Book on the Division of Fayʾ and Booty
Fayʾ is property that comes to the Muslims from unbelievers without actual fighting or the movement of cavalry or camels—such as jizya, the ten-percent levy on trade, assets they abandon out of fear, the estate of an apostate who is executed or dies, and the estate of a dhimmi who dies leaving no heir. This wealth is divided into fifths. One fifth is further apportioned among five categories:
- Public interests of the Muslims, such as maintaining frontier garrisons, the judiciary, and scholars, with priority given to the most pressing need.
- The clans of Banū Hāshim and Banū al-Muṭṭalib; the rich and the poor, men and women alike share in it, but males receive a larger portion, following the rules of inheritance.
- Orphans—that is, a minor who has lost his father—provided, according to the prevailing view, that he is also poor.
- —
- The needy and the stranded traveller.
According to the dominant opinion, these last four categories are treated collectively, though some maintain that distribution is limited to members of those categories living in the very region where the fayʾ was obtained.
The remaining four fifths, on the more reliable view, belong to the salaried troops, the soldiers kept in readiness for jihad. The imām establishes a register, appoints a supervisor (ʿarīf) for each tribe or group, investigates the circumstances of every soldier, his dependants, and what will suffice them, and then grants that sufficiency.
When names are entered and stipends disbursed, priority is given to Quraysh—the descendants of al-Naḍr ibn Kināna. Within Quraysh the order is: Banū Hāshim and Banū al-Muṭṭalib first, then ʿAbd Shams, Nawfal, ʿAbd al-ʿUzzā, and thereafter the remaining clans, the closer they are to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ the higher their precedence. After Quraysh come the Anṣār, then the rest of the Arabs, and finally the non-Arabs.
No blind person, chronically incapacitated person, or anyone unfit for combat is to be entered in the register. Should a soldier fall ill or become insane yet recovery is anticipated, he continues to receive his stipend; if recovery is not expected, the sounder view is that he still receives it, and the same applies to his wife and children when