Haraj

Haraj was taken from Gentiles (kafirs) from lands that were conquered by Muslims. Thus, non-Muslims paid both jizyu (payment for the protection and immunity of the Islamic state) and haraj. Gentiles who converted to Islam were exempted from paying jizya, but continued to pay haraj ^[1] . In the early history of Islam, when it came to tributes received under treaties and collected by the vassal rulers of the Arab caliphate, haraj was used as a synonym for jizyi. The haraj system in most areas of the Caliphate probably dates back to Byzantine norms { ^[2] .

Islamic jurists unanimously agreed that non-Muslims should pay haraj from their lands, and Muslims should pay ushr ^[1] . An increase in the number of Muslim converts threatened a serious reduction in state budget revenues, so the idea was firmly established that the status of haraj lands was unchanged and does not depend on the religion of the landowner or tenant. At the end of the 8th – 9th centuries, the Fakihs interpreted haraj as payment ( fi ), levied by the inhabitants of the conquered regions for the use of its lands ^[2] .

The first land cadastre in Syria and Iraq was carried out under the Umayyad Caliph Muaviya, in Egypt - in 724-25. In Iraq and many other areas of Iran, haraj was a collective tax that lay on the farmers of each community, allied by mutual responsibility. Since the 9th century, haraj has been an individual tax in Egypt. Haraj was charged both in money (Egypt) and in kind (or in mixed form). The Hanafi jurist Abu Yusuf considered the most just mixed form. Cash tax was collected throughout the year, sometimes even in monthly installments ^[2] .

According to the Hanafi madhhab, a Muslim who bought the land of non-Muslims should continue to pay from these lands not ushr, but haraj, that is, one type of tax. In three other Sunni law schools, haraj and ushr can be paid from the same land. Haraj land may be leased ^[1] .

Ushr is paid in favor of needy Muslims, and haraj goes to the state budget ^[1] .

Haraj is of three types:

1. al- Misah (mufadan), charged at fixed rates per unit of cultivated area.
2. al-Muwazzafa (mukataa, munajiza), intended for areas suitable for agriculture. During the reign of Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab, muvazzaf was 18 kg and 1 dirham from an area of ​​1600 square meters. Depending on the objective conditions, this figure could change ^[1] .
3. al-Muqasama , paid from the harvest of land from which haraj was taken. The size of the mucusama depended on the amount of harvest and varied in size from a quarter to half of the crop. Haraj was established by the Prophet Muhammad, who, after the Muslims conquered the oases of Khaibar and Fadak, obliged the Jews to pay half of their harvest ^[1] .

• Bolshakov O. G. al-Haraj // Islam: Encyclopedic Dictionary / Otv. ed. S. M. Prozorov . - M .: Science ,GDVL , 1991 . - S. 273-274. - ISBN 5-02-016941-2 .
• Ali-zade A. A. Haraj // Islamic Encyclopedic Dictionary . - M .: Ansar , 2007 .-- 400 p. - (The Golden Fund of Islamic Thought). - ISBN 5-98443-025-8 .