Al-misahah

Definition of "Al-misahah"

Lit: Measuring or surveying land, taxing for unit of area. Tech: Historically, one of the bases for land taxation used to be ‘ala al-misahah, that is, a tax calculated on the size of land tilled, keeping in view the location and fertility of the soil. The term was used to express two related meanings. First, tax assessed on the basis of measurement of land independent of any fluctuations in the area tilled or crop produced, assessed for the lunar year and paid, quite frequently, in monthly instalments. Second, land-tax assessed on the basis of area sown, leaving out fallow and waste land, assessing different rates for different crops, for the solar year.