Answer to the previous question: Do customs duties fall under the category of *mukus* (arbitrary taxes), and is it prescribed for the state to impose these taxes?

The Shaykh : Where is Abu Muhammad? May Allah reward you with good. You kept us waiting a long time, because after the introduction, the answer to your question came.
Al-Halabi : We forgot the question, O Shaykh.

The Shaykh : So here we come to the discussion of taxes and *mukus*. I will now state what justifies the legislation—or, if that is the correct term, the codification and imposition—of taxes on the Muslim community. What is the driving force? It is the state’s need to have abundant funds in its treasury to carry out the interests of the Muslim community. As we always say, and as we said in that session we referred to earlier, where we discussed in detail the issue of religious innovation (*bid'ah*), and where my speech progressed until it reached this point, which is the *masalih mursalah* (unspecified public interests), we say that these taxes are imposed for the actual benefit of the Muslim community. However, if there are harms in these benefits, it is necessary to point them out. Indeed, much of the money collected in the name of taxes and in the name of achieving a benefit for the Muslim community is spent on things that are harmful to the Muslim community. But one should not go to extremes in attributing this spending to harm; a large portion of these taxes must actually be spent for the benefit of the Muslim community, such as paving roads, extending bridges, and the like. But what is the reason that drives Islamic governments today to impose taxes? The reason is their neglect of implementing many of the rulings of the Shari'ah. The first thing that comes to mind is that all Islamic governments, or at least the majority of them, have not established the system of *zakah* as a mandatory system in their governance and regulations. Consequently, the treasury has lost millions of dollars in funds that it could have collected in a lawful manner. If the state loses this, and undoubtedly a great deal of wealth, how do they compensate for this loss? By imposing what is not obligatory, and indeed what is not permissible in Islam, namely *mukus*. There is another reason, and it is very, very important, but it does not appear to the minds of many people as clear or as having a close connection to what we are discussing. It is one of the lawful reasons for increasing the state’s wealth. It is not like the system of *zakah*, but in my opinion, it may be greater than the system of *zakah* in some times, and it is certainly greater than the system of *zakah* if it were applied in this time. What is it? *Jihad* in the path of Allah. I say that this means does not obviously connect in the mind to this topic, but I remind you of the hadith at the beginning of the session where I touched on the topic of imitating others and sitting on these seats that make a person arrogant, while he does not know arrogance, and he sits thus in a proud manner, if that is the correct term. The point is that I mentioned to you at the beginning of the session, on the occasion of imitating others and the prohibition thereof, and the saying, “Whoever imitates a people is one of them.” This is a part of the hadith. The opportunity has now come for me to recite it to you in its entirety and completeness. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Does this provision refer to his own provision? No, he means the provision of his community. , , By what? The explanation of this came in the saying of Allah the Exalted: Because they are either People of the Book under protection (*dhimmis*), in which case they pay the *jizyah* hand over hand while in a state of humiliation, and this is one of the strong reasons for filling the state’s treasury with lawful wealth, not with forbidden *mukus*. Or if they are People of War, that is even more enriching for the Muslims, because they will take their wealth and enslave their men, women, and children. All these gains, in all their forms, are wealth for the Muslims, by which they become rich. Therefore, perhaps you have read in some histories that in the time of 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz (may Allah be pleased with him and grant him satisfaction), the prophecy of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) almost came true, that a time would come when the rich person would go out with his *zakah* and not find anyone to take it, because the Muslims had all become rich. So this is an example of a reason that is taken and achieves an Islamic interest. But what drove the adoption of this reason at a time that achieves an Islamic interest, which is the wealth of the state, was the Muslims’ shortcoming in applying the Shari'ah of the Lord of the Worlds. As for the reason regarding the third type...

Another questioner : The second type of religious innovation (*bid'ah*).

The Shaykh : It is also a type of religious innovation (*bid'ah*) that is not prescribed, because it contradicts the Sunnah. As for the third reason, where the necessity exists and they are not responsible for it—meaning the reason was not their shortcoming in applying aspects of their religion—it is what Imam al-Shatibi (may Allah have mercy on him) discusses in his great book *Al-I'tisam* (Holding Fast to the Rope). He speaks there in detail about *masalih mursalah* (unspecified public interests). He mentions that among the *masalih mursalah* is the case where disbelievers attack the lands of the Muslims, and there is not enough money in the state’s treasury, collected through lawful means, to repel the aggression of these disbelievers. In that case, it is permissible for the Muslim ruler to impose a levy on the rich Muslims, and not on the poor. This is also a great distinction between the tax imposed by the Muslim ruler when the lawful reason for its imposition exists, and the *mukus* imposed today, which do not distinguish between the rich and the poor. In this case, the case of disbelievers invading some of the Islamic lands, the ruler must collect from the wealth of the rich Muslims what enables him to strengthen himself to repel the aggression of the aggressors. This is what pertains to the answer regarding *mukus*.