He supported this with a report from Umar: “The property of Banu al-Nadir was among what Allah granted as fayʾ to His Messenger—property against which the Muslims had deployed neither horses nor camels. It therefore belonged exclusively to Allah’s Messenger, to the exclusion of the Muslims.”
The second view is that it did not belong exclusively to him; rather, it belonged to the Muslim community. Ahmad said, in a report transmitted by Abu al-Nadr and Bakr ibn Muhammad: “Fayʾ consists of lands acquired through a peace settlement, the jizya imposed on persons, and the kharaj imposed on lands. All Muslims have a right to it—the rich and the poor alike—according to the judgment of the imam.” He cited the fact that Umar allocated stipends from the fayʾ to the Mothers of the Believers and granted the sons of the Muhajirun something in addition to their regular stipends. He used to say, “Everyone has a right to the public wealth except the slave.”
Had it been the exclusive property of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), then after his death Abu Bakr would have assigned it to those listed in the dīwān, just as he assigned the Prophet’s share of the one-fifth of the spoils to those listed in the dīwān. In a report transmitted by Abu Talib, Ahmad said: “Allah’s share and the Messenger’s share are one. When Allah’s Messenger died, Abu Bakr allocated it to horses and weapons. It remains as he allocated it, and it may not be spent on anyone other than those listed in the dīwān.” He likewise said, in a report transmitted by Salih: “The one-fifth is set aside and given to those listed in the dīwān—the combatants and no one else.”
The evidence cited by the proponent of this view is the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): “I have no claim to what Allah has granted you as fayʾ except the one-fifth, and the one-fifth is returned to you.” This would mean that he should have four-fifths of it.
Whatever he received by virtue of either of these two entitlements, he gave a portion of it to some of his Companions and retained the rest for his maintenance, his gifts, and the interests of the Muslims. When he died, its legal status was that it became charitable endowments whose corpus was inalienable, whose benefits were designated, and whose revenues were to be spent on the various areas of the public interest.
All property other than his charitable endowments consisted of ʿushr lands—lands subject to the agricultural tithe—with no kharaj imposed upon them. They were either lands taken as booty and assigned in ownership to those entitled to them, or lands left in the hands of their inhabitants after they embraced Islam. Both types of land are subject to the tithe and are exempt from kharaj.