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political islam 359hesitate to give money to Jews and Christians from his treasury (baytm§l) and that after #AlÊ’s death, Abå Dharr al-Ghif§rÊ opposed theproposal of the new caliph Mu#§wiya to change the name from ‘treasuryof all Muslims’ to ‘treasury of God’ (bayt m§l All§h). 27 Thisreflected the widespread opinion that even though the amÊr al-mu"minÊn,as head of state, is in possession of all legislative and executive powersadministered mostly by his fellow Muslim-Believers (hence his titleas their leader), the public treasury must not be restricted solely tothe concerns of Muslim-Believers but should also consider the financialneeds of Jews and Christians. Many modern states show a similarstructure of public administration. The prime minister of GreatBritain, for example, has been appointed to lead a governmentbecause he represents all the political goals and aspirations of thepolitical party that won the last election (mostly either Labour orConservatives), whereas the chancellor of the exchequer is expectedto administer a budget whose money is spent on all sections of thepopulation regardless of their political affiliations.Before the introduction of a unified national tax system, Jews andChristians were required to pay the so-called jizya, a head tax onfree nonbelievers who lived under the rule of a Muslim-Believer.This was seen as an equivalent to the tax (zak§h, ßadaq§t) which theMuslim-Believers had to pay. The money the public treasury receivedin this way was spent in roughly equal terms in return on bothMuslim-Believers and Muslim-Assenters. Today, modern tax lawrequires the state to collect taxes from all citizens equally, and yet itallows both Muslim-Believers and Muslim-Assenters alike to pay voluntaryßadaq§t to religious and charity organisations. This is moneythey can spend on the specific needs of their respective religiouscommunities (e.g., for prayer rooms, schools, nurseries, interfaithcentres, etc.). The modern tax system is hence more dynamic andflexible and has made the old jizya head tax entirely redundant. Thecall for a reintroduction of the jizya tax ignores the fact the current27Abå Dharr al-Ghif§rÊ (d. 32/653), a companion of the Prophet, a muh§jir andone of the earliest converts to Islam; famous for his ascetic lifestyle and purist worldviewshe criticised #Uthm§n’s free use of public money from the treasury and, afterhis forced emigration to Damascus, the luxurious life and free spending of Mu#§wiyaI, at this time (around 647) the governor of Syria. For this he was exiled toal-Rab§tha, an oasis near Medina where he died, see Wilferd Madelung, Succession toMuhammad: A Study of the Early Caliphate (Cambridge: CUP, 1996), 84; W. M. Watt,Muhammad at Medina (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1956), 81.