TO THE CHIEFS OF YEMEN
In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful.
From Muhammad, Prophet of Allah--
To Shuraihbeel and Haris, etc.
Your messenger reached here with Khums (one-fifth of the benefit
of the Holy wars), sent by you.
Allah has fixed 'Ushr ' on the produce of rain fed land and fruits
of gardens. But 'Ushr on fields and gardens which are irrigated, is half (20th
part or 5%) provided in both the cases, the quantity of the produce comes to
five wasaq (about two quintals of the present day).
The rate of Zakat on camels and goats is:
1. On every five camels up to 24, grazing on meadows, one goat
be given.
2. From 25 to 35, one binte makhaz (the young one of camel,
which has entered the second year of life) be given.
3. From 36 to 45, one binte laboon (the young camel which has
entered the third year) be given.
4. From 46 to 60, one hiqqa he/she camel which has entered
fourth year) be given
5. From 61 to 90, one Jiz' a (one he/she camel which has
entered fifth year) be given
6. From 91 to 120, two hiqqas be given
7. On more than 120 camels, one binte laboon on every 40
additional camels and on every 50 additional camels one hiqqa is fixed.
8. On the goats grazing on meadows, Zakat from 40 to 120
goats, is one goat.
9. From 121 to 200, two goats.
10. From 201 to 300, three goats be given and likewise on every
100, one goat be added.
11. Useless, deformed and old cattle should not be given in
Zakat.
12. To avoid Zakat, the cattle of two persons should neither be
combined nor separated.
13. One every 5 auqias' of silver, the obligatory Zakat is 5
dirham and on less than 5 auqias, there is no Zakat.
14. On more than five auqias, Zakat is one dirham on every 40
dirhams.
15. On gold, on every 40 dinars.' one dinar is obligatory
16. It is not admissible for Muhammad (Sal Allaho Alehe
Wasallam) and his kins to accept Sadaqa (charity) and Zakat. It is for the poor
travellers, etc. only.
17. To associate someone with Allah, to kill a sinless Muslim,
to avoid Jihad (holy war), to disobey parents, to falsely accuse a sinless
person, to learn magic, to take interest and to grab the property of an orphan,
are the major sins in the eyes of Allah.
18. None should touch the Quran without cleansing
19. The Umra of the House of Allah, is a smaller Hajj.
20. There can be no divorce before nikah (formal marriage). In
Order to set a slave free it is essential first to purchase to him.
21. Prayers should not be offered in a cloth which cannot cover
the entire body. It is not permissible (for a woman) to say prayers, after
tying her hair, in the shape of a hump.
22. Whoever will murder a momin (true believer) qisas (death
punishment) shall be imposed on him, but if the heirs of the murdered person
agree to accept diat (blood money), 100 camels shall be given as compensation
for the murder. Compensation for eyes, lips, backs, tongues and private parts,
is the same.
23.
Compensation for a foot is 50 camels.
The same is the compensation for mamuma (the wound of skull which penetrates to
the membrane of the brain). Compensation for jaefa(wound of belly) is one
third. The compensation of the wound, inflicted with a stick is 15 camels and
that for the fingers of hand or foot, is 10 camels for each finger. And for
each tooth the compensation is 5 camels. Compensation for muzeha(the wound of
head, which exposes skull) is also 5 camels.
In the qisas of a woman, the murderer whether man or woman, shall
be put to death.
This is the rate of compensation for the common men. A wealthy
person will have to pay one thousand dinars, as compensation.'
Seal: Allah's Prophet Muhammnd
Note: It has been mentioned elsewhere that the Holy Prophet (Sal
Allaho Alehe Wasallam) had sent 'Amar Bin Hazm Ansari as Governor of Yemen. At
that time he sent the above injunctions to his administrators Shuraih-beel and
Haris.
