Abu al-Rashtah on Zakat, Riba and Money

Summary

A compilation lists 108 economic-law questions answered by Hizb ut Tahrir's Ameer Ata Abu al-Rashtah, covering zakat, riba, money, land, contracts and killing; the first question asks whether two book passages on fighting apostates and fighting zakat withholders describe one incident, but the reply is not shown.

What it argues

1. Fighting zakat withholdersLaw & rulings

   Mohamed Ahmadi asks whether a passage on fighting apostates and a passage on fighting zakat withholders as rebels, in the book The Funds in the Khilafah State (1425 AH/2004 CE edition), describe one incident or two. The book states Abu Bakr and the Sahabah fought apostates and separately says the State would fight zakat withholders as rebels, as Abu Bakr did with those who denied zakat. The Ameer's reply to this question is not included in the material. Whether the two passages record one event or two is raised but left unanswered in the material.

2. Blood money and willsLaw & rulings

   Listed subjects include blood money (diyah) in accidental killing and the difference between accidental and deliberate killing. Other subjects address writing wills for non-Muslims, including whether wealth can be bequeathed to animals, and expiation for breaking an oath. Contract validity is also addressed, including void (batil) and defective (fasid) marriage contracts. The compilation's legal rulings extend to killing, wills, oaths and contract validity, though only subject titles are given.

3. Zakat across assetsEconomics

   Subjects cover zakat on trade merchandise, livestock, olives, honey, gold jewellery, joint and partnership money, and debts. Other subjects address who receives zakat in the absence of a Khilafah, and the maximum zakat payable to recipients. Zakat responsibility for a child's or an insane person's wealth is also listed. Zakat is treated across many kinds of wealth, with recipients addressed for when no Khilafah exists.

4. Riba and bankingEconomics

   Subjects include riba in Dar ul-Islam versus Dar ul-Kufr, the six categories of riba-based properties, and credit cards. Others cover Islamic banks' murabaha dealings, taking a salary from an employer who deals in interest, and the reason behind rises in American interest rates. Hoarding of money and guarantee, insurance and monopoly (ihtikar) are also listed subjects. Banking, credit and interest practices are treated as recurring subjects across the compilation.

5. Money, currency and marketsEconomics

   Subjects address zakat on paper currency, gold and silver as the two currencies the Islamic State should adopt, and fluctuations in gold prices. Bitcoin, trading in the forex market, and financial and commercial transactions over the internet and e-commerce are also listed. Land subjects include kharaj land, waqf of taxed land, land title deeds, and public versus private land ownership. Currency form, digital trading and land tenure are each addressed as distinct subjects.

6. Authority, tax and public propertyPolitics

   One subject asks whether the sultan, meaning the ruling authority, may impose a tax upon Muslims. Others describe the state as an executive entity for a set of concepts, criteria and convictions, and distinguish privatization, nationalization and iqta (land allocation). Public ownership and the basis for establishing factories in the Khilafah State on military policy are also listed. Several subjects concern the ruling authority's powers over taxation, property and industry.

7. Marriage and family practiceSociety

   Subjects include whether a woman may act as marriage official (ma'zoun), and whether offer and acceptance in a marriage contract can mix past and future tense. The ruling on performing Hajj on behalf of someone else is also listed. Wills bequeathing wealth to dogs or animals are addressed as a separate subject. Family and religious-practice questions, including marriage formalities and Hajj by proxy, sit alongside the economic subjects.

Open questions

• Whether the passages on fighting apostates and fighting zakat withholders describe one incident or two, and how the Ameer answers, is not shown.
• The Ameer's substantive rulings on the 108 listed subjects, such as Bitcoin, forex, gold as currency and blood money, are not shown beyond their titles.