Land Tax alā l-misāa and muqāsama: Legal Theory and the Balance of Social Forces in Early Medieval Iraq (6th-8th Centuries C.E.)

he article argues that any analysis of tax policies must be grounded in the given society’s‘mode of production’. his is demonstrated through analysis of the political relationshipbetween the Abbasid state and the landlords, and the reasons why certain prominentMuslim jurists between 750 and ca. 900. promoted muqāsama in the Sawād of Iraq. hesejurists’ tax policy is explained with reference to Haldon’s concept of the tributary mode ofproduction. It is concluded that according to the jurists, muqāsama favoured a redistributionof surpluses between the state and the landowners which could strengthen relationsbetween the Abbasid state and the powerful landlords in Iraq.