The second is the hostile non-Muslim who enters under safe-conduct. We take the full tenth from him—that is, one out of ten.

The third is the Muslim, from whom it is not lawful for us to take anything, because his property and life are inviolable.

His statement, “and whatever they leave behind out of fear”: that is, whatever the unbelievers leave behind out of fear of us. When they learn that the Muslims are advancing upon them, they flee and leave their property behind. Such property is acquired without fighting and is therefore fay' (public revenue acquired without fighting). This is because the fighters did not exert themselves to obtain it, so it is not divided among them. Rather, it is fay', to be spent on the general welfare of the Muslims, such as the salaries of judges, callers to prayer, imams, jurists, teachers, and other Muslim public interests.

His statement, “and one-fifth of one-fifth of the war booty is fay', to be spent on the welfare of the Muslims”: one-fifth of one-fifth of the war booty is one part out of twenty-five, which is allocated to fay'. The one-fifth of one-fifth of the war booty is as follows: when war booty is acquired, one-fifth of it is taken for five categories, while the remaining four-fifths are divided among those who obtained the booty. The one-fifth initially taken is distributed among five recipients, as Allah, Exalted is He, says:

“Know that whatever spoils of war you gain, then one-fifth is for Allah, the Messenger, his near relatives, orphans, the needy, and the traveller.” [al-Anfal: 41]

But how is it to be spent?

The answer is: it must be spent in a manner that serves the welfare of the Muslims. Shaykh al-Islam said in al-Siyasah al-Shar'iyyah: “It is not permissible to spend this on anything other than matters of public welfare, let alone give it to singers, buffoons, and the like. For these are unlawful uses, and so it is not permissible to expend”