fowl they may have a liking for. If the man is poor, they impose this on him by force, or else the bailiff imprisons him and beats him severely. Sometimes a man will flee because he does not have enough to offer, and the bailiff then sends for his children and his wife and demands it from them with threats. A wife may pawn some of her jewelry or her clothes for a little money and use the proceeds to buy poultry or meat, and cook it and prevent her children from touching it for fear of what will happen to her if it is not enough for them. Sometimes a peasant will raise chickens and eat none of them and make himself and his children go without for fear of being beaten or imprisoned, and things such as chickens and butter and flour he will keep aside in readiness for this disaster, doing his own cooking with sesame oil and eating barley bread, and he may put his seed wheat aside for them and eat salty cottage cheese and put himself to the expense of buying sweet fresh cheese and send this with the wajbah, all for fear of what may happen to him because of these matters.
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وسمّيت وجبة لكونها صارت على الفلّاحين حكم الأمر الواجب عليهم للملتزمين فلا بدّ من فعلها للشادّ بالقرية أو النصرانيّ أو الملتزم إذا حضر كما تقدّم بيانه وإذا أسقطها بعض الملتزمين جعل في مقابلها شيئًا معلومًا من الدراهم وأضافه إلى المال ويلزمهم بدفعه إلى الشادّ بالقرية يؤخذ منهم كلّ عام فهي من أنواع الظلم والأكل منها حرام ما لم تكن من الفلّاحين عن طيب نفس وانشراح صدر بحيث أنّ الملتزم يرضيهم بشيء من الأرض أو غيرها في مقابل ذلك وبعض الملتزمين يتوقّف عنها بالكليّة ولا يجعل عليهم شيئًا لا للشادّ ولا لغيره إلّا إذا تبرّعوا بشيء من عند أنفسهم فعلى هذا لا تكون حرامًا ويحِلّ الأكل منها ومثل الوجبة غرامة البطّالين واستخدامهم بغير أجرة ما لم يكن عن رضاء منهم في مقابل السكنى وترك الزرع ونحوه فكلّ ما كان فيه أضرار للناس فهو حرام قال الشاعر [بسيط]
| كُنْ كَيفَ شِئتَ فإِنَّ الله ذو كرمٍ | وما عَليكَ إِذا أذنَبتَ مِن بَأسِ |
| إلّا اثنَتَين فَلا تَقرَبهُما أَبدًا | الشِّركُ بالله والإِضرارُ بالنّاسِ |
It is called wajbah because it has come to be like a duty (wājib) that the tax farmers impose on the peasants, for it has to be done for the bailiff in the village or the Christian or the tax farmer, if he comes, as stated above. While some tax farmers have waived it, they have replaced it with an agreed sum of money and added that to the land tax, forcing them to pay it to the bailiff in the village, the money being taken from them annually. It is a form of injustice, and eating such food is forbidden by religion so long as the peasants do not give it of their own free will and cheerfully,165 the tax farmer keeping them happy by granting them a little land or something else in return. Some tax farmers have given it up altogether and impose nothing on them, neither for the bailiff nor anyone else, although they may volunteer something of their own free will. In that case, it is not forbidden and it is permitted to eat it. Similar to the wajbah is the fine imposed on the landless and putting them to work without pay, as long as this is without their consent, in return for covering their lodging and compensation for leaving their crops and so on. Anything that involves injury to others is forbidden. The poet says:
Be as you wish, for God is kind—
No harm shall befall you if you sin.
Two things alone you must eschew in full—
Ascribing partners to God166 and doing injury to men.
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(فإن قيل) إنّ الأمير أو غيره إذا التزم بقرية وجد في دفاتر من التزم بها قبله الوجبة وغرامة البطّالين وغير ذلك ممّا هو من أنواع الظلم فيجعل ذلك على أهلها حكم الخوالي السابقة كما جرت به العادة فهل يكون الإثم عليه أو على من أحدث هذا قبله أو عليهما معًا (الجواب) ورد في الحديث عن النبيّ صلّى الله عليه وسلّم أنه مَنْ أحدث في أمرنا هذا ما ليس فيه فهو رَدّ أي من أتى بشيء لم يكن موجودًا في زمن النبيّ صلّى الله عليه وسلّم وهو المسمّى بالبدعة فهو ردّ أي مردود ومعناه باطل لا يُقْتَدى به وفيه بيان على أنّه لا فرق بين أن يكون أحدثه بنفسه أو سبقه به غيره فالإثم على كلّ من فعله أو أمر بفعله إذ كلّ فعل لم يكن على أمر الشرع ففاعله آثم لقوله صلّى الله عليه وسلّم من أحدث حَدَثًا أو آوَى مُحْدِثًا فعليه لعنة الله وفيما تناوله الحديث ردّ على ذوي العقول الفاسدة والحكم مع الجهل والجور ونحو ذلك ممّا لا يوافق الشرع فاتّضح الجواب وبان الصواب
If it be said, “If an emir, or someone else, on assuming the right to farm the taxes of a village, finds the wajbah or the fine on the landless or any other form of injustice on the ledgers of those who held the tax farm before him and so imposes that on the people of the village as was done under earlier determinations by the surveyors according to established custom, is the sin then his or that of the person who introduced the practice before him, or both of theirs together?” the answer is to be found in the Tradition of the Prophet, upon whom blessings and peace, that says, “He who introduces into this affair of ours that which is not in it is rejected,” meaning, whoever introduces something that was not present in the time of the Prophet, upon whom blessings and peace—such things being called “innovation”—is rejected, that is, refused, meaning invalid and not to be taken as an example. This shows clearly that there is no difference between someone’s introducing the practice himself and someone else having preceded him in this. Thus the sin pertains to everyone who acts in accordance with this practice or orders others to act in accordance with it, for everyone who performs an act that is not stipulated by the Law is a sinner, as stated in the words of the Prophet, blessings and peace upon him, “He who introduces into it an innovation or provides accommodation for an innovator, upon him be the curse of God.” The substance of the Tradition constitutes a response to those whose minds are corrupt and to government accompanied by ignorance, oppression, and other things