Article 147

The State has the right to impose taxes in order to undertake anything that the *Shari’ah* obligated upon the *Ummah* if the funds in the *Bayt Al-Mal* were insufficient since the obligation for funding it would be transferred onto the *Ummah*. The State has no right to impose a tax for the sake of whatever is not

obligatory upon the *Ummah* to undertake, and so it is not permitted to collect fees for the courts or departments or to fulfil any service.

The evidence for this is the same evidence that was mentioned for the first issue of the last article, in that the *Shari’ah* defined the general income, and that the Messenger ﷺ did not impose taxes and forbade the taking of custom duties, because it is a tax, and so it is a prohibition that encompasses every tax. It also mentioned that if there was no wealth in the *Bayt Al-Mal* to spend upon whatever the *Shari’ah* obligated upon the *Bayt Al-Mal* and the *Ummah*, the obligation transfers onto the *Ummah*, and whatever the *Shari’ah* obligated upon the *Bayt Al-Mal* alone then its obligation does not transfer on to the *Ummah* even if there was nothing left in the *Bayt Al-Mal* for it, rather it is delayed until the money for it is found and no taxes are imposed upon the *Ummah*. In the same way, no taxes are directly imposed upon the *Ummah* for the sake of anything that was not obligatory upon it, and similarly indirect taxes are also not imposed; so no fees are collected for the courts, or the departments, or import stamps, or permit fees, or anything similar. As for postal stamps, they are not considered to be indirect taxes, but rather they are the price for transporting letters, which is permitted. Therefore, no indirect tax for the sake of anything which the *Shari’ah* did not obligate upon the Muslims should be collected, since they are just like the direct taxes without any difference between them, and it is not permitted to impose them upon the *Ummah*.

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