Q. & A. 711 to 1707 with solved Papers css 1971 to date

AS A GREAT ADMINISTRATOR
In order to give the people a fair and just administration, Umar bin Abdul Aziz removed all the impediments that came in his way. He dismissed unscrupulous and incapable officers who had secured favours through their influence or intimacy with the previous rulers. Gove’rnors who grabbed money and booty were sacked. He didn’t allow his close relations to hold offices of profit. The relations of Hajjaj, whose tenure of governor-generalship had been very oppressive, were not appointed to any post. Similarly, he chose governors after careful investigation into their circumstances. In this respect, preference was given to those who were well versed in the principles of Islam and attached to the Quran and the Sunnah. A person whose credentials he doubted was. not employed. He strictly watched the actions of the governors and the officers and regularly directed them to be fair and impartial to all the people and to cater to the needs of the non-Muslim subjects in particular. In upholding the

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Political and Cultural History of Islam

rights of the unbelievers, he was always vigilant. No confiscation of their belongings was tolerated by him.6
Caliph Umar II was a master of administrative detail. He went deep into the matters of central and divisional administration. Wherever necessary, he affected drastic reform, some of the reforms have been quoted by Abul Hasan AH from Abdul Hakam. These are: Weights and measures were standardized; State officials were precluded from entering into any business or trade; unpaid labour was made illegal; pasture-lands and game-reserves meant solely for the royal family and other dignitaries were distributed to the landless cultivators or made a public property; strict measures were taken to stop illegal gratification of state employees who were forbidden to accept gifts; all officers holding responsible posts were directed to afford adequate facilities to those who wanted to present their complaints to them in person; a proclamation was issued every year on the occasion of pilgrimage that any one who would bring to the notice of administration, any maltreatment by a state official or prefer a useful suggestion shall be rewarded 100 to 300 dinars. Prosperity and Financial Solvency
The Bait-ul-Mal (or public treasury) belonged to all the people of the state. The Umayyads before Umar II had misappropriated its assets, using the goods, the gifts and the money deposited in it for their own purposes. As a privileged class, they drew huge amounts and stipends from it. The sources of state revenue were jumbled together and it was spent in an irresponsible manner. No separate accounts were preserved. Not were any rules and regulations adhered to. Flatterers and sycophants were rewarded in cash. The public finances were consequently in great confusion. The caliph overhauled the whole system of financial administration, stopping the giving of stipends and prizes to the undeserving and parasites. Like the other caliphs, he subjected the items of income expenditure to the law of the Shari’ah.
Umar II set at naught all the Umayyad innovations in state finances. All irregular cesses and exactions were abolished. Hajjaj’s practice of levying Jizya from the new Muslims was stopped. Land owners were exempted from the old levy. Those who were exempt from payment of taxes and other charges included, remittances on
Umar bin Abdul Aziz
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1 Abdul Islam Nadvi, P. 177.
account of Nawroz and Meharjan festivals (in Persia), impositions on mints, petitioners, manufacturers and owners of industries, dwelling houses, mills run on water, reciters of nikah sermons and cultivators who had suffered on account of famine or some other natural calamity.
In the matter of finances, as in the common affairs of government and people, Umar preferred to abide by the principles of the faith and the dictates of the Holy Book. He ignored political expediency and never cared a whit for pecuniary losses undergone by the State if the policy commanded by religion entitled it.” An interesting point is that which concerns the effect of his regulations on the revenues of the government. With the spread of Islam the income from the Jizya began to decrease. ”As the sharp fall, says Abul Hasan Ali Nadvi, ”posed a threat to the financial stability of the State, Umar’s attention was drawn towards it. But his reply was that the situation was eminently in accord with the objectives underlying the Prophethood of Muhammad (PBUH).” In the case of the Yaman, he discarded the fixed revenue system and commanded that ”the revenues should be assessed in accordance with the agricultural production every year.” He suspended the imposition of octroi throughout the commonwealth. Having done away with illegal taxation, he opened the sea and land routes for trade without any embargo. To the general cry from the governors that the returns were dwindling, Umar responded by saying that they should try to please God Almighty Who alone would make up for the deficiency in income. The next result of his strict adherence to a liberal attitude towards realizing the dues and taxes was that the people became affluent and the state returned to its earlier solvency.
The immediate effect of such an enlightened and realistic financial policy was not only the prosperity of the commonwealth but also there were no deficits in public finances. Abul Hasan Ali quotes a report of one of the officers, Yahya bin Saeed, who was charged with the collected, he looked around for the needy and hard up persons, but he could not find a single individual who could made everybody a man of substance and, therefore, he hac alternative but to purchase a number of slaves and then emaj; them on behalf of the Muslim populace.” It also happenep people who remitted the zakat to Bait-ul-Mal received^ back because ”nobody entitled to receive these char/”

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