Chapter: The Distribution of Fayʾ and Ghanīmah

The wealth of the fayʾ and the war booty consists of whatever comes from the polytheists, or whatever reaches us through a cause originating with them. These two forms of wealth differ in their legal rulings, and both differ from zakat funds in four respects.

First, zakat is taken from Muslims as a purification for them, whereas the fayʾ and war booty are taken from the disbelievers as retribution against them. Second, the recipients of zakat are specified by explicit text, leaving no room for the rulers to exercise independent legal reasoning concerning its allocation. As for the wealth of the fayʾ and war booty, some of its disbursements depend upon the rulers’ independent legal reasoning. Third, the owners of zakat wealth may distribute it themselves among its eligible recipients. Those entitled to the fayʾ, however, may not independently allocate it to its rightful recipients until it is administered by the authorities capable of independent legal reasoning among the governors. Fourth, the recipients of the two forms of wealth differ, as we shall explain.

The fayʾ and the war booty agree in two respects and differ in two respects. As for the two respects in which they agree, first, each of them is obtained on account of disbelief. Second, the allocation of the khums (one-fifth) of each is the same.

As for the two respects in which they differ, first, the wealth of the fayʾ is acquired voluntarily, whereas war booty is acquired by force. Second, the allocation of four-fifths of the fayʾ differs from the allocation of four-fifths of the war booty, as we shall explain.

We shall begin with the wealth of the fayʾ. Any wealth that comes from the polytheists voluntarily, without fighting or the deployment of cavalry or camelry—such as wealth obtained through a truce, the jizyah, or the one-tenth duties imposed on their merchandise—or that reaches us through a cause originating with them, such as the kharāj, is included in this category.

The apparent meaning of Ahmad’s words is that whatever is taken through a cause originating with them is treated like whatever is taken directly from them. He said, according to the report of Isḥāq: “The fayʾ is whatever they agree to pay in a settlement: the jizyah imposed on persons and the land tax on the Sawād and other lands. All Muslims have a right to this.” And he said, according to the reports of Ibn Manṣūr and Ṣāliḥ: “The land tax imposed on land is like the jizyah imposed on persons.”

Thus, he explicitly stated that the kharāj is part of the fayʾ and belongs to the Muslims. Once it is established that its ruling is the same as that of the fayʾ, the question arises: is a khums taken from it or not? The explicit position transmitted from him is that no khums is taken from it; rather, all of it is spent on the public interests.