Constitution of the Caliphate State / Economic System

Article 143: Zakah is collected from Muslims, and is taken from the wealth which the Shari’ah has specified such as money, the profits of trade, cattle and grains. It is not taken from anything which the Shari’ah did not mention. It is taken from every owner irrespective of whether they were legally responsible/accountable (Mukallaf) such as the mature, sane person or whether they were not legally responsible such as the child and the insane. The Zakah is placed in a specific section of the Bayt Al-Mal, and is not spent except upon one or more of the eight categories mentioned in the noble Quran.

Article 144:Jizya is collected from non-Muslims (people of Dhimma). It is to be taken from the adult men if they are capable of paying it, and it is not taken from women or children.

Article 145: Land tax is payable upon the Kharajiyyah land according to its capacity. Zakah is collected from the ‘Ushriyyah land according to the actual production.

Article 146:Muslims pay the taxes that the Shari’ah has permitted to be levied upon them in order to cover the expenditure of the Bayt Al-Mal, on the condition that it is levied on that which is surplus to the individual’s needs according to what is normal, and has to be sufficient to cover the needs of the State.

Article 147:The State has the right to impose taxes in order to undertake anything that the Shari’ah obligated upon the Ummah if the funds in the Bayt Al-Mal were insufficient since the obligation for funding it would be transferred onto the Ummah. The State has no right to impose a tax for the sake of whatever is not obligatory upon the Ummah to undertake, and so it is not permitted to collect fees for the courts or departments or to fulfil any service.

Article 148: The budget of the State has permanent chapters determined by Shari’ah rules. As for the sections of the budget, the amounts allocated for each section, and the issues of each sectioncovered by these amounts are left to the opinion of the Khalifah and his Ijtihad.

Article 149: The permanent sources of income for the Bayt Al-Mal are the booty, Jizya, land tax, a fifth of buried treasure, and Zakah. This income is collected continuously irrespective of whether there was a need or not.

Article 150: If the permanent revenues of the Bayt Al-Mal are not sufficient to cover the expenditure of the State, then it is possible to impose taxes upon the Muslims. It becomes obligatory to impose taxes as follows:

• a. To fulfil the obligatory expenses upon the Bayt Al-Mal for the poor, needy, and wayfarers, and to undertake the obligation of Jihad.
• b. To fulfil the obligatory expenses upon the Bayt Al-Mal for remunerations of the civil servants and soldiers, as well as compensation for the rulers.
• c. To fulfil the obligatory expenses upon the Bayt Al-Mal to undertake the services and needs such as establishing roads, extracting water, building mosques, schools and hospitals.
• d. To fulfil the obligatory expenses upon the Bayt Al-Mal which are necessary in case of a disaster which afflicted the subjects such as famine, floods and earthquakes.

Article 151: Money taken at the borders of the State from custom duties, income derived from public or State property, inheritance for which there is no inheritor and the assets of the apostates are all considered to be part of the revenue of the Bayt Al-Mal.

Article 152: The expenditure of the Bayt Al-Mal is divided across six sections:

• a- The eight categories which deserve the Zakah to be spent upon them, from the chapter of Zakah.
• b- The poor, the needy, the wayfarer, Jihad, and those in debt – if there is nothing found in the chapter of Zakah, they are given money from the permanent sources of income of the Bayt Al-Mal, and if nothing is found then those in debt are not given anything. Taxes are imposed in order to fulfil the expenses required for the poor, the needy, the wayfarer, and Jihad, and the State takes a loan in case of fear of Fasad (corruption).
• c- The individuals who provide services to the State such as the civil servants, the soldiers and the rulers are paid from the Bayt Al-Mal. If there were insufficient funds in the Bayt Al-Mal then taxes are imposed in order to fulfil the expenditure needs, and the State takes a loan in case of fear of Fasad (corruption).
• d- The essential services and utilities such as roads, mosques, hospitals and schools are funded by the Bayt Al-Mal, and if there are insufficient funds in the Bayt Al-Mal taxes are imposed to fulfil these expenses.
• e- The non-essential services and utilities are funded by the Bayt Al-Mal, and if funds found in the Bayt Al-Mal are insufficient then they are not funded, but rather delayed.
• f- Emergency situations such as earthquakes and floods are funded by the Bayt Al-Mal, and if the funds were not found the money required is taken as a loan immediately which is then repaid through raised taxes.