Special Taxes (Iltizām) in the Ottoman empire: A historical and jurisprudential study

This study discusses one of the hedging instruments that used to be practiced in previous islamic societies,from the abbasid era to the end of the ottoman era. by this instrument a potential return was converted into a fixed return. this instrument is the tax on land/farming,which was known as (qibālah) and (damān),and in the ottoman state was known as (iltizām). the study aims to shed light on the special tax on land/farming (iltizām) which was an important method of collecting taxes in the ottoman empire,and to investigate the opinion of islamic scholars on this issue. to achieve this,the study explores in general the ottoman tax system,explains its islamic basis,shows the types of taxes,and the collecting methods: feudalism,commission or trusteeship,and tax on land/farming (iltizām). the study discusses the definition of iltizām and its application from a historical perspective in detail. moreover,it tries to demonstrate the legal position of iltizām in islamic jurisprudence,the opinion of muslim scholars,and the reasoning behind this opinion. the study finds that the majority of scholars conclude that the iltizām contract is not compatible with the islamic principles of transactions.