As for the second section, which concerns the administrative districts with respect to their taxes and dues, it comprises six chapters. The first is to define each district by the features that distinguish it from others, and to set out separately its localities whose legal rulings differ, assigning each town a boundary that it does not share with another.
The localities of each town are to be separately delineated when their legal rulings differ. If the legal rulings of the estates in each locality differ, its estates are likewise to be separately listed, just as its localities are. If they do not differ, it is sufficient to list the localities without the estates.
The second chapter is to record the condition of the district: whether it was conquered by force or through a treaty, and the classification established for its land—whether it is subject to ʿushr (the tithe) or kharāj (the land tax)—and whether the rulings of its localities differ or are uniform. In this regard, there are only three possibilities: the entire district may consist of ʿushr land; the entire district may consist of kharāj land; or part of it may be ʿushr land and part kharāj land.
If the entire district consists of ʿushr land, it is not necessary to record its surveyed areas, because ʿushr is levied on crops, not on acreage. Whatever land is newly brought under cultivation is entered in the tithe register rather than extracted from it. The names of its owners must be recorded when it is entered in the register, because the obligation of ʿushr depends on its owners, not on the land itself. When the crop is recorded under the names of its owners, the quantity measured and the method of irrigation—whether by naturally flowing water or by labor—must also be stated, since the ruling differs accordingly, and the tithe is collected on that basis.
If the entire district consists of kharāj land, its surveyed areas must be recorded, because kharāj is levied on acreage. If kharāj is treated as rent, it is not necessary to name the owners of the lands, because it does not vary according to Islam or disbelief. If kharāj is treated as a form of jizyah, however, its owners must be named and identified as Muslims or disbelievers, because its ruling varies according to the status of those subject to it.
If part of the district is subject to ʿushr and part to kharāj, the portion subject to ʿushr is to be listed in the tithe register, and the portion subject to kharāj in the land-tax register, because the rulings governing the two differ. Each portion is then administered according to the ruling specific to it.
The third chapter concerns the rulings governing its kharāj and what has been established for its surveyed areas: is it a crop-sharing levy imposed on its produce, or a fixed cash assessment imposed on it? If it is a crop-sharing levy, then whenever the surveyed areas of lands are entered in the land-tax register, the applicable share must be recorded with them—one-quarter, one-third, or one-half—and the measured quantities of the produce must be reported to the register, so that the crop-sharing levy may be collected according to its prescribed basis.