(a.), pl. waẓāʾif , literally “task, charge, impose obligation” (see Dozy, Supplément, ii, 820-1).
1. As an administrative term.
In the early Islamic period, the form II verb waẓẓafa and the noun waẓīfa are used as administrative-fiscal terms with the sense of imposing a financial burden ¶ or tax, e.g. of paying the k̲h̲arād̲j̲ , ʿus̲h̲r or d̲j̲izya [q.vv.], cf. al-Balād̲h̲urī, Futūḥ , 73, 193 (the waẓāʾif of the provinces of al-Urdunn, Filasṭīn, Dimas̲h̲ḳ, Ḥimṣ, etc.) and other references given in the Glossarium , 108. But as well as this loose sense, waẓīfa had a more specific one, a…