HOW TO MAINTAIN RELIGIO-INSTITUTIONS: THE CASE OF ALMS-TAX IN THE EARLY ISLAMIC STATE

Abstract

This study aims at exploring the process of maintaining religio-institutions particularly by using a qualitative abductive approach. Institutional theorists accept religion -among others such as state, market, professions and family etc.- as an institutional sector which also produces unquestionable institutional arrangements (e.g., halal, pray, zakat) in order first to provide and then to assure an earthly order, in turn a happy life after death to its proponents. Depending on these, this study’s focus is to explore and define the rationales, strategies of, and tools for maintaining religio-institutions basing on a clear case (i.e., rebellion of chief of Butah Tribe Malik bin Nuwayra in an effort not to give alms and various attempts of Caliph Abu Bakr for maintenance of existing religio-institutional order). To this end, data have been collected from secondary data resources (i.e., archival documents such as verses, hadiths, historical documents and texts), and analyzed by using qualitative data analysis technics such as content analysis.