Ibn Abī Awfā relates: “During our campaigns we would come upon honey and grapes, so we ate them and did not hand them in.” This ḥadīth, too, is recorded by al-Bukhārī.

The jurists then differed over the punishment of the one who commits ghulūl (illicit appropriation from the booty). Some said that his kit should be burned, whereas others held that he deserves no more than discretionary chastisement (taʿzīr). Their divergence turns on whether they authenticate the report of Ṣāliḥ ibn Muḥammad ibn Zāʾidah, from Sālim, from Ibn ʿUmar, in which the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—said, “Whoever steals from the spoils, burn his belongings.”

Section Three: The Rulings on Anfāl (Extra Allotments)

As for the imam’s granting an additional share of the booty to whomever he wishes—that is, augmenting a person’s allotted portion—the scholars unanimously agree that this is permissible. They disagree, however, on four foundational points: (1) from which portion of the spoils the nafl is to be taken; (2) how large it may be; (3) whether it may be promised before the battle; and (4) whether the salab—the personal effects of a slain enemy—is automatically due to the slayer or only when the imam bestows it. These four questions form the framework of this section.

Regarding the first issue, one group held that the nafl must come out of the statutory one-fifth allotted to the Muslims’ public treasury; this is Mālik’s view. A second group maintained that it may be taken only from one-fifth of that fifth—the share reserved exclusively for the imam; this is the position preferred by al-Shāfiʿī. A third group said that the nafl may be taken from the booty as a whole; this is the view of Aḥmad and Abū ʿUbaydah, and some among them even permitted the imam to distribute the entire booty as nafl.

Their disagreement stems from whether the two Qur’anic verses on spoils of war are contradictory or afford a choice: “And know that whatever you acquire as booty…” (al-Anfāl 41) and “They ask you about the Anfāl…” (al-Anfāl 1). Whoever regarded the former—“And know that whatever you acquire as booty, one-fifth of it belongs to Allah…” (al-Anfāl 41)—as abrogating the latter concluded that no nafl may be granted except from the fifth, or from a fifth of that fifth. Conversely, those who saw no conflict between the two verses and understood them as granting discretion—that the imam may, if he wishes, grant nafl from the main body of the booty or refrain and distribute the full four-fifths to the combatants—ruled that nafl from the principal booty is permissible.

Their divergence also has another cause: the seemingly conflicting reports transmitted on this question, of which two are especially pertinent.