Tafseer of The Spoils of War · Al-Anfaal · 8:41
And know that anything you obtain of war booty - then indeed, for Allah is one fifth of it and for the Messenger and for [his] near relatives and the orphans, the needy, and the [stranded] traveler, if you have believed in Allah and in that which We sent down to Our Servant on the day of criterion - the day when the two armies met. And Allah, over all things, is competent.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The word concerning the explanation of His statement: wa-ʿlamū annamā ghanimtum min shayʾin ("And know that whatever you have taken as spoils of war").
Abū Jaʿfar said: This is an instruction from Allah, Mighty and Exalted, to the believers concerning the division of their spoils of war (ghanāʾim) when they take them.
The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: And know, O believers, that whatever you have taken as spoils (ghanīma).
* * *
The people of knowledge differed concerning the meaning of "al-ghanīma" (spoils of war) and "al-fayʾ" (the fayʾ-booty).
Some of them said: they are two meanings, each of them being something other than the other.
* Mention of who said that:
16087 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Ḥumayd ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan ibn Ṣāliḥ, saying: I asked ʿAṭāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib about this verse: "wa-ʿlamū annamā ghanimtum min shayʾin fa-anna li-Llāhi khumusahu", and about this verse: mā afāʾa Allāhu ʿalā rasūlihi [Sūrat al-Ḥashr: 7] ("what Allah granted to His Messenger as fayʾ"). I said: what is "al-fayʾ", and what is "al-ghanīma"? He said: when the Muslims overcome the polytheists (mushrikīn) and their land and take it by force (ʿanwatan), then what they take of property which they have overcome is "ghanīma"; and as for the land, that is, in this Sawād region of ours, "fayʾ".
* * *
And others said: "al-ghanīma" is what is taken by force, and "al-fayʾ" is what is obtained through a treaty (ṣulḥ).
* Mention of who said that:
16088 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān al-Thawrī, saying: "al-ghanīma" is what the Muslims have acquired by force through fighting; in it is the fifth part (al-khums), and the four-fifths of it are for whoever took part in the fighting. And "al-fayʾ" is that over which a treaty was reached with them without fighting; in it there is no fifth part, it is for those whom Allah has named.
* * *
And others said: "al-ghanīma" and "al-fayʾ" have one and the same meaning. And they said: this verse in "al-Anfāl" abrogates His statement: mā afāʾa Allāhu ʿalā rasūlihi min ahli al-qurā fa-li-Llāhi wa-li-l-rasūl the verse [Sūrat al-Ḥashr: 7].
* Mention of who said that:
16089 — Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement: mā afāʾa Allāhu ʿalā rasūlihi min ahli al-qurā fa-li-Llāhi wa-li-l-rasūli wa-li-dhī al-qurbā wa-l-yatāmā wa-l-masākīni wa-bni al-sabīl, he said: the fayʾ was for these, then that was abrogated in "Sūrat al-Anfāl", and He said: "wa-ʿlamū annamā ghanimtum min shayʾin fa-anna li-Llāhi khumusahu wa-li-l-rasūli wa-li-dhī al-qurbā wa-l-yatāmā wa-l-masākīni wa-bni al-sabīl". Thus this abrogated what was before it in "Sūrat al-Anfāl", and He made the fifth part for those to whom the fayʾ was due in "Sūrat al-Ḥashr", and the rest of it for those who fought for it.
* * *
And we have already explained "al-ghanīma" earlier, namely that it is the property obtained from the property of the one whose property Allah has allotted to the people of His religion, by overcoming it and subduing it through fighting.
* * *
As for "al-fayʾ": that is what Allah has granted to the Muslims as fayʾ from the possessions of the people of polytheism (shirk), namely what He has returned thereof to them through a treaty, without horses or mounts being deployed against it. And it is possible that what their swords and spears and other weaponry have returned to them from them is also called "fayʾ", because "al-fayʾ" is nothing other than a verbal noun from the statement of someone: "fāʾa al-shayʾu yafīʾu fayʾan", when something returns; and "afāʾahu Allāhu", when He returns it.
However, that upon which Allah has made His ruling concerning the fayʾ apply, with His determination in "Sūrat al-Ḥashr", is only that whose description is as I have described of the fayʾ, not that against which horses and mounts were deployed — for reasons I have set forth in the book (Kitāb laṭīf al-qawl fī aḥkām sharāʾiʿ al-dīn), and we shall also set that forth in the explanation of "Sūrat al-Ḥashr" when we have reached it, if Allah the Exalted wills.
* * *
As for the statement of the one who said: the verse that is in "Sūrat al-Anfāl" abrogates the verse that is in "Sūrat al-Ḥashr" — there is no ground for that, since there is in neither of the two verses a meaning that abrogates the ruling of the other. And we have already in more than one place set forth the meaning of "al-naskh" (abrogation), namely the abrogation of a ruling that has already been established by a ruling that contradicts it, in a manner that relieves us from repeating it in this place.
* * *
As for His statement "min shayʾin" ("of anything whatever"): by it is meant all that to which the name "thing" applies, namely of what Allah has allotted to the believers from the possessions of those whom they have overcome of the polytheists upon their property, over which the division takes place, even down to the thread and the needle, as:
16090 — Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His statement: "wa-ʿlamū annamā ghanimtum min shayʾin", he said: the needle belongs to "anything".
16091 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid, with the same.
16092 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Nuʿaym al-Faḍl related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid, the same.
* * *
The word concerning the explanation of His statement: fa-anna li-Llāhi khumusahu wa-li-l-rasūli wa-li-dhī al-qurbā wa-l-yatāmā wa-l-masākīni wa-bni al-sabīl ("that a fifth of it is for Allah, and for the Messenger, and for the kinsfolk, and the orphans, and the needy, and the wayfarer").
Abū Jaʿfar said: The people of interpretation differed concerning the interpretation of that.
Some of them said: His statement "fa-anna li-Llāhi khumusahu" is an opening formula of speech; to Allah belong the worldly life and the hereafter and all that is in them, and the meaning of the word is only: that for the Messenger is the fifth part of it.
* Mention of who said that:
16093 — Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Qays ibn Muslim, saying: I asked al-Ḥasan about the statement of Allah: "wa-ʿlamū annamā ghanimtum min shayʾin fa-anna li-Llāhi khumusahu wa-li-l-rasūl", he said: this is an opening formula of speech; to Allah belong the worldly life and the hereafter.
16094 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Qays ibn Muslim, saying: I asked al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad about His statement: "wa-ʿlamū annamā ghanimtum min shayʾin fa-anna li-Llāhi khumusahu", he said: this is an opening formula of speech; to Allah belong the worldly life and the hereafter.
16095 — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Aḥmad ibn Yūnus related to us, saying: Abū Shihāb related to us, on the authority of Warqāʾ, on the authority of Nahshal, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent out a fighting force and they took spoils, he took a fifth of the spoils, and divided that fifth part into five. Then he recited: "wa-ʿlamū annamā ghanimtum min shayʾin fa-anna li-Llāhi khumusahu wa-li-l-rasūl". He said: and His statement "fa-anna li-Llāhi khumusahu" is an opening formula of speech; to Allah belongs what is in the heavens and what is on the earth. Thus Allah made the share of Allah and the share of the Messenger into one.
16096 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Mughīra, on the authority of Ibrāhīm: "fa-anna li-Llāhi khumusahu", he said: to Allah belongs everything.
16097 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn ʿAwn related to us, saying: Hushaym informed us, on the authority of Mughīra, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, concerning His statement: "wa-ʿlamū annamā ghanimtum min shayʾin fa-anna li-Llāhi khumusahu", he said: to Allah belongs everything, and a fifth part is for Allah and His Messenger, and what is beyond that is divided over four shares.
16098 — Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, he said: the spoils were divided into five fifths; four-fifths were for those who fought for it, and the remaining fifth part was divided into five fifths, of which one fifth was for Allah and the Messenger.
16099 — ʿImrān ibn Mūsā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Wārith related to us, saying: Abān related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, he said: Abū Bakr, may Allah have mercy on him, bequeathed by testament a fifth of his property, and said: shall I not content myself, of my property, with that with which Allah has been content for Himself?
16100 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Faḍīl related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Malik, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ: "wa-ʿlamū annamā ghanimtum min shayʾin fa-anna li-Llāhi khumusahu wa-li-l-rasūl", he said: the fifth part of Allah and the fifth part of His Messenger are one. The Prophet ﷺ took from it and gave from it as he pleased.
16101 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: al-Ḥajjāj related to us, saying: Abū ʿAwāna related to us, on the authority of al-Mughīra, on the authority of his companions, on the authority of Ibrāhīm: "wa-ʿlamū annamā ghanimtum min shayʾin fa-anna li-Llāhi khumusahu", he said: everything is for Allah; the fifth part is for the Messenger, and for the kinsfolk, and the orphans, and the needy, and the wayfarer.
* * *
And others said: the meaning of that is: that for the House of Allah is the fifth part of it, and for the Messenger.
* Mention of who said that:
16102 — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ ibn al-Jarrāḥ related to us, on the authority of Abū Jaʿfar al-Rāzī, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas, on the authority of Abū al-ʿĀliya al-Riyāḥī, he said: the spoils were brought to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and he divided them into five; four-fifths were for those who took part in it. Then he took the fifth part and put his hand in it, and took from it that which his palm enclosed, and made that for the Kaʿba, and that is the share of Allah. Then he divided what remained into five shares: a share for the Messenger, a share for the kinsfolk, a share for the orphans, a share for the needy, and a share for the wayfarer.
16103 — Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Jaʿfar al-Rāzī related to us, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas, on the authority of Abū al-ʿĀliya: "wa-ʿlamū annamā ghanimtum min shayʾin fa-anna li-Llāhi khumusahu", to the end of the verse, he said: the spoils were brought and laid down, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ divided them into five shares, and made four of them among the people, and took one share. Then he put his hand into that whole share, and what he grasped of it he made for the Kaʿba, and that is what was dedicated to Allah. And he said: "do not assign Allah a share, for to Allah belong the worldly life and the hereafter." Then he divided the rest of it into five shares: a share for the Prophet ﷺ, a share for the kinsfolk, a share for the orphans, a share for the needy, and a share for the wayfarer.
* * *
And others said: what of all that was dedicated to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, by it is meant only his kinship; there is nothing of it for Allah, nor for His Messenger.
* Mention of who said that:
16104 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: the spoils were divided into five fifths; four of them were for those who fought for it, and one fifth part was divided into four parts: a fourth for Allah and the Messenger and for the kinsfolk — that is, the kinship of the Prophet ﷺ — and what was for Allah and the Messenger, that was for the kinship of the Prophet ﷺ, and the Prophet ﷺ took nothing from the fifth part. And the second fourth was for the orphans, the third fourth for the needy, and the fourth fourth for the wayfarer.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: And the most correct of the statements concerning that is the statement of the one who said: His statement "fa-anna li-Llāhi khumusahu" is an "opening formula of speech", and that is because of the agreement of the authoritative proof (al-ḥujja) concerning it that it is not permitted to divide the fifth part over six shares; and if Allah had a share in it, as Abū al-ʿĀliya said, then it would be necessary that the fifth part of the spoils be divided over six shares. The people of knowledge differed only concerning its division over five or fewer; but concerning more than that we know of no one who said it except the one regarding whom we have mentioned the report of Abū al-ʿĀliya. And in the agreement of those whom I have named lies the clear proof of the correctness of what we have chosen.
* * *
As for the one who said: "the share of the Messenger is for the kinsfolk" — he has made obligatory a share for the Messenger, and even though he ﷺ bestowed it upon his kinsfolk, it nonetheless does not cease that the division took place over five shares. And already:
16105 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement: "wa-ʿlamū annamā ghanimtum min shayʾin fa-anna li-Llāhi khumusahu", the verse, he said: when the prophet of Allah ﷺ took spoils, they were divided into five; one fifth was for Allah and His Messenger, and the Muslims divided what remained. And the fifth part that was made for Allah and His Messenger was for His Messenger, and for the kinsfolk, and the orphans, and the needy, and the wayfarer. Thus this fifth part was five fifths: a fifth for Allah and His Messenger, a fifth for the kinsfolk, a fifth for the orphans, a fifth for the needy, and a fifth for the wayfarer.
16106 — Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Mūsā ibn Abī ʿĀʾisha, saying: I asked Yaḥyā ibn al-Jazzār about the share of the Prophet ﷺ, and he said: that is a fifth of the fifth part.
16107 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Ibn ʿUyayna and Jarīr, on the authority of Mūsā ibn Abī ʿĀʾisha, on the authority of Yaḥyā ibn al-Jazzār, with the same.
16108 — Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Mūsā ibn Abī ʿĀʾisha, on the authority of Yaḥyā ibn al-Jazzār, with the same.
16109 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj: "fa-anna li-Llāhi khumusahu", he said: four-fifths are for whoever was present at the fighting, and the remaining fifth part is for Allah and the Messenger — a fifth of it which he places where he sees fit, and a fifth for the kinsfolk, and a fifth for the orphans, and a fifth for the needy, and for the wayfarer a fifth.
* * *
As for His statement "wa-li-dhī al-qurbā" ("and for the kinsfolk"): the people of interpretation differed concerning them.
Some of them said: they are the kinsfolk of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ from the Banū Hāshim.
* Mention of who said that:
16110 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of Sharīk, on the authority of Khuṣayf, on the authority of Mujāhid, he said: charity (ṣadaqa) was not permitted for the family of Muḥammad ﷺ, therefore a fifth of the fifth part was made for them.
16111 — Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Sharīk related to us, on the authority of Khuṣayf, on the authority of Mujāhid, he said: the Prophet ﷺ and the people of his house did not eat charity, therefore a fifth of the fifth part was made for them.
16112 — Aḥmad related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Salām related to us, on the authority of Khuṣayf, on the authority of Mujāhid, he said: Allah already knew that among the Banū Hāshim there were poor people, therefore He made for them the fifth part in place of charity.
16113 — Muḥammad ibn ʿUmāra related to me, saying: Ismāʿīl ibn Abān related to us, saying: al-Ṣabbāḥ ibn Yaḥyā al-Muzanī related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, on the authority of Abū al-Daylam, he said: ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn, may Allah's mercy be upon him, said to a man from the people of Syria: have you not read in "al-Anfāl": "wa-ʿlamū annamā ghanimtum min shayʾin fa-anna li-Llāhi khumusahu wa-li-l-rasūl" the verse? He said: yes! He said: and you, are you yourselves they? He said: yes!
16114 — Al-Ḥārith related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz related to us, saying: Isrāʾīl related to us, on the authority of Khuṣayf, on the authority of Mujāhid, he said: these are the kinsfolk of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ for whom charity is not permitted.
16115 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Abū Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of Ḥajjāj, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: that Najda wrote to him and questioned him about the kinsfolk, and he wrote him a letter: "we claim that we are they, but our people have denied us that."
16116 — … he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj: "fa-anna li-Llāhi khumusahu", he said: four-fifths are for whoever was present at the fighting, and the remaining fifth part is for Allah, and for the Messenger — a fifth of it which he places where he sees fit, and a fifth for the kinsfolk, and a fifth for the orphans, and a fifth for the needy, and for the wayfarer a fifth.
* * *
And others said: no, they are the whole of Quraysh.
* Mention of who said that:
16117 — Yūnus ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Nāfiʿ informed me, on the authority of Abū Maʿshar, on the authority of Saʿīd al-Maqburī, he said: Najda wrote to Ibn ʿAbbās and questioned him about the kinsfolk. He said: and Ibn ʿAbbās wrote back to him: "we used to say: we are they, but our people have denied us that, and they said: the whole of Quraysh are kinsfolk."
* * *
And others said: the share of the kinsfolk was due to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and then, after him, it passed to the holder of authority (walī al-amr) after him.
* Mention of who said that:
16118 — Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: that he was questioned about the share of the kinsfolk, and he said: it was a provision (ṭuʿma) for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ as long as he lived; and when he died, it was made for the holder of authority after him.
* * *
And others said: no, the share of the kinsfolk was specifically for the Banū Hāshim and the Banū al-Muṭṭalib.
And among those who said that is al-Shāfiʿī, and his ground for that was what:
16119 — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Yūnus ibn Bukayr related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: al-Zuhrī related to me, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab, on the authority of Jubayr ibn Muṭʿim, he said: when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ divided the share of the kinsfolk from Khaybar over the Banū Hāshim and the Banū al-Muṭṭalib, ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān, may Allah's mercy be upon him, and I went to him, and we said: O Messenger of Allah, these are your brothers, the Banū Hāshim; we do not deny their excellence, because of the position in which Allah has placed you among them. But what do you think of our brothers, the Banū al-Muṭṭalib? You have given to them and left us out, while we and they are in the same position relative to you? He said: they did not separate from us, neither in the time of ignorance (jāhiliyya) nor in Islam; the Banū Hāshim and the Banū al-Muṭṭalib are one and the same! Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ interlaced his hands, the one with the other.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: And the most correct of the statements concerning that is, in my view, the statement of the one who said: "the share of the kinsfolk was due to the kinsfolk of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ from the Banū Hāshim and their allies from the Banū al-Muṭṭalib", because the ally of a people belongs to them, and because of the soundness of the report which we have mentioned concerning that from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
* * *
And the people of knowledge differed concerning the ruling regarding these two shares — I mean the share of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and the share of the kinsfolk — after the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
Some of them said: they are expended on the support of Islam and its people.
* Mention of who said that:
16120 — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Aḥmad ibn Yūnus related to us, saying: Abū Shihāb related to us, on the authority of Warqāʾ, on the authority of Nahshal, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: the share of Allah and the share of the Messenger were made into one, and for the kinsfolk; thus these two shares were expended on the horses and the weapons. And the share of the orphans and the needy and the wayfarer was made without it being given to any other than them.
16121 — Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Qays ibn Muslim, saying: I asked al-Ḥasan about the statement of Allah: "wa-ʿlamū annamā ghanimtum min shayʾin fa-anna li-Llāhi khumusahu wa-li-l-rasūli wa-li-dhī al-qurbā", he said: this is an opening formula of speech; to Allah belong the worldly life and the hereafter. Then the people differed concerning these two shares after the death of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Some said: the share of the Prophet ﷺ is for the kinship of the Prophet ﷺ. And others said: the share of the kinship is for the kinship of the caliph. And their opinion agreed that they would expend these two shares on the horses and the equipment in the way of Allah; and so it remained during the caliphate of Abū Bakr and ʿUmar, may Allah be pleased with them both.
16122 — Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Qays ibn Muslim, saying: I asked al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad, and he mentioned something similar.
16123 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: ʿUmar ibn ʿUbayd related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, he said: Abū Bakr and ʿUmar, may Allah be pleased with them both, used to expend the share of the Prophet ﷺ on the horses and weapons. I said to Ibrāhīm: what did ʿAlī, may Allah be pleased with him, say about that? He said: ʿAlī was the strictest of them in that.
16124 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His statement: "wa-ʿlamū annamā ghanimtum min shayʾin fa-anna li-Llāhi khumusahu wa-li-l-rasūli wa-li-dhī al-qurbā wa-l-yatāmā wa-l-masākīn" the verse, Ibn ʿAbbās said: the spoils were divided into five fifths; four of them among those who fought for it, and one fifth part was divided into four parts: for Allah and for the Messenger and for the kinsfolk — that is: the kinship of the Prophet ﷺ. And what was for Allah and for the Messenger, that was for the kinship of the Prophet ﷺ, and the Prophet ﷺ took nothing from the fifth part. And when Allah took His Messenger ﷺ to Himself, Abū Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, returned the share of the kinship to the Muslims, and went on to expend it in the way of Allah, because the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had said: we are not inherited from; what we leave behind is charity.
16125 — Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: that he was questioned about the share of the kinsfolk, and he said: it was a provision for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ; and when he died, Abū Bakr and ʿUmar expended it in the way of Allah, as a charity on behalf of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
* * *
And others said: the share of the kinsfolk after the Messenger of Allah ﷺ goes, together with the share of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, to the holder of authority of the Muslims.
* Mention of who said that:
16126 — Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: ʿAmr ibn Thābit related to us, on the authority of ʿImrān ibn Ẓabyān, on the authority of Ḥukaym ibn Saʿd, on the authority of ʿAlī, may Allah be pleased with him, he said: to every person is given his share of the fifth part, and the imam administers the share of Allah and His Messenger.
16127 — Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: that he was questioned about the share of the kinsfolk, and he said: it was a provision for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ as long as he lived; and when he died, it was made for the holder of authority after him.
* * *
And others said: the share of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ is returned into the fifth part, and the fifth part is divided over three shares: for the orphans, the needy and the wayfarer. And that is the statement of a group of the people of Iraq.
And others said: the entire fifth part is for the kinship of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
* Mention of who said that:
16128 — Al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Ghaffār related to us, saying: al-Minhāl ibn ʿAmr related to us, saying: I asked ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī and ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn about the fifth part, and they both said: it is for us. I said to ʿAlī: but Allah says: "and the orphans and the needy and the wayfarer", and they both said: our orphans and our needy.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: And the correct statement concerning that is, in our view, that the share of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ is returned into the fifth part, and that the fifth part is divided over four shares, in accordance with what is transmitted from Ibn ʿAbbās: for the kinship a share, for the orphans a share, for the needy a share, and for the wayfarer a share. For Allah has made the fifth part obligatory for groups described with particular characteristics, just as He made the remaining four-fifths obligatory. And they are in agreement that the right to the four-fifths will be obtained by no one other than they; and likewise the right of the people of the fifth part will be obtained by no one other than they. It is therefore not permitted that it pass from them to others, just as it is not permitted that a part of the shares which Allah has assigned to those whom He has named in His Book, owing to the absence of a part of those who have a right to it, pass to others than the people of the remaining shares.
* * *
As for "al-yatāmā" (the orphans): those are the children of the Muslims whose fathers have perished.
And "al-masākīn" (the needy): those are the people of poverty and need among the Muslims.
And "ibn al-sabīl" (the wayfarer): the passing traveler who is cut off from his means, as:
16129 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: the fourth fifth part is for the wayfarer, and that is the poor guest who alights among the Muslims.
* * *
The word concerning the explanation of His statement: in kuntum āmantum bi-Llāhi wa-mā anzalnā ʿalā ʿabdinā yawma al-furqāni yawma iltaqā al-jamʿāni wa-Llāhu ʿalā kulli shayʾin qadīr (41) ("if you believe in Allah and in what We sent down upon Our servant on the Day of the Criterion, the day on which the two hosts met — and Allah is Almighty over all things").
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: be certain, O believers, that of what you have taken as spoils the division applies which I have set forth, and believe in that, if you have acknowledged the oneness of Allah and what Allah sent down upon His servant Muḥammad ﷺ on the day on which He made separation between the true and the false at Badr, and thus made clear the victory of the believers and their triumph over their enemy. And that is "the day on which the two hosts met", the host of the believers and the host of the polytheists. And Allah is, over the destroying of the people of unbelief and the humbling of them by the hands of the believers, and over all else that He wills, "Almighty" (qadīr); nothing that He wills is impossible for Him.
* * *
And in accordance with what we have said about this, the people of interpretation have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
16130 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His statement: "yawma al-furqān", he means by "al-furqān" the day of Badr; Allah made separation thereon between the true and the false.
16131 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, with the same.
16132 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: al-Layth related to me, saying: ʿUqayl related to me, on the authority of Ibn Shihāb, on the authority of ʿUrwa ibn al-Zubayr — and Isḥāq said: ʿAbd al-Razzāq related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of al-Zuhrī, on the authority of ʿUrwa ibn al-Zubayr — one adds something over the other — concerning His statement: "yawma al-furqān", the day on which Allah made separation between the true and the false, and that is the day of Badr, and it is the first battlefield in which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ took part. And the head of the polytheists was ʿUtba ibn Rabīʿa. They met on Friday, when nineteen nights of the month of Ramaḍān had passed; and the companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ were three hundred and some men, and the polytheists between one thousand and nine hundred. Allah defeated the polytheists on that day, and killed of them more than seventy, and took captive of them the like number.
16132m — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Miqsam: "yawma al-furqān", he said: the day of Badr; Allah made separation between the true and the false.
16133 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of ʿUthmān al-Jazarī, on the authority of Miqsam, concerning His statement: "yawma al-furqān", he said: the day of Badr; Allah made separation between the true and the false.
16134 — Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His statement: "yawma al-furqāni yawma iltaqā al-jamʿān", the day of Badr; and "Badr" lies between Medina and Mecca.
16135 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Wāḍiḥ related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Yaʿqūb Abū Ṭālib related to me, on the authority of Abū ʿAwn Muḥammad ibn ʿUbayd Allāh al-Thaqafī, on the authority of Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Sulamī, ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ḥabīb, he said: al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, may Allah be pleased with him, said: the night of "al-furqān, the day on which the two hosts met" was on the seventeenth of the month of Ramaḍān.
16136 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid: "yawma iltaqā al-jamʿān", Ibn Jurayj said: Ibn Kathīr said: the day of Badr.
16137 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: "wa-mā anzalnā ʿalā ʿabdinā yawma al-furqāni yawma iltaqā al-jamʿān", that is: the day on which I made separation between the true and the false by My power, the day on which the two hosts met, of you and of them.
16138 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: "wa-mā anzalnā ʿalā ʿabdinā yawma al-furqān", and that is the day of Badr, the day on which Allah made separation between the true and the false.
