Sharʿi Ruling on Tax: Oppression, Prohibition, and Fisq
Source: Fatāwā Amanpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amanpuri
Question:
What is the ruling regarding tax?
Answer:
Taking wealth from people without a Sharʿi reason is considered tax. It is oppression and eating wealth unjustly, and by consensus it is harām. In whatever form it is imposed, tax is impermissible.
Allah ﷻ says:
﴿وَلَا تَبْخَسُوا النَّاسَ أَشْيَاءَهُمْ وَلَا تُفْسِدُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ﴾
(Al-Aʿrāf: 85)
"Do not deprive people of their due, and do not spread corruption in the land."
﴿وَلَا تَأْكُلُوا أَمْوَالَكُمْ بَيْنَكُمْ بِالْبَاطِلِ﴾
(Al-Baqarah: 188)
"Do not consume one another’s wealth unjustly."
Sayyiduna Buraydah رضي الله عنه narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
والذي نفسي بيده لقد تابت توبة لو تابها صاحب مكس لغفر له.
"By the One in Whose hand is my soul, this woman made such a repentance that if a tax collector were to repent in the same way, he would be forgiven."
(Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 1695)
This ḥadīth proves that tax-collecting is a grave destruction and a form of oppression.
❀ ʿAllāmah Ibn Ḥazm رحمه الله (d. 456H) said:
اتفقوا أن المراصد الموضوعة للمغارم على الطرق وعند أبواب المدن وما يؤخذ فى الأسواق من المكوس على السلع المجلوبة من المارة والتجار ظلم عظيم وحرام وفسق.
"The scholars are unanimous that the checkpoints set up on roads and at city gates for collecting tolls, and the levies taken in markets on goods brought by travelers and traders, are a great oppression, harām, and fisq."
(Marātib al-Ijmāʿ: 121)
As for the taxes and levies taken from buyers or traders, some common people call it "the right of the ruler." This is highly inappropriate, forbidden, and must be avoided. Using such expressions is a grave evil and a dangerous bidʿah. Instead, it should only be termed as tax, toll, or levy, etc.
