Contracting Taxpayers’ Land and the Tax on their Person; Contracting Land from Al- Sultan and then Contracting it to Others

1. A number of our people have narrated from Sahl ibn Ziyad and Ahmad ibn Muhammad from ibn Mahbub from Ibrahim al-Kharkhiy who has said the following: “This is concerning my question before abu ‘ Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a man who had a large town in which he had taxpayer infidels from whom al-Sultan collected taxes and they paid to him fifty or thirty or more or less, each one. The owner of the town reached a settlement for them with al-Sultan and he collected more from them than what he paid to al-Sultan. He (the Imam) said, ‘It is unlawful.”’

Translation: Muhammad Sarwar — attributed by Thaqalayn·The Arabic above is the original.

2. Humayd ibn Ziyad has narrated from al-Hassan ibn Muhammad from Ahmad ibn al-Hassan al-Mithamiy who has said that narrated to him abu Najih al-Misma‘iy from al-Fayd ibn al-Mukhtar who has said the following: “This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), saying, ‘I pray to Allah to keep my soul in service for your cause, what do you say about a land that I rent from al-Sultan, then rent it to my tenants for, whatever Allah makes to grow, one-half or one-third after excluding the share of al-Sultan. He (the Imam) said, ‘It is not unlawful and that is how I deal with my tenants.’”

Translation: Muhammad Sarwar — attributed by Thaqalayn·The Arabic above is the original.

3. Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from his father from ibn abu ‘Um ay r from Hammad from al-Halabiy who has said the following: “Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘It is not unlawful to reach an agreement with the owners of the land for twenty years or less or more, then revive it and pay what he spends on it; but one must not include al-‘ilj (the infidels) in the agreement because it is not lawful.’”

Translation: Muhammad Sarwar — attributed by Thaqalayn·The Arabic above is the original.

4. A number of our people have narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from ‘Uthman ibn ‘Isa from Sama‘ah who has said the following: “I once asked him (the Imam) (a.s.), about the case of a man who formed a contract for a land without compulsion on the owners, with the condition with them that if he did certain repairs or built a building, that he would have the rent of such homes except what was in the hands of the farmers from before. He (the Imam) said, ‘If he has entered into contract for a known matter, he must not bother with farmers unless he has set a condition with the owner to include what is in the hands of the farmers also.’”

Translation: Muhammad Sarwar — attributed by Thaqalayn·The Arabic above is the original.

5. Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from his father from Ibn Abi ‘Umayr from Hammad from Ibrahim ibn Maymun who has said the following: “This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about a town that belonged to non-Muslim taxpayers and I did not know if they were the original owners or not, except that it was in their hands and they paid Kharaj (taxes). Al-Sultan infringed on them and they asked me to take over their town and land to suffice them against al-Sultan with more or less. A certain amount of extra remained with me after whatever al-Sultan took away. He (the Imam) said, ‘It is not unlawful for you to have such extra remainders.’”

Translation: Muhammad Sarwar — attributed by Thaqalayn·The Arabic above is the original.