State property is every wealth whose expenditure is determined by the opinion and Ijtihad of the Khalifah, such as the wealth derived from taxes, land tax and Jizya.

Its evidence is that the Shari’ah evidences indicated that the definition of State property is the permission of the Legislator (swt) for the Khalifah to spend the wealth according to his opinion and Ijtihad. The Messenger (pbuh) used to spend the wealth from the war booty according to his opinion and Ijtihad, and likewise the wealth from the Jizya and land taxes which were collected from the different lands. There is a Shari’ah text which shows that it was left to the Messenger (pbuh) to spend it according to how he saw fit, which is an evidence that the Imam can spend this wealth according to his opinion and Ijtihad, since the action of the Messenger (pbuh) is a Shari’ah evidence and so it is a permission for the Imam to spend this wealth as he sees fit according to his opinion and Ijtihad. Therefore, that is the definition of State property.

For this reason, the expenditure of the Zakah has not been left to the Khalifah to decide according to his opinion and Ijtihad, rather the categories it can be spent upon have been specified and the State is the guardian over spending it in those areas, and so the Khalifah cannot increase the categories according to his opinion and Ijtihad.

Based upon this, if there is a Shari’ah text reported that permits the Imam to spend specific wealth according to his opinion and Ijtihad, then that wealth is considered to be the State’s wealth, and the text of the Legislator (swt) is a permission for the Imam to spend it according to his opinion and Ijtihad. Accordingly, the wealth of war booty, land taxes, Jizya and anything similar from taxes, and the returns from the State properties, is all State wealth. The definition which was deduced from the actions of the Messenger (pbuh) , and the generality of the texts which came ordering the utilisation of this wealth, apply upon all of the aforementioned issues. This article was drafted upon this basis.

This is the definition for every category of property, and these are the evidences that each of these definitions was deduced from. By examining these definitions which were drafted regarding ownership, and the evidences which they were deduced from, it becomes clear that property falls under one of the following three categories: private property, public property and State property. As for the wealth from Zakah, this is not possessed by any specific person, rather it is possessed by specific sections, and so it is considered to be from the category of private property, since the Legislator (swt) permitted those sections to possess it through the conveyance of the one giving it, irrespective of whether that was the one giving the Zakah directly or the Imam, and for that reason it is not considered to be a fourth category of property. Accordingly, property is categorised according to these three categories, and the details of the Shari’ah evidence for article 127 have been made clear.