If, however, he kills the enemy in the very midst of the mêlée, he is not entitled to the personal spoils (salab); this was the opinion of al-Awzāʿī.

Some scholars said that when the imam deems the salab excessive, he is permitted to apply the statutory fifth (khums) to it.

Their disagreement turns on how to understand the Prophet’s—peace and blessings be upon him—words on the Day of Hunayn, after the fighting had cooled:

“Whoever kills an enemy combatant, his personal effects are his.”

The question is whether this statement represents a discretionary allotment (nafl) granted by the Prophet—peace be upon him—or an inherent right accruing to the slayer. Mālik—may Allah have mercy on him—inclined strongly to the first view, holding it to be a nafl, because he found no sound proof that the Prophet—peace be upon him—uttered that ruling or adjudicated by it except during the days of Hunayn.

Moreover, if the ḥadīth were taken to establish an automatic entitlement, it would clash with the verse on booty, Allah the Exalted says:

“And know that whatever spoils you acquire from anything…” (al-Anfāl 8:41).

Since the verse explicitly assigns one-fifth to Allah, it necessarily follows that the remaining four-fifths belong to the victors—just as, when the Qurʾān assigns one-third to the mother in matters of inheritance, it is understood that two-thirds belong to the father.

Abū ʿUmar said: This ruling is authentically preserved from the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—both at Hunayn and at Badr.

It is also reported from ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb that he said: “During the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—we did not impose the khums on the salab.”

Abū Dāwūd transmits from ʿAwf ibn Mālik al-Ashjaʿī and Khālid ibn al-Walīd that “the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—ruled that the salab belongs to the slayer.”

Ibn Abī Shaybah relates from Anas ibn Mālik that al-Barāʾ ibn Mālik charged Marzubān on the Day of al-Dārah, thrust his spear into the pommel of his saddle, and killed him. The value of the dead man’s personal effects reached thirty thousand. When this was reported to ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, he said to Abū Ṭalḥah, “We did not use to apply the khums to the salab, but al-Barāʾ’s salab has become a considerable fortune; I see no alternative but to take the fifth from it.”

Ibn Sīrīn said: Anas ibn Mālik told me that this was the first salab to be subjected to the khums in Islam. Those who distinguish between small and large amounts of salab rely on this precedent.

The jurists also differed over what items the obligatory salab comprises. Some held that the slayer takes everything found on the deceased; others excluded gold and silver.

Section Four: The Ruling on Muslim Property Found in the Possession of the Unbelievers

With regard to Muslim property recovered from the hands of the unbelievers, the scholars advanced four well-known opinions.

The first view states that whatever goods Muslims recover from the unbelievers that originally belonged to Muslims are returned to their rightful owners; the warriors who regained them are entitled to nothing. This was the position of al-Shāfiʿī, his companions, and Abū Thawr.