Critique of Modern Taxation: Exposing Extortion Disguised as Development
Dear readers, have you ever realized that in the modern system of life today, we are watched by “eagle eyes” always ready to cut our money from birth to death?
When you receive your salary after a month of hard work, the state deducts it (Income Tax). When you spend your remaining salary to buy milk for your child, the state deducts it again (Value-Added Tax). When you buy a modest house for shelter, the state demands an annual rent on your own house (Land and Building Tax). Even when someone dies, in some Western countries, the heirs are still extorted with Inheritance Tax!
Under the Capitalist system, the state positions itself as a “forced shareholder” over every drop of its people’s sweat. The slogan “Smart People Pay Taxes” is proclaimed day and night to legitimize this collection of wealth in the name of development.
However, how does Islam through the tsaqofah of Nizhamul Iqtishadi view this phenomenon? Is it true that the state cannot survive without extorting its people every day? Let us expose the invalidity of modern taxation and the greatness of the Caliphate’s fiscal system.
1. Introduction: Choked in Capitalist Tax Air
In Capitalist economic theory, the state must not interfere in business (laissez-faire). As a result, all profitable natural resources (gold mines, oil wells, forests) are handed over to private and foreign entities to be exploited.
So, where does the state get money to pay employees, build roads, and pay debts? The answer is only one: Extorting the people through Taxation.
Modern taxation is made very systematic and layered. Even the lower class who already struggle to eat are still forced to pay Value-Added Tax (VAT) every time they buy goods at a minimarket. This is a structural injustice considered “normal” by the modern world.
2. The Nature of Wealth in Islam: Forbidden to Be Taken Without Right
In Islam, the wealth of a Muslim (and Kafir Dzimmi) is something very sacred and respected. The state, however powerful, is forbidden from taking even a penny of its people’s wealth without a shar’i evidence permitting it.
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ affirmed the sanctity of wealth in the Farewell Sermon:
فَإِنَّ دِمَاءَكُمْ وَأَمْوَالَكُمْ وَأَعْرَاضَكُمْ عَلَيْكُمْ حَرَامٌ، كَحُرْمَةِ يَوْمِكُمْ هَذَا، فِي شَهْرِكُمْ هَذَا، فِي بَلَدِكُمْ هَذَا
“Indeed, your blood, your wealth, and your honor are sacred (protected) to you, as sacred as this day of yours, in this month of yours, in this land of yours.” (HR. Bukhari no. 67 and Muslim no. 1679)
He ﷺ also said very firmly:
لَا يَحِلُّ مَالُ امْرِئٍ مُسْلِمٍ إِلَّا بِطِيبِ نَفْسٍ مِنْهُ
“The wealth of a Muslim is not lawful except with his willing consent.” (HR. Ahmad, Baihaqi, Daruquthni)
Modern taxation is collected by force. If not paid, accounts are blocked or imprisonment results. Because there is no consent, and no shar’i evidence obligating it, taking it is an act of seizure.
3. Severe Warning for Tax Collectors (Shahibu Maks)
Islamic Sharia does not recognize the term of permanent tax on income, consumer goods, or buildings. Levies collected oppressively on roads, in markets, or at borders in the past were known as Maks (Oppressive Tax/Toll).
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ cursed these tax collectors with a terrifying warning:
لَا يَدْخُلُ الْجَنَّةَ صَاحِبُ مَكْسٍ
“The collector of unjust taxes will not enter Paradise.” (HR. Abu Dawud no. 2937, authenticated by Al-Hakim)
Even, in the hadith about an adulterous woman who repented and was then stoned (executed), the Messenger of Allah ﷺ praised the depth of her repentance by comparing it to the sin of a tax collector:
لَقَدْ تَابَتْ تَوْبَةً لَوْ تَابَهَا صَاحِبُ مَكْسٍ لَغُفِرَ لَهُ
“She has repented a repentance that, if a tax collector were to repent with such repentance, he would be forgiven.” (HR. Muslim no. 1695)
This hadith shows how great the sin of collecting people’s wealth by force without right is, to the point of being equated—even considered socially heavier—than the sin of adultery!
4. Why Capitalism Is “Addicted” to Taxation?
If Islam forbids permanent taxation, why do modern states today depend so heavily on it? The answer lies in the fatal error in defining Ownership.
Under Capitalism, Public Ownership (Milkiyah Ammah) is not recognized. Gold mountains, gas oceans, and giant oil fields are handed over to a handful of private corporations through privatization schemes. The state only gets “crumbs” in the form of royalties and taxes from those corporations.
Because the main revenue source (natural resources) has been robbed by oligarchs, the state experiences chronic deficits. To cover that deficit, the state turns to suck the blood of its own people through various tax instruments.
Islam solves this root problem. In the Caliphate, all abundant natural wealth belongs to the people managed by the state (Baitul Mal), and its proceeds are returned 100% to the people. With independently managed natural resources, the state treasury will always be in surplus, so taxation is no longer needed.
5. Visual Analogy: Permanent Leeches vs. Emergency Blood Donation
To understand the difference between Capitalist Tax and Islamic Dharibah, let us use a medical analogy:
1. Capitalist Tax Is Like a Permanently Attached Leech Imagine a large leech attached to your body from birth until death. This leech keeps sucking your blood (money) every day, regardless of whether you are healthy or severely ill. If you protest, the leech calls the police. This is modern taxation!
2. Islamic Dharibah Is Like Emergency Blood Donation Imagine a hospital (the State) that runs out of blood stock due to a mass accident (Emergency/War Condition). The doctor (Caliph) then asks people who are very healthy and have abundant blood (the Wealthy) to donate a little of their blood to save patients’ lives. Once the blood stock is sufficient, the doctor immediately stops the donation. Those who are thin or ill (the Poor/Middle Class) are forbidden from donating. This is Dharibah!
6. Dharibah: The Shar’i Solution When the State Treasury Is Empty
So, is the Caliphate State completely forbidden from collecting money from the people? Permissible, but only in emergency conditions and the mechanism is called Dharibah.
Dharibah linguistically means burden. In shar’i terms, Dharibah is wealth obligated by Allah ﷻ upon the Muslims to finance needs that are indeed obligatory upon them, when there are no funds in the Baitul Mal.
The legal basis for Dharibah is the usul fiqh maxim: مَا لاَ يَتِمُّ الْوَاجِبُ إِلاَّ بِهِ فَهُوَ وَاجِبٌ “That without which an obligation cannot be fulfilled is itself obligatory.”
Example: The state is obliged to finance jihad (war) or address a disease outbreak. If the Baitul Mal treasury (State Ownership and Public Ownership Funds) turns out to be truly empty, that obligation does not fall away. The obligation to finance it shifts to the Muslims collectively. To realize it, the Caliph collects Dharibah.
7. 4 Strict Conditions for Collecting Dharibah
Dharibah is not modern taxation. It has 4 absolute conditions that are very strict, making it very fair and humane:
- Only When the Baitul Mal Treasury Is Empty: If the Baitul Mal vaults still have money from natural resources, fa’i, or kharaj, then collecting Dharibah is haram.
- Only the Amount Needed (Incidental): If the state needs 10 Trillion to build emergency military barracks, then Dharibah is collected at exactly 10 Trillion. Not a penny more, and collection stops immediately once the need is met. No permanent Dharibah!
- Only Collected from the Wealthy: Dharibah is forbidden upon the poor and middle class. It is only collected from those whose wealth has a surplus after they have fulfilled all their primary and secondary needs in a ma’ruf manner.
- Only Collected from Muslims: Non-Muslim citizens (Ahlud Dzimmah) are exempted from Dharibah, because the obligation to bear the state’s emergency burden is a religious obligation of Muslims.
Allah ﷻ affirms that burdening must not exceed capacity:
لَا يُكَلِّفُ اللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا وُسْعَهَا
“Allah does not burden a soul beyond its capacity…” (QS. Al-Baqarah [2]: 286)
8. The Injustice of VAT (Value-Added Tax)
Of all types of modern taxes, VAT (Value-Added Tax) is the most oppressive. Why? Because VAT is “blind.”
When a director earning 1 Billion and a construction worker earning 2 Million buy the same package of bread at a minimarket, both are forced to pay the same flat 11% VAT! The poor person is forced to subsidize the state at a percentage far more painful to their pocket compared to the rich person.
In Islam, this is a double injustice:
- Collecting wealth without right (Maks).
- Burdening the poor who should instead be cared for by the state through Zakat.
9. Extreme Comparison: Capitalist Tax vs. Caliphate Dharibah
To clarify the diametrical difference between the two, observe the following table:
Table 1: Capitalist Tax vs. Islamic Dharibah
| Aspect | Modern Tax (Capitalism) | Dharibah (Islamic Economic System) |
|---|---|---|
| Time Nature | Permanent (Applies for life) | Incidental / Emergency (Stops when crisis ends) |
| Target (Subject) | Everyone (Rich, Middle, Poor) | Only the Wealthy whose wealth has a surplus |
| Collection Object | Income, Consumption (VAT), Buildings (Property Tax) | Surplus savings (surplus wealth) |
| Legal Status | Considered the lifeblood of the state (absolutely obligatory) | Haram if the state treasury (Baitul Mal) still has contents |
| Primary Source | Backbone of the state budget | Last resort option (4th Layer) |
| Shar’i Warning | Cursed as Maks (Oppressive Tax) | Recognized as sacrifice in the path of Allah |
10. Conclusion: Freeing the People from Fiscal Shackles
Islam’s critique of modern taxation is not merely an emotional critique out of reluctance to share, but rather a deep ideological critique.
- Modern taxation is the fruit of natural resource seizure by oligarchs. Because natural resources are robbed, the state is poor. Because the state is poor, the people are taxed.
- The Caliphate cuts this chain. The Caliphate takes over natural resources (Milkiyah Ammah), manages them independently, deposits them into the Baitul Mal, and uses them to finance the state 100%.
- The result: A strong state without needing to tax its people!
The Islamic fiscal system is a system that brings happiness. The people can breathe easy enjoying the fruits of their labor without fear of being cut by tax officers. This is true welfare that can only be realized by applying Islamic sharia comprehensively.
Prayer for Blessed Wealth
“O Allah, suffice us with what is lawful from You so that we have no need of what is unlawful. And enrich us with Your bounty so that we do not depend on other than You. Keep us far from the injustice of a system that seizes our wealth without right. Aameen.”
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