Tribute may
be occafion-
ally abated,
but cannot be
increased beyond
the efta-
feliihed rate.
agreed to by all the companions. Upon all land of any other deferip-
tion, (fuch as pleafure-grounds, faffrsn-fields, and fo forth,) is im-
pofed a tribute according to ability; ftnce, although Omar has not laid
down any particular rule with refpect to them, yet as he has made
ability the ftandard of tribute upon arable land, &c. fo, m the fame
manner, ability is to be regarded in lands of any other defcription.—
T h e learned in the* law allege that the utmoft extent of tribute is one
h a lf o f the aBual produB, nor is it allowable to exaA more; but the
taking of a half is no more than flr iii juftice, and is not tyrannical,
becaufe, as it is lawful to take-the whole of the perfons and property of
infidels, and to diftribute them among the Mujulmans, it follows that
taking half their incomes is lawful a fortiori.'— By the term gardens
[Boofian] is here underftood grounds furrounded by a fence, and
planted with fruit-trees, either date-trees or others. The compiler
o f the Heddya remarks that in our country * tribute is levied upon all
lands in cajh: but this is immaterial, becaufe the amount of the tribute
Failure o f the
crop caufes a
remiffion of
tribute.
is due, according to ability, either in cafh, or in the aftual product
of the land. I f the land be incapable of yielding the eftablifhed
tribute, the Imitnmxdk make an abatement; and it is lawful fo to do,
where the produA falls fhort. According to Mohammed it is alfo
lawful to exaA beyond the eftablifhed tribute, where the produA happens
to exceed,, judging of a cafe of increafe from a cafe of deficiency.
but, according to Aboo Toafaf, it is not lawful to take more than the
efiablifhtd tribute: and this is approved; becaufe Omar never exaAed
any thing beyond what was eftablifhed, upon being informed of any
increafe of produce: if, however, any thing be voluntarily given in
addition to what is eftablifhed, it may he accepted.
I f tillage be rendered impraAicable in tribute lands, from floods
or draughts,— or if, after fewing, the crop fhould fail from any other
unavoidable caufe, fuch as locufts, or blights, or violent heats, m
* Meaning the northern Perjia,
any
any of thefe cafes tribute is not due from i t ;— becaufe the landholder
is unable at all to cultivate the foil, .either in a cafe of inundation, or
of aficareity of water; and in a cafe of failure of the crop from other
• accidents (of locufis, blights, and fo forth,) he is debarred from the
advantage of tillage fo r a part o f the year ;■ in both cafes, therefore,
there is no increafe (in the degree which conftitutes ability) for the
whole year; and it is conditional to the exaAion of the tribute that
thisability.be found for the whole year, in the fame manner as increafe
to the like degree fo r the whole year is, conditional to the payment
of Zakdt.
If a landholder, where no obftruAion to cultivation exifts, keep
tribute lands untilled, and thus reap nothing from them, tribute
is neverthelefs due upon them. T h e two Elders allege that if the
landholder, beiug enabled to few grain of the jirfi quality, few grain
o f a fecond quality, he is accountable for the highefi degree of tribute:
for inftance, if his ground be capable of prodns.'mgfaff'ron, and he
Ihould therein few lentils, in this cafe tribute as for faffron ground is
due from himde c r e e s , however, muft not be paffed to this effeA*,
left tyrants might be encouraged to opprefs the landholder.
If any perfon fubjeA to tribute become a Muffuhnan, tribute continues
to be impofed upon him after his converlion to the faith, in
the fame manner as before; becaufe tribute bears'not only the fenfe
of a penal impofi levied upon in f dels, but alfo, of a provifion fo r the
expenc-es o f the fa t e ; and in this fenfe the continuance of it upon a
Muffulman is ptaAicable,
It is lawful for a Muffulman to purchafe tribute-lands of a Zhn-
mee\ after which tribute is to be taken from him (the Muffulman,)
as ■ it is laid, in the Ndkl-Saheeb, that the. companions purchafed
* T h a t is, compulfion muft not be ufed to exact the tribute at this rate.
V ol. II. E e tribute-
Tribute n
due although,
the land be
untilled.
A tributary
continues
fubjedt to .
tribute after
converlion to
the faith;
Tribute-land
purchafed by
a Muffulman
continues
fubjedt to tribute.