and His Messenger—one part out of twenty-five parts of the total booty.

Where is this to be spent?

The answer is: one-fifth of the fifth is treated as fay’ and spent on the public interests of the Muslims. This is the correct view.

It was also said: what is for Allah is fay’, while what is for the Messenger belongs to the imam, because the imam acts as the Messenger’s deputy in relation to the Muslim community. But the correct view is that what is for Allah and His Messenger is treated as fay’: it enters the public treasury and is spent on the public interests of the Muslims.

“And for the near relatives”: they are the relatives of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him—namely, the descendants of Hashim and the descendants of al-Muttalib. They are entitled to one-fifth of the fifth.

How is it divided among them?

It was said that it is divided according to need. It was also said that the male receives the share of two females (1). And it was said that males and females receive equal shares.

As for those who say that it is according to need, they argue that we know that one of the objectives of the Sacred Law is to meet people’s needs; however, the near relatives were singled out because they are more entitled than others to such a share of the booty.

As for those who say that they are equal, they argue that they are entitled to it by virtue of a particular quality—namely, kinship—and in this respect males and females are alike. This is like someone who establishes an endowment for his relatives: the male and female are equal in it.

As for those who say that the male is given preference over the female, they argue that