BIES1013

PRINCIPLES OF ISLAMIC ECONOMICS (A)

TITLE

DISCUSS THE IDEAS OF IBN TAIMIYAH ON THE SOURCES OF

PUBLIC REVENUE.

GROUP ASSIGNMENT

SUBMITTED TO:

DR. NORAZIAH BINTI CHE ARSHAD

PREPARED BY:

NO. MATRIC NAME

298120 MUHAMMAD AIDIL HAIQAL BIN AZMAN

299932 MUHAMMAD IRFAN BIN MOHD HASNUL

302278 MOHAMAD ZULHAIZZAD BIN MOHD ZIN

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION 1

BIOGRAPHY IBN TAYMIYYAH 2

CONTRIBUTION OF ISLAMIC SCHOLAR 3-4

CURRENT SITUATION 5-6

CONCLUSION 7

REFERENCES 8-9
INTRODUCTION

The main objective of this assignment is to explore the contribution of Ibn Taimiyyah
about the sources of public revenue. Analysing Ibn Taimiyah's notion regarding the source of
earnings is how this study is carried out. The money that a government receives from taxes
and non-tax sources to fund public expenditures is referred to as public revenue, also known
as government revenue or national revenue. To optimize social and economic welfare, the
government must carry out its political, social, and economic obligations. The government
needs a lot of resources in order to carry out these responsibilities. The public provides the
government with revenue in a variety of ways. The public funding stream comes from
two major sources. Most governments primarily rely on tax revenue, which includes value-
added taxes, sales taxes, property taxes, and income taxes. Non-tax income includes
profits from state-owned businesses, earnings from the central bank, penalties and charges,
asset sales, and capital receipts from foreign financial institutions in the form of debt and
external loans. In his book al-Siyasah al-Shariah, Ibn Taymiyyah discusses his views on
public revenue. He looks at things like public revenue, pricing control, weight restriction, and
cash management. The account of public revenue by Ibn Taymiyyah will be examined in this
study. "Three types of government revenues are based on the Qur'an and Sunnah: ghanimah,
sadaqah, and fai'," he states. Ibn Taymiyyah categorised all revenue obtained from different
sources, every form of revenue aside from sadaqah and ghanimah, and all kinds of money
under the name fai'.

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BIOGRAPHY IBN TAYMIYYAH

Complete name for Ibn Taimiyyah is Taqi ad-Din Abu-Abbas Ahmad ibn Abd-as-
Salam Ibn Taimiyyah Al-Hanbali. Ibn Taimiyyah was born on Monday the 100 Rabiul Awal
661AH or 22nd January 1263 in Harran, Turkiye. His family and him fled to Damascus in the
year 667AH. Ibn Taimiyyah comes from a knowledgeable family in which his grandfather
was a scholar at Hanbali School of Law. His father also was the director of Sukkariya
madrasah. His siblings were known for wisdom and excellence in every aspect.

Ibn Taimiyyah received his first education in Sukkariya Madrasa, Damascus. He also
Hafiz Al-Quran at a very young age. He also learned some subjects from his father, Fiqh and
Usul al-Fiqh. He remembered and memorized a lot of Hadith with narration and Athar
perfectly. Ibn Taimiyyah also had a plethora of books that he recites repeatedly which are
The Musnad, The Sahih of al-Bukhari and Sahih of Muslim The Jami ’ of at-Tirmidhi The
Sunan of Abu Daud, an-Nasa’i, and Ibn Majah. He also learned more in Arabic grammar and
language under At-Tuft and he is an expert of Sibawayh’s Arabic grammar. Ibn Taimiyyah
even studied theology, philosophy, history and algebra.

As an adult, Ibn Taimiyyah wrote a large number of books, he wrote more than three
hundred books. But not all his writings are complete, about 35 volumes of work are
incomplete. He had extensive knowledge and wrote a lot of classificatory books and literary
works. His first book called Al-Manasik Al-Hajj, is about the criticism about the innovation
during his visit to Makkah. When he was in Egypt, he was an adviser to Sultan Al-Nasir
Muhammad about religious and political issues. Then he wrote a book about the governance
of shariah called Al-Siasah Al-Shariah. In 1316, Ibn Taymiyyah wrote his well known work,
Manhaj as-Sunnah an-Nabawiyyah, this book contains 4 volumes and it’s all about
the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad. Ten years later, he was arrested for accusing everyone
who had a special visit to the Prophet Muhammad’s Mosque committed heresy in Islam.

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CONTRIBUTION OF ISLAMIC SCHOLAR

Ibn Taymiyyah concludes all the Shariah’s sources consist into three sections as he
states: “government revenues based on the Qur’an and Sunnah are of three types: ghanimah,
sadaqah and fai’” . The following paragraph will provide descriptions of each source.

According to Ibn Taimiyyah, ghanimah or loot is war booty taken from non-Muslims
following battle. All of these properties belonged to muslim after they won the war. This
ghanimah was divided among Muslims following the strict rules from Al-Quran. Ibn
Taimiyyah recognizes that ghanimah is divided into some sections. Firstly, one fifth portion
of the booty will be given to Allah SWT and Prophet Muhammad P.B.U.H. After the Prophet
Muhammad PBUH's lifetime, the Sahabah made determination that one fifth was turned to be
a source of Baitulmal. Baitulmal is a financial organization that manages the administration
of taxes. Specifically, this portion is a public source and will be given to needy and orphans.
It also can be used for any activities for Muslim. The balance of the portion was distributed
among the army that was involved in war. The main reason why Ibn Taimiyyah says that
ghanimah is under public revenue is because the government must oversee the administration
of ghanimah.. It is also vital to manage ghanimah well to maintain credibility, accountability
and justice of every public cent.

Next, the second category of public source is sadaqah or zakat. Zakat refers to giving
part of the property for the needs of those who are included in the eight groups, as a form of
purification for the rest of the property. According to Al-Quran, there are eight classes of
people who are eligible to receive zakat. All of them are the poor(fuqara’), the needy
(masakin), collectors of zakat, softening the hearts, slaves, people who are in debt, In the path
of Allah, and the traveler. Necessary to achieve equality, zakat seems to be the main pillar in
the financial system and public income in the economy. In addition, the management of zakat
should be done by a group of committed individuals in the government to keep the integrity
and justice towards the receivers.

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 The last type of Ibn Taymiyyah’s public revenue is fai ’. It is contrast to ghanimah
and zakat which are set for certain categories, the good of fai' involves the whole population.
According to Ibn Taimiyyah, all public revenues other than ghanimah and zakat are included
in the concept of fai'. Fai' referred to booty obtained from the enemy without war or military
action. In addition, Ibn Taimiyyah not only limited the sources of fai' income to war booty,
but also opened up opportunities for current sources of revenue. For example, he suggests that
revenue streams that might be incorporated into fai' include non-inherited property,
jizyah, unclaimed property and kharaj. Therefore, the source of fai' income, as explained by
Ibn Taimiyah, is basically flexible according to changing times and circumstances.

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CURRENT SITUATION

Malaysia obtains national income from 3 categories of contributors which are tax
revenue, non-tax revenue and non-revenue. Tax revenue is the money collected by a
government from its constituents through taxation for public spending. Taxes can be based on
income, property value, or sales of goods and services. Tax revenue collected by the
government has 2 categories namely direct tax and indirect tax. Direct tax is a tax that is paid
directly by an individual or organization to government. Direct taxes cannot be shifted to
another payer, and the individual or organization upon which the tax is levied is responsible
for paying it. Besides, indirect taxes are taxes levied on individuals who use the goods and
services provided. Next, non-tax revenue is refer to government income that comes from
sources other than taxes such as profits of state-owned companies, aid from another level of
government, aid from abroad, loans and others. The last one, non-revenue is licences and
permits to individuals, corporations, businesses and other enterprises, among others are in the
form of petroleum royalty and motor vehicle licences for purpose of control or regulation.
These three incomes are crucial for Malaysia.

Government revenue and expenditure are recorded to plan the national budget every
year. Based on government revenue data referenced through the finance ministry's website,
Malaysia earns an income of RM234,011 million in 2022, which is an increase of 5.88%
from the previous year. This income will be used for the benefit of the country and the people
in building and repairing infrastructure in the country. According to the sources of public
revenue by Ibn Taimiyah, he says the government can collect taxes from the entire population.
This income can be used by the government to help people. Therefore, this can be related to
our situation, which is that Malaysia experienced an increase in the price of goods that
burdened the community. To overcome this problem, the government introduced ‘Menu
Rahmah ’ at certain food stalls. Each food in ‘Menu Rahmah ’ is sold for as low as RM5.
Minister of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living, Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub said that the
government allocated RM100 million for the charity of ‘Menu Rahmah ’. In conclusion, this
clearly shows that Ibn Taimiyyah's idea of fai ’ in public revenue is still relevans and still used
in current situation.

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 Other than that, Malaysia also implements the collection of zakat harta and zakat
fitrah for people who are muslims. Zakat fitrah is a charge imposed on every muslim that
must be paid annually. Every muslim is required to pay zakat fitrah in the holy month of
Ramadan. Besides, zakat harta is obligated to every muslim who meets zakat harta’s
minimum requirement. There are various types of zakat harta, which are Zakat on Earnings,
Zakat on Business, Zakat on Savings, Zakat on Gold and Silver, Zakat on EPF, Zakat on
Farming, and Zakat on Livestock. Islamic affairs are under the authority of the department of
state government, therefore they have responsibility to collect zakat harta and zakat fitrah as
well as distribute the collection. To be eligible to receive zakat, the recipient must be poor and
needy which does not reach the nisab threshold, zakat collector, those inclined towards Islam,
slaves for the purpose of freeing, those in debt, and the wayfarer. Zakat institutions in Kedah
collect RM252,250 million in 2022.

Zakat also provides financial assistance to students who are pursuing their studies.
This matter can cover tuition fees and encourage teenagers to pursue their studies at
university. Therefore, zakat harta and zakat fitrah in Malaysia are still the same according to
the sources of public revenue by Ibn Taimiyah. Zakat’s objective is to redistribute wealth
between the rich and poor and to purify the wealth of those who pay zakat. This proves that
sadaqah or zakat based on Ibn Taimiyah’s opinion is related to our situation.

Last but not least, Malaysia also conducts auctions of property confiscated from
criminals. However, the authorities only auction some types of confiscated items that can be
used by the community. If an item is illegal or dangerous, the only option available for
disposal is pure and total destruction. This is usually reserved for stuff like drugs, illegal
media, and others. The confiscated items that are often auctioned are vehicles,
watches, houses and so on. Usually, The Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) and the Malaysian
Road Transport Department (JPJ) will announce the auction through social media to the
public. The profits from the sale would go to the government. This is almost similar
to ghanimah according to Ibn Taimiyah, which is all of these properties belonged to muslim
after they won the war.
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CONCLUSION

Islamic philosopher Ibn Taymiyyah provided a thorough perspective on the sources of

income for an Islamic state in the Middle Ages. His theories, which have their roots in
Islamic law, have influenced economic theory and policy for a long time. It is clear from
analyzing Ibn Taymiyyah's theory that he placed a high value on following Islamic law when
it came to money problems, placing particular emphasis on fairness, justice, and avoiding
exploitation. Ibn Taymiyyah's approach places a strong emphasis on the idea of public
ownership of resources. He maintained that some resources, like pasture, water, and minerals,
are public goods and ought to be owned by the society as a whole. This shared ownership
guarantees that these resources are used for the good of society as a whole and works to
prevent wealth from being concentrated in the hands of a select few.

Ibn Taymiyyah also highlighted the ban on speculative transactions and usury (riba).
He held that economic activity ought to be grounded in actual, palpable value, prohibiting
actions that provide profits at the expense of societal well-being. This viewpoint is consistent
with Islamic precepts, which promote equitable commerce and forbid unfair business
practices. Ibn Taymiyyah also talked about the subject of zakat, which is Islam's required
almsgiving. Although zakat is a well-established cornerstone of Islamic economics, its
importance in addressing social inequality and wealth redistribution was emphasized by Ibn
Taymiyyah. He maintained that zakat should be properly collected and distributed in order to
guarantee a more equitable distribution of resources and to reduce poverty.

To sum up, Ibn Taymiyyah's theory regarding the sources of revenue demonstrates a
strong dedication to social justice and Islamic values. His focus on public ownership of
specific resources, the outlawing of usury, and the reasonable application of taxes are all in
line with the overarching objectives of building a society that is both socially and
economically just. Even though his theories were developed in a historical setting, they are
still relevant today and offer important guidance to anyone looking to incorporate Islamic
values into modern economic systems.

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 REFERENCES

Bernama (2023, January 26), FT zakat collection up 13% in 2022

https://www.thevibes.com/articles/news/83936/ft-zakat-collection-up-13-in-2022-
minister

Imam Rijali Ambon (2015, June 1), Principle Economic Ibn Taimiyyah

https://media.neliti.com/media/publications/227666-principles-of-economic-ibn-
taymiyyah-mor-898b8de0.pdf

Maria Mohamed (2018, September 18), Shaikhul-Islam Imam Ibn Taymiyyah: A Short
Biography

https://thecompanion.in/shaikhul-islam-imam-ibn-taymiyyah-a-short-biography

Mohd Farid Mohd Sharif (2019, September 18), Ibn Taimiyyah on Public Revenue

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/
335987313_Ibn_Taymiyyah_On_Public_Revenue

Mohd Sharif M.F(2019, September 19), Ibn Taymiyyah On Public Revenue

https://www.europeanproceedings.com/article/10.15405/
epsbs.2019.09.18#:~:text=He

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Pancarini, Ans Shinta (2018, March 17), Market Mechanism in the View of Ibn Taymiyyah
https://mpra.ub.unimuenchen.de/87024/1/MPRA_paper_87024.pdfhttps://
mpra.ub.uni