Works on public finance by the sixteenth century Muslim scholars

The subject of public finance and taxation marked the beginning of systematic and rather exclusive writing on economic issues in Islamic tradition in its earliest period. Within a few centuries a large number of works came out on the subject. This trend continued in the later centuries but with a difference in quantity, quality and style. Their number decreased, coverage contracted and they increasingly tended to deal with specific issues. Writings in the later centuries were characterized by imitation and repetition. In the sixteenth century the major works on the subject include al-Balatunusi's "Tahrir al-Maqal….." and Ibn Nujaym's "Risalah fi'l-kharaj" and " Mas'alat al-Jibayah …. " From the Persian speaking East, Fadl-Allah Khunji has discussed the Islamic provision of public finance in much details in his work Suluk al-Muluk a very comprehensive treatment of the subject in the 16th century. It presents many insights on the Islamic theory of public finance. In the Safawid Iran the issue of kharaj was a very controversial topic. But this controversy centered on whether acceptance of stipend from kharaj income is permissible for religious scholars.