11 great clcnl of continuity
and and Sasa11ii1n tax structures were preserved. This
accounts for the rcgioilnl variation.
2. General principles:
KHARIJ: this term came to mco11 ''land tax'' although il was used in a
JIZYA:
general sense early on. After the conquests, proprietors (nun-Muslim)
were guaranteed their lands, upon which thny paid taxes. Initially,
some Arab conquerors felt they should acquire these lands which would
then .be subject only to zakiit (alms tax--often a ti Lhe) which would
be less than the tribute and tax. imposed on non-Muslims. But
the principle that these lands were f.!!L was established under the
Rashidun caliphs. Nonetheless, some lands were granted to leading
Muslims and were lioble only to znkiit:--t.his rcsul ted Jn a decrease
of revenues.
Taxes were generally levied collect ivel.v on vi I !ages acc. Lo the
amount and state of cultivatPcl lnnds, not cH1 individuals. Thus,
if somcon!.' converted, tilt. ov<'r;1ll hurdf'11 or thP vill:igc remainPd
the same hecnuse the tnx wu.s collective, not jndividuul. There
was a certain amount of social pressure not to convert on the
parl of non-Muslims. Convc!rsion became possible only by flighL tu
the towns. Ultimately, this Internal migrat.ion because so
immense that the state prohibited flight. Lo the towns and sent
people ha<k to tilt> lag<'><. This was lht poli<y or tile
go\'Prnor al-IJajjiij in 11., fnrcpd non-Arnh converts (mnwiilT)
to rPturn to thtir villagl's 1111d lhP poll t:ix 011 them ;is
1,.;eJI as their full eurlil'r lHx hurt!e11. '!'his was, needless Lo
sny, un unpopular pol icy. The idtn evolved. then, thnt
conversion entailed liberation from personal taxes (i.e. poll
tox) but that it didn't freP from toxcs bcneficinl to the
Muslim communfty. AL some point--1 ...:hcn exactly is not clear--n
distinction wus then made bctwe<'n tht personal jizya and the
kharaj land tax. This represents the policy of 'Umar IJ (the
pious rnl iph)--he est. the polity th;it the status of lnnd was
not affcctd l>y. conversion ( i .P. khuraj land remains khuraj land),
Out he relieved Muslim co11Vl'rls from Ilic poll tox. llis reforms
are not ns sweeping ns the I iterary !-H>t1rccs would indicate but
his reputation os tho one pious Umnyy:id certainly would have
made later writers see more reform in his administration than
actually existed. reforms arc detailed by 11.A.R. Gibb in
"The Fiscal RescripL of Umar II" in Arabic.a, vol. ii, 1955].
the poll tax Lhnl came to b" imposed t>nly on non-Muslims. Est.
the jizva as n pol I t;ix only on non-Muslims was attributed to
'Umar II (nit.hough il is not absolutely certain that it dates
from his reign). \fo will the jizya al length when
we study in greatt'r <i<tai I th<' aid al-dhimma (proLected peoples--
i.e. Jews and Christ iaris I iving u11cier lslamlc rule).
In general, kelp in mind Lhat tl1t tilx 8yslcm hlc;11nc Lhc principul urcna for
the dispute over_ tho status of lht' 111:1wiil r.