Free trade and the Islamic concept of Revenues: A special study of the Prophet's era and the era of Khilafat-e-Rashida

آزاد تجارت اور اسلامی تصورِ محصولات:عہدِ نبوی اور عہد خلافتِ راشدہ کا اِختصاصی مطالعہ

Abstract

Trade and revenue have been deeply connected since ancient times. In modern free trade, neither state nor non-state institutions can intervene to determine prices, nor impose any restrictions or tariffs on imports and exports. As a fundamental principle, Islam supports free trade and dislikes collecting unfair taxes from traders. In the early periods of the Islamic empire, specifically during the Prophet's era and the era of Abu Bakr, no taxes or trade tariffs were collected from anyone. According to the economic teachings of the Prophet of Islam, all people were free to trade. During the era of the Rightly Guided Caliphs, foreign traders were allowed to engage in free trade, and they were provided with various facilities and treated as honored guests by the government. Instead of imposing regular taxes on foreign traders, Islam has left it to the discretion of the state. The principle of the Islamic economic system is that if a non-Muslim government does not levy any tax on the merchants of the Islamic state, then the Islamic state will not collect anything from their merchants. To promote tariff-free trade globally, initiatives like GATT were initially introduced, followed by the establishment of Free Trade Zones, Customs Unions, and Common Markets. These measures were implemented to foster a culture of free trade.