Zakat and Taxes in Islamic Jurisprudence
By Dr. Muhammad ‘Uthman Shubair
Since it’s foundation, the Muslim state was concerned with the legal financial revenues: Zakat and taxes. Zakat was imposed upon Muslims, while Jiziah (head tax, tribute), Kharaaj (land tax) and tenth (tithe) were imposed upon non-Muslims. However, in case of insufficient revenues, the Islamic state used to impose exceptional and temporary taxes to meet emergency needs.
The financial system had been applied Throughout the Islamic eras until the Islamic law was suppressed and substituted by the positive law, including the contemporary taxes that replaced the Zakat and other Islamic legal taxes.
This research has been conducted to show the relationship between Zakat and taxes, to specify, the basic differences among them in regard to the legislative basis for each one of them, to define the individuals subjected to them as well as their expenditures. This led to a conclusion that none of them can be discounted from the other, but any of them can be deducted from the total amount to be taxed or zakatable: taxes are deducted from the zakatable money before calculating the due amount of Zakat, and Zakat amount is deducted from the taxable sum.