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Is it permissible to treat disbelieving nations in kind by imposing a tax on their goods, following the example of Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, or is that considered an unlawful tax (maks)? And what is the ruling if the state imposing the taxes is Muslim?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

There is no harm in imposing taxes on the goods of non-Muslims, especially if it is a reciprocal measure. Umar ibn al-Khattab imposed taxes on the goods of non-Muslims as a reciprocal measure for what they took from Muslim traders, and this is called "al-ta'sheer" (the levying of a tithe). As for the goods of Muslims, it is not permissible to impose a tax on them except in exchange for real services; otherwise, it would be considered an unlawful maks (illegal tax), with the exception of the obligatory zakat.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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