al-Istikhraj li-Ahkam al-Kharaj
- Author died
- 795 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmīyah
al-Istikhraj li-Ahkam al-Kharaj (The Extraction of Rulings on Land Taxation) is a legal treatise on Islamic public finance and land taxation by the Hanbali jurist and traditionist Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali (736–795 AH / 1335–1393 CE) . Belonging to the genre of treatises on public governance (al-ahkam al-sultaniyyah) and fiscal jurisprudence, the work follows the tradition of earlier monographs on kharaj composed by jurists such as Abu Yusuf and Yahya ibn Adam .
Purpose and Structure
In his introduction, Ibn Rajab stated that his purpose in writing the treatise was to assemble the rulings of kharaj, clarify the practical legal scenarios (taswir al-masa'il), summarize the stances of the different legal schools (taqrib al-madhahib), and analyze textual evidence and legal arguments (tahrir al-dala'il wa-al-hujaj) . He organized the book into ten thematic chapters (abwab) :
- The linguistic definition of kharaj .
- Mentions of kharaj reported in the Prophetic Sunnah .
- The origin of the institution of kharaj and the first to institute it in Islam .
- The types of land subject to kharaj and those exempt from it .
- The legal characterization of kharaj, including whether it constitutes rental payment (ujrah) or a type of poll-tax (jizyah) .
- The lands upon which the Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab instituted the kharaj .
- The rates and quantitative determination of kharaj according to scholars .
- Legal rulings governing financial transactions and property dispositions by owners and holders of taxable lands .
- Rulings governing the head of state's (al-imam) authority over lands conquered by force (ard al-anwah) if they become a public endowment (waqf) or spoils (fay') .
- The legal status of collected kharaj revenues, their designated avenues of public expenditure (masarif), and state management .
Method and Content
The treatise examines legal issues surrounding lands acquired during early Muslim conquests, distinguishing between lands taken by treaty (sulh) and those taken by force (anwah), such as the Sawad of Iraq, the Levant, Khurasan, and Tabaristan . Ibn Rajab cites extensively from the transmissions and responsa of Ahmad ibn Hanbal, early hadiths, and historical precedents of the Companions . Alongside the Hanbali transmissions, he engages in comparative legal analysis, outlining differing juristic positions, discussing their underlying proofs, and determining preferred (rajih) rulings across various cases .
Editions
The text has been published in single-volume modern editions, including:
- An edition published by Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah in Beirut (1405 AH / 1985 CE) .
- A critical edition edited by Jindi ibn Mahmud Al Sabhan al-Hiti, prepared as a master's thesis at al-Azhar University based on three manuscript copies, and published by Maktabat al-Rushd in Riyadh (1409 AH / 1989 CE) .
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