Assalam alaikum, The first ruler to authorise an import tax (Ushr*) was Caliph Umar, set at 10% of the value of imported goods. This matched the 10% Muslim traders had to pay when they traded in foreign lands.
Ushr was only imposed on goods imported for sale, and not for goods imported for personal use, though any item with a value less than 200 dirhams was not taxed. In addition, the tax was only levied on goods which were openly declared and searching peoples personal lugguage was not permitted. When the citizens of the State imported goods for the purposes of trade, they would pay the import tax at lower rates. In the case of the Dhimmis the rate was five per cent and in the case of the Muslims 2 1/2 per cent. In the case of the Muslims the rate was the same as that of Zakat. The levy was thus regarded as a part of Zakat and was not considered a separate tax. A story is told that a certain Christian of the Banu Taghlib tribe and a citizen of the Muslim state imported a horse. The horse was valued at 20,000 dirhams, and being a Dhimmi the import tax on the horse was assessed at 5 per cent, i.e. 1,000 dirhams. He paid the tax but then went out of the country on business riding that horse. He returned after some time and the taxing authorities demanded the Ushr on the horse again. He represented that as he had already paid the tax it would be unfair to pay the tax again. The Christian waited for Umar at Madina and represented his case. Umar after hearing the case said, "Alright, you can go." The man assumed that Umar didn't agree with him so he went to the tax authorities to pay the tax. Upon arrival he was told that as he had already paid the relevant tax, the hors eisn't subject to tax again. Hearing this the Christian trader said, 'How just is Umar; verily the religion that he follows is the Truth." Thereupon he accepted Islam. *Ushr also relates to the share of agricultural produce which is paid as a tax. May Allah Almighty have mercy and bless us all with fairness and justice in the things which we do, ameen. fi amanillah, wa salam, f ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Join modern day disciples reach the disfigured and poor with hope and healing http://us.click.yahoo.com/lMct6A/Vp3LAA/i1hLAA/TXWolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> *************************************************************************** {Invite (mankind, O Muhammad ) to the Way of your Lord (i.e. Islam) with wisdom (i.e. with the Divine Inspiration and the Qur'an) and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better. Truly, your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His Path, and He is the Best Aware of those who are guided.} (Holy Quran-16:125) {And who is better in speech than he who [says: "My Lord is Allah (believes in His Oneness)," and then stands straight (acts upon His Order), and] invites (men) to Allah's (Islamic Monotheism), and does righteous deeds, and says: "I am one of the Muslims."} (Holy Quran-41:33) The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "By Allah, if Allah guides one person by you, it is better for you than the best types of camels." [al-Bukhaaree, Muslim] The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) also said, "Whoever calls to guidance will have a reward similar to the reward of the one who follows him, without the reward of either of them being lessened at all." [Muslim, Ahmad, Aboo Daawood, an-Nasaa'ee, at-Tirmidhee, Ibn Maajah] -------------------------------------------------------------------------- All views expressed herein belong to the individuals concerned and do not in any way reflect the official views of IslamCity unless sanctioned or approved otherwise. If your mailbox clogged with mails from IslamCity, you may wish to get a daily digest of emails by logging-on to http://www.yahoogroups.com to change your mail delivery settings or email the moderators at [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the title "change to daily digest". Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/islamcity/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
