Ali Ibn Abi Talib - Volume 1 of 2

'Ali ibn Abi Tiilib 469
In some situations, control of the treasury was separate from
the job of the governor. In that case, as part of their general
supervision of the province, governors required the officials in
charge of the treasury to spend on the activities mentioned above.
Alternatively, the governor would hire workers to supervise a
particular project, and the costs of the work would be paid from the
income of the province through the treasury department. So even if
the role of the treasury was separate from that of the governor, as has
been suggested by some researcher^,^ spending was still supervised
by the governors in many cases, whether it was for jihad or for
development.
Some Islamic jurists have pointed out that the governors had to
spend in the interests of the Muslims and not freeze this wealth,
because holding this wealth that was taken lawfully, and not
spending it on the interests of the Muslims, would be equivalent to
taking it in an unlawful manner. They regarded freezing public
wealth a7 something unjust and as a shortcoming on the part of
go~ernors.~ The regions and provinces were more entitled to their
wealth and tax revenues than others, so the governors would not
transfer the treasury's funds from the provinces to the capital in
Madinah, or in Kufah later on, until they had covered the needs of
their provinces first.9
Undoubtedly what the Rightly Guided Caliphs did, especially
at the time of 'Umar (&), in terms of organising a precise system of
financial affairs in the provinces, collecting sources of income or a
general income in addition to general expenditure, is regarded as a
new system. Nonetheless, this did not prevent them from benefiting
from the experience of those who had come before them as they
introduced the govemment ministries and controlled their financial
affairs in all aspects. I have discussed the financial institutions during
the era of 'Umar (&) in some detail. Any reader wishing to know