Dhamm al-Maks
- Author died
- 911 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Ṣaḥābah lil-Turāth
Dhamm al-Maks ("Censure of Non-Canonical Taxes") is a hadith treatise by the Egyptian scholar al-Jalal al-Suyuti (d. 911 AH / 1505 CE), gathering prophetic traditions and early reports that condemn extralegal tolls and non-canonical tax collectors .
Composition and Context
The text constitutes the ninety-first session of al-Suyuti's dictation assemblies (amālī), which he delivered on Friday, 17 Jumada 874 AH (November 1469 CE) . Al-Suyuti noted at the outset that he interrupted his regular dictation on al-Durrah al-fakhirah due to an incidental occurrence in order to address the topic of al-maks (unlawful levies and customs duties) . He transmitted the initial traditions through chains going back to his teacher Taqi al-Din Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Samin and an authorization (ijazah) from Abu Abd Allah al-Halabi via Abu al-Hasan ibn al-Bukhari .
Content and Structure
The treatise compiles narrations addressing the severe religious censure associated with collecting maks and acting as an unjust tithe collector ('ashshar) :
- Prophetic traditions on tax collectors: Al-Suyuti opens with the hadith of Uqbah ibn Amir quoting the Prophet: لا يدخل الجنة صاحب مكس ("The collector of maks shall not enter Paradise"), noting its transmission by Abu Dawud, Ibn Khuzaymah, al-Hakim, and al-Darimi . He also records the report from Ruwayfi' ibn Thabit: إن صاحب المكس في النار ("The collector of maks is in the Fire") .
- Exclusion from divine response: The work includes narrations transmitted through Uthman ibn Abi al-As describing nighttime hours when supplications are answered for all believers except a sorcerer, a prostitute, or a tax collector .
- Prophetic signs and legends: Al-Suyuti cites a tradition recorded by al-Bayhaqi in Dala'il al-nubuwwah from Zayd ibn Arqam concerning a captive gazelle that pledged to return or face the punishment of a tax collector . He also records reports attributed to Ibn Umar and Ali ibn Abi Talib regarding the star Suhayl having originally been an oppressive tax collector transformed by God, though al-Suyuti notes weaknesses in their transmission chains .
- Quranic exegesis and conclusion: The text cites the interpretation of Mujahid and al-Suddi on the verse وَلَا تَقْعُدُوا بِكُلِّ صِرَاطٍ تُوعِدُونَ ("And do not sit on every path, threatening", Quran 7:86), stating it was revealed regarding toll collectors . Al-Suyuti concludes the assembly with lines of poetry he composed censuring toll collectors .
Transmission and Publication
The work was listed by bibliographers such as Hajji Khalifa in Kashf al-zunun . Manuscript copies are preserved in several repositories, including Dar al-Kutub al-Misriyya in Cairo and the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin . It was published in a critical edition by Majdi Fathi al-Sayyid (Dar al-Sahaba li-l-Turath, Tanta, 1411 AH / 1991 CE) in a single volume alongside two of al-Suyuti's other political-ethical treatises: Ma rawahu al-asatin fi 'adam al-maji' ila al-salatin and Dhamm al-qada' wa-taqallud al-ahkam .
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