If the dhimmis breach their covenant, their lives may thereby be taken, their property seized as spoils, and their women and children taken captive. This is the apparent implication of what we have transmitted from him in the report of Aḥmad ibn Saʿīd: “If he refuses to pay the jizya, his neck is struck.” In the report of Abū al-Ḥārith: “If he commits adultery with a Muslim woman, he is killed.” Al-Khiraqī said concerning the jizya: “Whoever breaches the covenant by violating any of the terms on which they reached a settlement, his life and property become lawful.” This is an explicit statement from al-Khiraqī on the matter.

If one of them flees from our dhimma to the abode of war, thereby breaching the covenant, while he has property in Muslim territory, does that property become fayʾ? The apparent meaning of al-Khiraqī’s statement is that it does, for he said: “Whoever flees from our dhimma to the abode of war, breaching the covenant, becomes a belligerent again.” Abū Bakr al-Khallāl said in his Kitāb al-Khilāf: “If a belligerent non-Muslim under safe-conduct deposits property in Muslim territory, then joins the abode of war and is captured or killed, it is returned to his heirs.” The apparent implication of this is that his safe-conduct was not breached with respect to his property.

The foregoing discussion concerns the jizya. As for the kharaj, it consists of dues imposed upon the lands and paid in respect of them.

All lands are divided into four categories. The first is land that Muslims have newly brought into cultivation. It is land subject to the agricultural tithe, and kharaj may not be imposed upon it. He stated this in the report of Abū al-Ṣaqr. He was asked about uncultivated land in Muslim territory whose proprietors were unknown and upon which no kharaj was due to the ruler, and which a Muslim man brought into cultivation. He replied: “Whoever revives uncultivated land outside the Sawād, the ruler may take from him its tithe; he is entitled to nothing more from him.”