Das Kalifat (Kalifatsstaat), die Verfassung, Artikel 147: All die Aufgaben, zu deren Ausführung die Umma durch das islamische Recht verpflichtet ist und für deren Vollzug sich keine Mittel im Schatzhaus befinden, werden auf die Umma übertragen. Der Staat hat in diesem Fall das Recht, die erforderlichen Mittel durch die Erhebung von Steuern von der Umma einzuholen. Für das, was nicht durch das islamische Gesetz der Umma verpflichtend auferlegt wurde, darf der Staat keine Steuer erheben. So ist es nicht gestattet, Gebühren für Gerichte, Verwaltungsstellen oder für die Durchführung irgendeiner Bertreuungstätigkeit zu erheben.

 

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 (Article 146), in that the Shari’ah defined the general income, and that the Messenger صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم 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.