in accordance with what is required of them, as Allah Most High says:

“So fear Allah as much as you are able.”

The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

“When I command you to do something, do as much of it as you are able; and when I forbid you something, avoid it.”

We shall explain this briefly as follows:

The funds whose basis is established in the Book of Allah and whose distribution is entrusted to the rulers fall into three categories. The first is war booty. This belongs to those who participated in the battle, except for one-fifth, which is allocated as Allah states:

“Know that whatever you take as spoils, one-fifth of it is for Allah, the Messenger, close relatives, orphans, the needy, and the traveller, if you believe in Allah.”

War booty is what is taken from the unbelievers through fighting. Such are the provisions concerning war booty and its fifth.

The second category is fay’ (property acquired without fighting). This is what Allah Most High mentions in Sūrat al-Hashr, where He says:

“As for what Allah restored to His Messenger from them, you spurred neither horses nor riding camels to obtain it.”

His words, “you spurred neither,” mean that you neither set them in motion, nor put them to work, nor drove them onward. Of a camel moving at a particular gait, one says wajafa, with the present tense yajifu and the verbal noun wujūf; awjaftuhu means “I urged it onward.”

This, then, is the fay’ that Allah restored to His Messenger: whatever came into Muslim possession without spurring horses or riding camels. This expression refers to