it would have been at one level in all these instances, and it would not have been permissible for it to differ. Al-Bukhari said (15): Ibn 'Uyaynah said, from Ibn (16) Abi Najih, I said to Mujahid: What is the matter with the people of al-Sham, upon whom there are four dinars, while the people of Yemen have one dinar upon them? He said: That was set due to their affluence. And because it is a compensation, it was not fixed (17) like wages. The third narration is that its minimum is fixed at one dinar, and its maximum is not fixed. This is the choice of Abu Bakr, so an increase is permissible, but a decrease is not; because 'Umar increased what the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) had imposed, and did not decrease it. It was also narrated that he increased it beyond forty-eight, making it fifty (18).

The Second Section: When we say according to the first narration that it (19) is fixed, then its amount for the wealthy is forty-eight dirhams, for the middle class twenty-four, and for the poor twelve. This is the opinion of Abu Hanifa. Malik said: It is forty dirhams or four dinars for the wealthy, and ten dirhams or one dinar for the poor. That was narrated from 'Umar (20). Al-Shafi'i said: The obligation is one dinar for each person, due to the hadith of Mu'adh that the Prophet (peace be upon him) commanded him to take a dinar from every mature person. Narrated by Abu Dawud and others (21). However, it is recommended to set it in three classes, as we have mentioned, so that we may exit (22) from the disagreement. They said: The decree of the Prophet (peace be upon him) is more worthy of being followed than any other. Our evidence is the hadith of 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, which is a hadith about whose authenticity and fame there is no doubt among the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, and others, and no one objected to it, nor differed (23) in it, and those who came after him from the