The Kharaj is a right that Allah (swt) enabled the Muslims to take from the Kuffar. It is a right imposed on the neck of the land that has been conquered from the Kuffar by way of war or by way of peaceful agreement, provided that the peace agreement stipulates that the lands is ours (ie belonging to the Muslims) and that they will continue to farm the land in exchange of a Kharaj that they should pay to the State. The Kharaj in the Arabic language means the rental and the harvest or the crop. Each land conquered from the Kuffar after declaring war against them is considered Kharaji land, and even if they embraced Islam after the conquest, the land remains Kharaji. Abu ‘Ubayd reported in Al-amwal on the authority of Al-Zuhri: “The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) accepted the Jizya from the Magi of Bahrain.” Al-Zuhri said: “He who embraced Islam He (pbuh) accepted it from Him and his Islam ensured that his life and his wealth were safe, save for the land. That land became a booty for the Muslims because He had not embraced Islam in the first instance when He was in a position of strength”, meaning when He was beyond the reach of the Muslims. As for the amount of the Kharaj imposed on the land, this is estimated according to the potential of the land.When ‘Umar (RA) imposed the Kharaj, He took into consideration the potential of the land, without unfairness to the owner and without any prejudice against the farmer. In some areas, He imposed upon every Jareeb (a patch of arable land) a Qafeez and a Dirham and He imposed in other areas a different amount, and in the lands of Ash-Sham He imposed yet another. It was known that He took into consideration the potential of the land. If the Kharaj is determined according to the potential of the land, it will be levied according to the manner in which it was imposed. If the Kharaj were imposed over the area of the land annually, the land would then be levied at the end of the lunar year, because it is the year recognised by Shar’a. However, if the Kharaj is imposed upon the farmed area of the land, the Kharaj will be levied at the end of the calendar year because it is the year related to the rainfalls and to the sowing of the crop. If the Kharaj is imposed by way of sharing i.e. if a specific estimate is set according to what the land normally produces, the Kharaj will be levied as and when the crop is ripe and when it has been harvested. The Imam reserves the right to estimate the Kharaj, while taking into consideration the most appropriate way with regard to these three aspects, either on the area of the land, or the area of the planted part, or by way of estimating the produce. If improvements are introduced to the land, and this resulted in an increase in the produce, or if the lands have been subjected to a host of elements that led to a decrease in the amount of produce, then the situation must be examined. If the increase was the result of an action undertaken by the farmer, such as the digging of a well or a canal, then the Kharaj would not be increased. If, however, the decrease was as a result of by their own doing, such as the destroying of a canal or the neglect of a well, then the Kharaj would not be reduced and they would be ordered to repair the damage they had caused. If the increase or decrease was caused by the State i.e. if the State were to dig a well or if on the other hand she were to neglect the repair of the wells and the canals, in this case she reserves the right to increase the Kharaj and she has also to reduce it when the produce decreases. If the decrease or the increase were to occur due to natural elements, such as the uprooting of trees by a hurricane or the destroying of the canals due to a torrent, in this case the land will be levied according to its potential lest the farmers are wronged. The Kharaj should be estimated for a specific and known period of time and it should not be permanently fixed. This estimate changes when the period ends and a new estimate will be fixed according to the potential of the land at the time of estimation for the new period.