Bait al-mal

Definition of "Bait al-mal"

Lit: Public treasury. Tech: An institution of early and medieval Islam, it functioned as the central bank of the state, state insurance company and controller of domestic and foreign trade. The bait al- mal had two main categories: bait al-mal al-‘ammah, the general revenues of the state and bait al-mal al-khassah, revenues accruing to the ruler from crown domains (diyah al-khassah). The khalifah or his wazir would re-appropriate funds from one head of account of the bait al-mal to the other. The diwan bait al-mal kept the accounts and was subject to audit by diwan al-zimam. The head of bait al-mal was known as sahib bait al-mal. The sahib had the right to inspect diwan al-kharaj. Besides central bait al-mal, there were buyut al-amwal at the provinces. The khazin (treasurer) connected to the bait al-mal was responsible for taxes paid in kind and stored at other financial centres