2857 — “If you testify that there is no deity worthy of worship but Allah, establish the prayer, pay the zakah, separate yourselves from the polytheists, and give from the spoils the fifth, the Prophet’s share, and the selected portion—though he may have said, ‘and his selected portion’—then you are secure under the protection of Allah and the protection of His Messenger.”
Al-Bayhaqi recorded it (6/303 and 9/13), as did Ahmad (5/78) and al-Khattabi in Gharib al-Hadith (4/236), through Murrah ibn Khalid: Yazid ibn Abdullah ibn al-Khayr narrated to us, saying: While we were at al-Mirbad, a dishevelled-haired Bedouin came upon us, carrying a piece of tanned hide—or a piece of a leather bag. We said, “It seems that this man is not from the people of this town.” He replied, “Indeed. This is a document which Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, wrote for me.” The people said, “Hand it over.” So I took it and read it, and it contained:
“In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy. This is a document from Muhammad, the Prophet and Messenger of Allah, to the Banu Zuhayr ibn Uqaysh”—Abu al-ʿAlaʾ said: “They were a clan of ʿUkl”—“If you testify …” to the end of the hadith.
The wording is al-Bayhaqi’s. Its chain of transmission is authentic according to the criteria of al-Bukhari and Muslim, and the anonymity of a Companion does not detract from it, as has been established. Ahmad also narrated it (5/77), through Abd al-Razzaq (4/300/7877), from al-Jurayri, from Abu al-ʿAlaʾ ibn al-Shikhkhir, with similar wording.
The selected portion refers to whatever he, peace and blessings be upon him, would select and choose from the spoils: a horse, a slave boy, a sword, or anything else he wished. This was taken from the spoils before the fifth was apportioned. He, peace and blessings be upon him, was granted these three privileges—namely, the fifth, the Prophet’s share, and the selected portion—as a special entitlement and compensation for the charity that was forbidden to him. This was stated by al-Khattabi.