09-18-2006, 10:13 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Haj subsidy or jiziya </b>
Pioneer.com
Members of other faiths should also be beneficiaries in the cause of their respective pilgrimages, says Prafull Goradia
The momins or faithful Muslims should thank the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court for barring the Government from the payment of the subsidy on Haj, although the Supreme Court has stayed the order for the current year. The reason for saying so is the experience with my Urdu teacher, Agha Iqbal Mirza. As a gesture of appreciation, I once offered financial help to him towards undertaking Haj. Although, he was 64 years old, he had not been able to perform one of the five essential duties of a momin. His response surprised me. He said if he undertook Haj with someone else's money, Allah the merciful would not only deny him the credit but also, Mirza felt, disqualify him from ever being fit for jannat or heaven. Since he knew his religion, I did not ask again and instead sent him on a holiday to Manali.
It is obligatory for a Muslim to undertake Haj once in his lifetime provided he can afford it and provided he has sufficient money to look after his family during his absence. In other words, the person should be financially well endowed for looking after all his normal obligations. Chapter DXVI of Sahih Muslim by Imam Muslim, Hadith 3095, confirms that Haj is necessary, as are all the other four pillars of Islam, provided the performance thereof lies within the power of the faithful. The power includes money, physical fitness as well as family circumstances. In all the Islamic literature that I have come across, there is no mention whatsoever of either charity or any alien help including the taking of a loan in order to go to Mecca. The Haj subsidy sanctioned by the Government of India and paid from the consolidated fund is sourced from the taxes collected. It is inferior in status to charity because the consolidated fund is not intended to finance khairat or charity. <b>The explanation to Sura 11, ayat 198 of the Holy Quran by A Yusuf Ali declares that legitimate trade is allowed in order to meet the expenses to avoid any inconvenience with regard to necessaries of life in the course of pilgrimage.
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The Government entered the affairs of Haj in order to protect the pilgrims during their journey to Mecca and to ensure their safe return. This happened during British rule. The Mogul shipping line was assigned the task of ferrying the prospective hajis from several ports in India. They were accommodated on the steamer decks and charged economy fare. The question of any subsidy did not arise. The Port Haj Committee Act of 1932 was the result of a Haj Enquiry Committee which was appointed by the Government in March 1929, until which time there was no state intervention in Haj. The Act introduced portwise committees for Bombay, Calcutta and Karachi. Sea travel for the pilgrims continued until 1995 after which only air travel has been taking place. Meanwhile in 1954, travel by aeroplane had begun.
With the advent of Independence and in due course starting of the Shipping Corporation of India, sea travel became free for pilgrims. The bill was footed by the Ministry of Surface Transport. With the introduction of air travel, the responsibility for transport and subsidy was shifted to the Ministry of External Affairs. The 1932 Act was superseded by the Haj Act of 1959 and later of 2000. The Haj subsidy has been raised from time to time while the number of pilgrims has jumped by leaps and bounds. In 1994, 21,035 pilgrims travelled and the subsidy was Rs 5,000 per head, the total cost to the exchequer being Rs 10.51 crore. By 2006, in the course of a mere 12 years, the number of pilgrims shot up to 99,565 and the subsidy per head rose to Rs. 28,000. The cost to the exchequer became Rs. 280 crore. These figures have been provided by the Ministry of Civil Aviation on June 27, 2006. If the pilgrims were to increase for the next 12 years at the same pace as during the last 12 years, in the year 2018 they would number nearly 5 lakh. The corresponding figure in the rate of subsidy would amount to Rs. 1,56,000 per head. The total cost to the exchequer would multiply to nearly 8 lakh crore rupees or much more than the current budget of the Central Government.
<b>Is this not a contemporary version of the medieval jiziya? That was a Poll tax collected from the kafirs or non-believers, credited to the ruler's treasury and spent for the running the Islamic administration as well as the welfare of the Muslim populace. In what way is the Haj subsidy materially different from jiziya? </b>Had it been otherwise, members of other faiths should also be beneficiaries in the cause of their respective pilgrimages. The Roman Catholics should be subsidised for travelling to the Vatican and praying at St Peters, Anglican Christians for going to pray at St Paul's Cathedral in London. Some Christians may wish to proceed to either Bethleham or Jerusalem or both. The Jews would also claim Government's help for travel to their holy land. Similarly, there are some Parsis who consider their visit to Iran as a pilgrimage.<b> The Hindus would also have their own claims. The GOI should bear in mind that even rich income tax paying Muslims are entitled to the Haj subsidy.</b>
It is possible that this was one of the several considerations that may have weighed with the 11 Judge Bench of the Supreme Court in the year 2002 in the landmark judgement well known as TMA Pai Foundation vs State of Karnataka. This august bench had in paragraph 85 of its judgement stated that secularism being one of the important basic features of our Constitution, <b>Article 27 provides that no person shall be compelled to pay any taxes, the proceeds of which are specifically appropriated for the payment of expenses for the promotion and maintenance of any particular religion or religious denominations. That would mean that no one need to pay income tax. What would then be the state of the national budget?</b>
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Pioneer.com
Members of other faiths should also be beneficiaries in the cause of their respective pilgrimages, says Prafull Goradia
The momins or faithful Muslims should thank the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court for barring the Government from the payment of the subsidy on Haj, although the Supreme Court has stayed the order for the current year. The reason for saying so is the experience with my Urdu teacher, Agha Iqbal Mirza. As a gesture of appreciation, I once offered financial help to him towards undertaking Haj. Although, he was 64 years old, he had not been able to perform one of the five essential duties of a momin. His response surprised me. He said if he undertook Haj with someone else's money, Allah the merciful would not only deny him the credit but also, Mirza felt, disqualify him from ever being fit for jannat or heaven. Since he knew his religion, I did not ask again and instead sent him on a holiday to Manali.
It is obligatory for a Muslim to undertake Haj once in his lifetime provided he can afford it and provided he has sufficient money to look after his family during his absence. In other words, the person should be financially well endowed for looking after all his normal obligations. Chapter DXVI of Sahih Muslim by Imam Muslim, Hadith 3095, confirms that Haj is necessary, as are all the other four pillars of Islam, provided the performance thereof lies within the power of the faithful. The power includes money, physical fitness as well as family circumstances. In all the Islamic literature that I have come across, there is no mention whatsoever of either charity or any alien help including the taking of a loan in order to go to Mecca. The Haj subsidy sanctioned by the Government of India and paid from the consolidated fund is sourced from the taxes collected. It is inferior in status to charity because the consolidated fund is not intended to finance khairat or charity. <b>The explanation to Sura 11, ayat 198 of the Holy Quran by A Yusuf Ali declares that legitimate trade is allowed in order to meet the expenses to avoid any inconvenience with regard to necessaries of life in the course of pilgrimage.
</b>
The Government entered the affairs of Haj in order to protect the pilgrims during their journey to Mecca and to ensure their safe return. This happened during British rule. The Mogul shipping line was assigned the task of ferrying the prospective hajis from several ports in India. They were accommodated on the steamer decks and charged economy fare. The question of any subsidy did not arise. The Port Haj Committee Act of 1932 was the result of a Haj Enquiry Committee which was appointed by the Government in March 1929, until which time there was no state intervention in Haj. The Act introduced portwise committees for Bombay, Calcutta and Karachi. Sea travel for the pilgrims continued until 1995 after which only air travel has been taking place. Meanwhile in 1954, travel by aeroplane had begun.
With the advent of Independence and in due course starting of the Shipping Corporation of India, sea travel became free for pilgrims. The bill was footed by the Ministry of Surface Transport. With the introduction of air travel, the responsibility for transport and subsidy was shifted to the Ministry of External Affairs. The 1932 Act was superseded by the Haj Act of 1959 and later of 2000. The Haj subsidy has been raised from time to time while the number of pilgrims has jumped by leaps and bounds. In 1994, 21,035 pilgrims travelled and the subsidy was Rs 5,000 per head, the total cost to the exchequer being Rs 10.51 crore. By 2006, in the course of a mere 12 years, the number of pilgrims shot up to 99,565 and the subsidy per head rose to Rs. 28,000. The cost to the exchequer became Rs. 280 crore. These figures have been provided by the Ministry of Civil Aviation on June 27, 2006. If the pilgrims were to increase for the next 12 years at the same pace as during the last 12 years, in the year 2018 they would number nearly 5 lakh. The corresponding figure in the rate of subsidy would amount to Rs. 1,56,000 per head. The total cost to the exchequer would multiply to nearly 8 lakh crore rupees or much more than the current budget of the Central Government.
<b>Is this not a contemporary version of the medieval jiziya? That was a Poll tax collected from the kafirs or non-believers, credited to the ruler's treasury and spent for the running the Islamic administration as well as the welfare of the Muslim populace. In what way is the Haj subsidy materially different from jiziya? </b>Had it been otherwise, members of other faiths should also be beneficiaries in the cause of their respective pilgrimages. The Roman Catholics should be subsidised for travelling to the Vatican and praying at St Peters, Anglican Christians for going to pray at St Paul's Cathedral in London. Some Christians may wish to proceed to either Bethleham or Jerusalem or both. The Jews would also claim Government's help for travel to their holy land. Similarly, there are some Parsis who consider their visit to Iran as a pilgrimage.<b> The Hindus would also have their own claims. The GOI should bear in mind that even rich income tax paying Muslims are entitled to the Haj subsidy.</b>
It is possible that this was one of the several considerations that may have weighed with the 11 Judge Bench of the Supreme Court in the year 2002 in the landmark judgement well known as TMA Pai Foundation vs State of Karnataka. This august bench had in paragraph 85 of its judgement stated that secularism being one of the important basic features of our Constitution, <b>Article 27 provides that no person shall be compelled to pay any taxes, the proceeds of which are specifically appropriated for the payment of expenses for the promotion and maintenance of any particular religion or religious denominations. That would mean that no one need to pay income tax. What would then be the state of the national budget?</b>
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