al-Amwal - Abu Ubayd
- Author died
- 224 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Fikr
Kitab al-Amwal (The Book of Revenue) is an early legal treatise on public finance, taxation, and administrative jurisprudence by the scholar and jurist Abu Ubayd al-Qasim ibn Sallam (157–224 AH / 774–838 CE) . Regarded as one of the earliest comprehensive works dedicated to the financial resources and obligations of the Islamic state, it covers the legal classification, collection, and distribution of public revenues .
Scope and Structure
The book contains nearly two thousand reports, encompassing hadiths of the Prophet ﷺ, narrations from the Companions and Successors, and historical accounts from the periods of the Rashidun and Umayyad caliphates relating to state revenues . It organizes Islamic public revenue into three primary categories: fay' (uncontested state revenues), khums (the fifth levied on war spoils), and sadaqah (alms and zakat), along with detailed treatments of jizyah (poll tax), land conquered by treaty or force, land grants (iqta'), and the reclamation of uncultivated land (ihya' al-mawat) .
The text is arranged in four major parts:
- Part One: Begins with the reciprocal rights between the ruler and subjects (haqq al-imam 'ala al-ra'iyyah wa-haqq al-ra'iyyah 'ala al-imam) and concludes with legal rulings governing captives and prisoners taken by force .
- Part Two: Resumes with the rulings regarding captives taken by force and concludes with stipends allotted from fay' to women and enslaved persons .
- Part Three: Opens with the provision of food rations from fay' and concludes with the chapter on zakat levied on gold and silver jewelry and the differences among jurists regarding it .
- Part Four: Opens with the zakat on the property of orphans and ends with the disbursement of charity to non-Muslim subjects under state protection (ahl al-dhimmah) .
Methodology
Abu Ubayd employs a methodology that combines traditional hadith citation with legal deliberation and philological exposition . He cites chains of transmission without overly lengthening them, attributing each report to recognized narrators . He then analyzes obscure phrasing, clarifies difficult legal rulings, contrasts the positions of the Companions, Successors, and contemporary jurists, refutes misconceptions, and explicitly argues for his preferred legal interpretations (tarjih) .
Reception and Transmission
The book was praised by early authorities for its jurisprudential merit. Ibn al-Munadi and Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi described it as among the finest and highest quality works written on jurisprudence . Ahmad ibn Mahdi intended to transcribe it in liquid gold out of esteem for its value, but Abu Ubayd advised him to use ink instead because ink endures longer . Later scholars made extensive use of its material, including Ibn Zanjawayh in his own treatise of the same title . Conversely, Al-Dhahabi cited a critical viewpoint that regarded al-Amwal as Abu Ubayd's weakest work relative to his philological masterpiece Gharib al-Musannaf, arguing that in certain chapters containing numerous hadiths he cited only one or two Syrian narrations and focused primarily on discussing their phrasing .
The work was transmitted from the author through his primary transmitter, Ali ibn Abd al-Aziz al-Baghawi . In modern times, it has been published in several single-volume editions, including an edition edited by Muhammad Hamid al-Fiqi (1353 AH), one edited by Muhammad Khalil Harras (Cairo, 1388 AH), and another edited by Muhammad Imara (Cairo: Dar al-Shuruq, 1409 AH / 1989 CE) .
Answer updated