He said, according to the report of Abu Talib, concerning people whom the wind carried and cast onto a coastline, who said, “We came for trade”: “If they are not known to engage in trade and do not resemble merchants, they are not to be believed, and their property is not subject to the khums. The khums applies only to war booty and whatever is acquired through fighting. They did not fight for this, so it is not booty and no khums is due on it.”
Al-Khiraqi stated that one-fifth is due on it for the recipients of the khums, with the khums divided into five equal shares. One of these shares belonged to the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) during his lifetime. He would spend from it on himself and his wives, and use it for the interests of the Muslims. After his death, the explicit position transmitted from him is that it should be allocated to the people of the military register—that is, those who had devoted themselves to fighting at the frontier garrisons—in proportion to what sufficed them. He said, according to the report of Abu Talib: “The share assigned to Allah and the Messenger is one share. When the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) died, Abu Bakr assigned it to military mounts and weapons. It is therefore to be used for the purpose to which he assigned it, and it may not be allocated to anyone other than the people of the military register.”
The apparent meaning of al-Khiraqi’s words is that it should be spent on the general interests of the Muslims, such as the stipends of the army, the provision of military mounts and weapons, the construction of fortresses and bridges, the stipends of judges and imams, and other forms of public interest of this kind. Priority is given to what is most important, then to what is next in importance, because he said: “The Messenger’s share is spent on military mounts, weapons, and the interests of the Muslims.”
The second share is the share of close relatives. Their right to it is established, and they are specifically the Banu Hashim and the Banu al-Muttalib, the two sons of ʿAbd Manāf. No one else among all Quraysh has any right to it. Their minors and adults, as well as their rich and poor, are treated equally; however, men are given precedence over women, with each male receiving the share of two females. This is because they were given it on account of kinship. Their clients and the descendants of their daughters have no right to it. Aḥmad said, according to the reports of Ḥanbal and Ibn Manṣūr: “If someone bequeaths something to the Banu Hashim, their clients receive nothing.” This statement indicates that the clients have no right to one-fifth of the khums, for when he excluded them from inclusion in the bequest, it indicated that they are not included in one-fifth of the khums. They do not follow their patrons in entitlement to the fayʾ, because the fayʾ is due on the basis of kinship, and they have no such kinship; but they do follow them in being excluded from zakat.