Jizya Tax Levied on Mawali By Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf's Period in Umayyads and Its Background

The Umayyad State is widely criticized in the West as well as in its own region. Actually, this is normal situation. Because Hijaz Arabs who had no state experience, built a multinational state in short period of time. Yet, this caused serious matters. The fundamental point of the criticism is the payment of tax, also called jizya, which is taken from residents (mawal1) of Khorasan and Transoxania. However, in most studies on this subject, it is understood that the jizya taken from ma walfis combined jizya and kharja, which is different type of tax. Although ma walfwas tested for whether it passes religious criteria in critic periods or not, this situation did not last throughout the entire Umayyad history. It was continued for fifteen and twenty years. In this period, it was understood that the jizya tax taken from the mawalf, was caused by the unlawful practices of some regional governors, most of them were non-Muslim local tax officials and all their purpose was to collect the amount of combined jizya. It cannot be said that the Umayyad caliphs officially ordered written instructions in order to take the conceptual sense from the ma wailpart. But some Khorasan governors, who detected that taxes were decreasing, blinked at the collection of the jizya from the ma wail. Summary: The tax policies of a state are of great importance for the political, social, and economic stability. A regular tax system minimizes the problems that the state mechanism might face. The establishment of a fair and just tax scheme is undoubtedly possible with a deeprooted state experience. It is known that the Umayyad state which is the subject of this research has no state experience. Furthermore, ruling to the area which is on 13 million square kilometers and reaching to Kashgar in the East and to South France in the West and governing this multinational structure who are living on these regions, put the Umayyad government in a very difficult condition. With the vast borders and the stoppage of the conquests, some political, social and economic problems were experienced and these problems deeply affected the government. The groups which had argued with Shiites and Kharijites because of some various reasons led the country into collapsing. It is also known that many plague epidemics in the region of Damascus affected the society in a negative way, changing the capital and changing some of the border cities in favor of the Eastern Roman Empire. All these negativities certainly shaken the Umayyad state economically. It is understood from the data that the instability and political uncertainties in the country led to a decrease in the tax rates. For example, the Umayyad caliph `Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan period, only half of the tax was collected at the time of Hazrat `Umar could be collected. It can be said that the public who avoided the general policies of the state avoided giving tax, in other words, the tax evasion. Also, the increasing migration from village to city and due to that, the vacancy of tribute tax collected land, failure to obtain expected yield because of rent fights on fertile lands, and conversion process in non-Muslim community are included in other reasons of reduction of taxes. In the Umayyad period, the issue of taking the jizya from the ma walfcan be considered in this context. We do not have an independent work or research article on how this practice was initiated, how it was and how it was taken from mawalf, and how it was a state policy, and how long it was sustained. The studies that touch on this subject are far from being holistic. Even in the main sources it is seen that the concepts of kharaj and jizya are not fully understood and therefore used interchangeably. This may be considered normal for the first period in which the concepts are not in place. However, in the following centuries, the works that were copyrighted and, except for a few, instead of understanding and explaining this confusion, chose to use the word jizya from these two words which can be used interchangeably in texts. Therefore, this approach has led to the widespread conviction that the Umayyad state has taken jizya from the ma wailin the conceptual sense. Al-Hajjaj ibn Ytiisuf is claimed to have started the application of taken jizya from mawalf. However, Haccac aimed to provide the regularity of both agricultural products and the kharaj which is taken from farmers because of the status of the soil by sending Sawad villagers who migrated to the big cities and became Muslims by changing their religions. The status of the lands seized was decisive in taxation. According to this, the conquest and the territorial lands were taxed differently, but in some cases the same tax (kharaj) was taken. Non-Muslims who living in the territory of conquest were demanded jizya per capita. The jizya and kharajtax collected from this category can be expressed as joint jizya. Regardless of whether the person is a Muslim or not, the fact that he was demanded from him due to the status of the land was interpreted by some researchers as juristic. However, in times of political instability, it is also a fact that mawalfis demanding jury in addition to the tribute tax. The point that is misunderstood or interpreted is that this practice was carried out throughout the entire Umayyad territory and the history. When examined, this distorted tax concept is actually concentrated in the area of Transoxania. Although some attempts were made to take the jizya from the mawalfto the country, the Umayyad caliphs have not allowed it. The practice of taking the jizya from the ma walfis actually followed by the killing Qutayba ibn Muslim al-Bahill (d. 96/715). This started political instability in the Transoxania and continued by some Khurasan governors. These governors act according to the provocations of the Turkish governors and tax collectors of the region in order to be able to send their taxes completely. They claimed that the region in the region was not a sincere Muslim and, they continued to take the jizya from them. It can be said that jizya is not demanded as it is taken from non-Muslims in the common meaning from ma wail. Because any Umayyad caliph wrote no written instructions regarding this issue in the sources. It is understood that until the caliphate of `Umar b. `Abd al2Aziz, the Umayyad caliphs were not even aware of this distorted tax policy in the area of Transoxania. To put it once again, this practice was initiated by some Khurasan governors with the concern that tax revenues might decrease. However, it should not be forgotten that this unfair practice after 96/715 is limited to certain governors. For example, during the tenure of Nasr b. Seyyar, the last governor of Khurasan (120-131 / 738-748), the jizya tax was completely removed from the mawali. Another activity that shows this action is regional and that was ordered by some governors of Khurasan. Therefore, this practice does not reflect the Umayyad state policy. This is also apparent in the fact that the Shiites, Kharijites, and those who carried out the Abbasid Revolution for thirty-two years, did not make an anti-Umayyad propaganda with provoking the slave by the way of wrong application.