and likewise Jubayr b. Muṭʿim, a descendant of Nawfal, came to the Prophet ﷺ when he saw that the Banū al-Muṭṭalib had been grouped with the Banū Hāshim in the one-fifth of the spoils. ʿUthmān and Jubayr said, “Messenger of Allah, you have given the Banū al-Muṭṭalib a share of the khums but left us out, even though we and they enjoy the same degree of kinship.” He ﷺ replied, “The Banū al-Muṭṭalib and the Banū Hāshim are but one.”
According to the wording recorded by Aḥmad (4068), he added, “They never left us, whether in the Time of Ignorance or in Islam.”
- By declaring that the Banū al-Muṭṭalib and the Banū Hāshim are a single entity, and that they never abandoned us in the Time of Ignorance or in Islam, the Prophet ﷺ was referring to the stand taken by the Banū al-Muṭṭalib when the various branches of Quraysh unanimously agreed to draft a pact boycotting the Banū Hāshim: they would neither trade with them, nor enter into marriage with them, until they surrendered the Messenger of Allah ﷺ to be killed. Quraysh confined them in the valley of Banū Hāshim, and the Banū al-Muṭṭalib entered the valley with them, suffering the same hardship and harm that afflicted the Banū Hāshim. The Prophet ﷺ acknowledged their deed and their loyalty; hence the two clans stood as one hand.
Scholarly disagreement:
• Imām al-Shāfiʿī and his followers hold that it is forbidden to give zakāt to the Banū al-Muṭṭalib. They cite this ḥadīth, which places them on the same footing as the Banū Hāshim, and argue that their allotted share of one-fifth of the khums suffices them and removes their need for zakāt.
• The majority—among them the other three imams—permit giving zakāt to the Banū al-Muṭṭalib. They rely on the general wording of the verse concerning charity, noting that only the Banū Hāshim are excluded by explicit text, while everyone else remains under the original ruling. They add that the Banū al-Muṭṭalib occupy the same rank as the Banū ʿAbd Shams and the Banū Nawfal, for whom zakāt is not forbidden; therefore the same applies to them. Drawing an analogy between the Banū al-Muṭṭalib and the Banū Hāshim, they say, is invalid, for the Banū Hāshim are nobler and closer in kinship to the Prophet ﷺ. Moreover, the Banū al-Muṭṭalib received their share of the khums not by a Qurʾanic text but because of their support, and such support does not entail a prohibition on zakāt.