比例税是指税率固定不变、不论应税对象数量多少的税种。例如,如果税率为百分之十,且该税率适用于所有收入而不论收入多少,那么这种税就是比例税。累进税则是税率随应税对象数量增加而提高的税种。累进税通常按收入等级划分适用。例如,前一千单位收入的税率可能为百分之十,第二个一千单位为百分之十二,第三个一千单位为百分之十五。[1] 如今,许多人支持累进税,他们认为这种税更为公正,因为它依据纳税人的负担能力分摊政府支出的负担。支持累进税通常提出以下论据:

Proportional taxes are those whose rates are constant regardless of the quantity of taxable items. If, for example, the tax rate is ten percent, and this rate applies on all income regardless of its size, then the tax is proportional. Progressive taxes are those whose rates increase with an increase in the amount of the taxable item. Progressive taxes are usually applied on the basis of income stratas. For example, the rate may be ten percent for the first one thousand units of income, twelve percent for the second one thousand, and fifteen percent for the third one thousand.1 Progressive taxes are supported by many people nowadays, who argue that this kind of tax is more just because it distributes the burden of government expenditures according to the ability of the taxpayers. The following arguments are usually forwarded in support of progressive taxes:

富裕的人会受益于收益递增的经济规律，因此积累得越多，就越能获得更高的回报，从而积累得更多。

1. Wealthy persons benefit from the economic law of increasing returns, so that the more they accumulate, the more they can obtain higher returns and more accumulation.

这种积累和赚取的能力增长得超过比例，因此对这类人所征收的税也必须超过比例。

This ability to accumulate and to earn increases more than proportionally, so the tax applied on such persons must also be more than proportional.

2. 累进税是消除社会中收入和财富巨大差距的最便捷手段。每当我们面对财富分配不均的局面时,累进税都能纠正这种状况,缩小贫富之间的经济差距。

2. Progressive taxes are the most accessible means to eliminate great differences in income and wealth in a society. Whenever we are confronted with a situation of badly distributed wealth, progressive taxes rectify the situation and shrink the economic gap between rich and poor.

显而易见，天课是按比例征收的，即它并不采取随应课财产数量增加而提高税率的原则。对任何一项应课财产而言，适用的税率都是固定的。这适用于所有应课天课的财产：农产品、牲畜、商业资产或现金。一些当代学者认为，牲畜天课的税率是递减的，即牲畜数量越多，税率越低。他们认为这种递减是为了鼓励在阿拉伯半岛恶劣的沙漠环境中养殖牲畜。

It is clear that zakah is proportional, i.e., it does not take the principle of increasing the rate with increases in the quantity of the zakatable item. The applicable rate on an item is constant. This applies to all zakatable assets: agricultural products, livestock, trade assets, or cash. Some contemporary researchers think zakah on livestock has a regressive rate, i.e., the rate declines as the amount of livestock increases. They consider such regression as an attempt to encourage cattle raising in the harsh desert environment of the Arabian peninsula.

这种解释是不正确的，实际上，牲畜的天课税率一般是2。5

This interpretation is incorrect, in fact, the rate of zakah on cattle is generally 2.5

的百分之二点五，只在牲畜数量分段增加时有细微差别。在牛和骆驼的情况下，二点五的比率（一般而言）非常明显；而在羊的情况下，因为把羊羔和小羊计算在内，会产生一种误解。在计算四十只羊的天课标准（nisab）时，小羊不计算在内，比率是四十只羊取一只羊（25

percent, with slight differences that relate only to segmental increases in the number of animals subject to zakah. The rate of 2.5 percent (generally speaking) is very obvious in the case of cows and camels, while in the case of sheep there is a misunderstanding that arises from the inclusion of lambs and baby sheep. In estimating the nisab of forty sheep, baby sheep are not counted, and the rate is one sheep for forty sheep (2.5

（百分之）。随着绵羊数量超过四十只，幼崽也计入应纳天课的总头数，但这些幼崽不能用于缴纳天课。

percent). As the number of sheep increases above forty, baby animals are included in the total count of zakatable heads, but these babies are not acceptable in zakah payment.

这样，每增加一百只羊，只需缴纳一只羊，以便将幼羊也计算在内。2 据伊布拉欣和艾布·哈尼法的记载，有一种观点认为，马匹的天课税率为百分之二点五，依据是按其价格进行估算。这一观点支持了一般的理解，即牲畜的税率为百分之二点五。

The rate is thus reduced to one sheep for each additional hundred sheep to make up for this inclusion of baby sheep.2 There is an opinion reported from Ibrahim and Abu Hanifah that zakah on steeds has a rate of 2.5 percent, based on evaluation of their prices. This supports the general understanding that the rate on livestock is 2.5 percent.

首先，天课作为一项永恒的宗教义务，不会因环境的变化而改变。它是每一位穆斯林在所有时代、所有环境中都必须履行的一种功修；而累进税则是为了纠正财富与收入分配不均这一暂时性问题而设立的。它们是可以调整的工具，其税率可以根据所要达成的目标而改变。

Firstly, zakah as an eternal religious obligation, does not change because of changing circumstances. It is a worship required from every Muslim in all ages and environments, while progressive taxes are imposed to achieve rectify the transitory problem of skewed distribution of wealth and income. They are malleable tools whose rates may be altered in order to achieve their target.

伊斯兰教并不禁止在需要时征收额外的税款。若为实现公正、缩小贫富之间的分配差距，这些税款可以采用累进税率，但前提是这些税款须由代表民众、依据主所降示的圣典公正治理的合法当局颁布。

Islam does not prevent the imposition of additional taxes when need arises. These taxes may have progressive rates if this is needed to achieve justice and to close the gap in distribution between rich and poor, provided such taxes are inacted by legitimate authority that represents the people and rules righteously in the light of the holy Book sent by God.

其次,天课本身就能将收入和财富从富人重新分配给穷人。

Secondly, zakah itself redistributes income and wealth from the rich to the poor.

因此，它通过专门提高贫困阶层的生活水平，并将全部负担加在富人身上，实现了累进税所要达到的同一目标；而税收——即使是累进税——通常是以公共服务的形式返还给社会全体成员的，其中也包括富人自己。

Consequently, it fulfills the same objective of progressive taxes by specifically raising the level of living of poor classes and levying the whole burden on the rich while taxes, even progressive ones, are usually rendered, in the form of public services, to all members of the society, including the rich themselves.

第三，伊斯兰通过多种手段解决财富和收入集中的问题。天课只是其中之一。这些手段包括继承制度、没收来源非法的财富和收入、禁止利息、高利贷和垄断。因此，累进税的目标是通过所有这些手段共同实现的。

Thirdly, Islam resolves the problem of concentration of wealth and income through several means. zakah is but one of them. These means include the inheritance system, confiscation of wealth and income that arises from unlawful sources, prohibition of interest, usury, and monopoly. Thus the objectives of progressive taxes are fulfilled through all these means together.

第四，累进税制原则本身受到许多思想家、经济学家和公共财政专家的批评，他们指出了以下弱点：

Fourthly, the principle of progressiveness in taxation itself criticized by many thinkers, economists, and experts of public finance, who point to the Following weaknesses:

1. 累进税中收入档次的划分非常随意，目前没有公认或具有理性依据的确定方法。这有时会导致税额本身的确定也带有随意性。作为累进制主要依据的"牺牲均等"原则，在应用时也缺乏稳定而明确的规则。每一档新增收入应适用何种税率，才能体现这种均等？是逐级递增一个百分点还是两个百分点？每一档收入的幅度应当多宽？纳税人是否应当按收入高低划分为不同的阶层？所有这些问题，都使任何累进税在实际执行中面临真正的障碍。3

1. The determination of income stratas for progressiveness is very arbitrary. It has no agreed upon or rationally accepted formulation. This leads sometimes to arbitrariness in the determination of the tax itself. Equality in sacrifice, which is the dominant foundation for progressiveness, has no steady and stable rules for its application. What rate applies such equality at each additional strata of income? Is it an increment of one percent or two percent? How wide should each range of income be? And should taxpayers be divided into classes according to their incomes? All these pose real obstacles in the practical application of any progressive tax.3