Abū ʿUmar Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr said:

The most reliable report transmitted from ʿUmar on this question is the one related by Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah, from ʿAmr ibn Dīnār, from Ibn Shihāb, from Mālik ibn Aws ibn al-Ḥadathān, who said:

ʿUmar declared, “Every person has a rightful claim to this wealth, except those whom your right hands possess.”

The majority concluded that a woman is not given a fixed share—only a discretionary payment—on the strength of the authentic ḥadīth of Umm ʿAṭiyyah, who said:

“We used to go out on campaign with the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace. We treated the wounded and nursed the sick, and he would give us something from the spoils.”

Their disagreement turns on whether a woman should be likened to a man in that, when she accompanies an expedition, does she actually affect the outcome of the war? They all agree that it is permissible for women to go on campaign. Hence, those who equated them with men awarded them a share of the booty; those who regarded them as less than men in this respect either granted them nothing at all, or granted them less than the combatants’ portion, namely the gratuity (ar-raḍkh). The sounder approach is to follow the transmitted evidence. Al-Awzāʿī maintained that the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—allocated full shares to women at Khaybar.

They likewise differed about merchants and hired workers: are they to receive an allotted share or not? Mālik held that they receive no share unless they actually fight, whereas others said they are entitled to a share so long as they are present at the fighting.

The root of their dispute is whether the general wording of the Almighty’s statement—

“Know that whatever you take as spoils of war, one fifth of it belongs to Allah…” (Q 8:41)

—should be restricted by analogy that distinguishes these categories from the rest of the combatants. Those who regarded merchants and wage-earners as different from the other fighters—because their intention was commerce or remuneration, not battle—excluded them from the verse’s general import. Those who considered the verse’s generality stronger than this analogy left the verse to stand at its full breadth.

Among the proofs cited by those who exclude them is what ʿAbd al-Razzāq recorded: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf invited a poor Emigrant to go out with them. The man accepted and promised to do so, but when the time of departure came he declined, citing his family’s needs. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān then gave him three dinars on condition that he accompany them. After the enemy had been routed, the man asked ʿAbd al-Raḥmān for his share of the booty. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān replied, “I shall mention your case to the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him.” He did so, and the Messenger of Allah said, “Those three dinars are his portion and share from his participation in the expedition, in both worldly and next-worldly terms.” A similar report was produced by Abū Dāwūd from Yaʿlā ibn Munabbih.

Those who allowed such people a share compared the matter to battlefield bounties (jaʾāʾil) as well—that is, the members of the military register aid one another, meaning that the one who stays behind supports the one who goes out to fight.