Ali Ibn Abi Talib - Volume 1 of 2

470 Financial and judiciary institutions at the time of 'Ali
more about that may refer to my book Fasl al-Khitcibfi Seerat Ameer
al-Mu'mineen 'Umar ibn al-Khattcib (available in English under the
title 'Umar ibn al-Khagcib - His Life and Times).
Some Mentalists, including Philip Hitti in his History of the
Arabs, have tried to undermine the importance of the efforts of the
Rightly Guided Caliphs (may Allah be pleased with them) in
organising the wealth of the state in general. Hitti writes:
"Later developments, the result of many years of practice, were
attributed by this tradition to the initiative of 'Umar. The fact is that
the original part which the first caliphs and the early Moslem [sic]
governors played in the imposition of taxes and the administration of
finances could not have been great. The framework of the Byzantine
provincial government in Syria and Egypt was continued in Allah's
name, and no radical changes were introduced into the machinery of
local administration in the former Persian domains. From the very
beginning taxation varied according to the nature of the soil and the
system that had prevailed in that locality under the old rule, whether
Byzantine or Persian; it did not necessarily depend upon the
acquisition of land by capitulation (sulhan) or by force ('anwatan)
nor upon any legislative act on the part of mar."'^
The writer ignored reports that were narrated about the way in
which 'Umar (&) worked out the tax on lands conquered by force,
and how this new system was opposed by some of the Companions
before the matter was settled and they all agreed to adopt it."
Muhammad Diya' ad-Deen ar-Rayyis took on the task of refuting
these Orientalists and their views, on the basis of authentic historical
texts. He concluded that this claim has no sound basis and that the
Muslims and their jurists differentiated between that which was
introduced by 'Umar and that which was introduced by others.
Indeed, they discussed in great detail the issue of tax collection at the
time of 'Umar (&,).I2