20. Tribute, Spoils, and Rulership (Kitab Al-Kharaj, Wal-Fai' Wal-Imarah)

Narrated 'Abdullah bin 'Umar:

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying: Each of you is a shepherd and each of you is responsible for his flock. The amir (ruler) who is over the people is a shepherd and is responsible for his flock; a man is a shepherd in charge of the inhabitants of his household and he is responsible for his flock;…

Narrated 'Abd al-Rahman b. Samurah:

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said to me: 'Abdul al-Rahman b. Samurah, do not ask for the position of commander, for if you are given it after asking you will be left to discharge it yourself, but if you are given it without asking you will be helped to discharge it.

Narrated Abu Musa:

I went along with two men to see the Prophet (ﷺ). One of them recited tashahhud and said: We have come to you so that you may employ us for your work. The other also said the same thing. He (the Prophet) replied: The most faithless of you in our eyes is the one who asked for it (responsible post). …

Narrated Anas:

The Prophet (ﷺ) appointed Ubn Umm Makthum as a governor of Medina (in his absence) twice.

Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu'minin:

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: When Allah has a good purpose for a ruler, He appoints for him a sincere minister who reminds him if he forgets and helps him if he remembers; but when Allah has a different purpose from that for him. He appoints for him an evil minister who does not remind him if he forgets and does not help him if he remembers.

Narrated Al-Miqdam ibn Ma'dikarib:

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) struck him on his shoulders and then said: You will attain success, Qudaym, if you die without having been a ruler, a secretary, or a chief.

Narrated Ghalib al-Qattan:

Ghalib quoted a man who stated on the authority of his father that his grandfather reported: They lived at one of the springs. When Islam reached them, the master of the spring offered his people one hundred camels if they embraced Islam. So they embraced Islam, and he distributed the camels among t…

Narrated Ibn 'Abbas:

The Prophet (ﷺ) has a secretary named Sijill.

Narrated Rafi' ibn Khadij:

I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: The official who collects sadaqah (zakat) in a just manner is like him who fights in Allah's path till he returns home.

Narrated Uqbah ibn Amir:

I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying: One who wrongfully takes an extra tax (sahib maks) will not enter Paradise.

Narrated Ibn Ishaq:

Sahib maks means one who (receives) tithes (from) people.

Narrated Ibn 'Umar:

'Umar said: I shall not appoint a successor, for the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) did not appoint a successor. If I appoint a successor (I can do so), for Abu Bakr had appointed a successor. He Ibn 'Umar) said: I swear by Allah, he did not mention (anyone) but the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and Abu Bakr. So I…

Narrated Ibn 'Umar:

We used to take the oath of allegiance to the Prophet (ﷺ) to hear and obey, and he would tell: In What I am able.

Narrated 'Aishah:

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) never touched the hand of woman, but he received the oath of allegiance from her. When he received the oath of allegiance from her, she gave it to him, and he said: Go, I have received your oath of allegiance.

Narrated 'Abd Alla b. Hisham, :

who was a Companion, reported that his mother Zainab daughter of Humain went to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and said: Messenger of Allah, receive the oath of allegiance from him. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: He is Minor. He then wiped his head.

Narrated Buraidah:

The Prophet (ﷺ) as saying: When we appoint someone to an administrative post and provide him with an allowance, anything he takes beyond that is unfaithful dealing.

Narrated Ibn al-Sa'idi:

'Umar reported me to collect the sadaqah (i.e. zakat). When I became free, he ordered to give me payment for it. I said: I have worked for the sake of Allah. He said: Take what you have been given, for I held an administrative post in the time of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), and he gave me payment for it.

Narrated Al-Mustawrid ibn Shaddad:

Al-Mustawrid heard the Prophet (ﷺ) say: He who acts as an employee for us must get a wife; if he has not a servant, he must get one, and if he has not a dwelling, he must get one. He said that Abu Bakr reported: I was told that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: He who takes anything else he is unfaithful or …

Narrated Abu Humaid al-Sa'idi:

The Prophet (ﷺ) appointed a man of Azd called Ibn al-Lutbiyayah (to collect sadaqah). The narrator Ibn al-Sarh said: (He appointed) Ibn al-Utbiyyah to collect the sadaqah. When he returned he said: This is for you and this was given to me as present. So the Prophet (ﷺ) stood on the pulpit, and after…

Narrated AbuMas'ud al-Ansari:

The Prophet (ﷺ) appointed me to collect sadaqah and then said: Go, AbuMas'ud, I should not find you on the Day of Judgment carrying a camel of sadaqah on your back, which rumbles, the one you have taken by unfaithful dealing in sadaqah. He said: If it is so, I will not go. He said: Then I do not force you.

Narrated AbuMaryam al-Azdi:

When I entered upon Mu'awiyah, he said: How good your visit is to us, O father of so-and-so. (This is an idiom used by the Arabs on such occasions). I said: I tell you a tradition which I heard (from the Prophet). I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: If Allah puts anyone in the position of author…

Narrated AbuHurayrah:

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: It is not on my own that I give you or withhold from you: I am just a treasure, putting it where I have been commanded.

Narrated Umar ibn al-Khattab:

Malik ibn Aws ibn al-Hadthan said: One day Umar ibn al-Khattab mentioned the spoils of war and said: I am not more entitled to this spoil of war than you; and none of us is more entitled to it than another, except that we occupy our positions fixed by the Book of Allah, Who is Great and Glorious, an…

Narrated Abdullah ibn Umar:

Zayd ibn Aslam said: Abdullah ibn Umar entered upon Mu'awiyah. He asked: (Tell me) your need, AbuAbdurRahman. He replied: Give (the spoils) to those who were set free, for I saw the first thing the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) did when anything came to him was to give something to those who had been set free.

Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu'minin:

The Prophet (ﷺ) was brought a pouch containing bead and divided it among free women and slave women. Aisha said: My father used to divide things between free men and slave.

Narrated 'Awf bin Malik:

When the spoils (fai') came to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), he divided it that day ; he gave two portions to a married man and one to a bachelor. The narrator Ibn al-Musaffa added: We were summoned, and I would be summoned before 'Ammar. So I was summoned and he gave me two portions, for I had a fami…

Narrated Jabir ibn Abdullah:

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: I am nearer to the believers than themselves, so if anyone leaves property, it goes to his heirs, and if anyone leaves debt and dependants, let the matter come to me and I shall be responsible.

Narrated Abu Hurairah:

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying: If anyone leaves property, it goes to his heirs. And if anyone leaves dependents (without resources), they come to us.

Narrated Jabir b. 'Abd Allah :

The Prophet (ﷺ) as saying: I am nearer to every believer than himself, and if anyone leaves, it goes to his heirs.

Narrated Nafi':

That Ibn 'Umar was presented before the Prophet (ﷺ) on the day of Uhud, when he was fourteen years old, but he did not allow him. He was again presented to him on the day of Khandaq (the battle of Trench) when he was fifteen years old, he allowed him.

Narrated A man:

Sulaym ibn Mutayr reported on the authority of his father that Mutayr went away to perform hajj. When he reached as-Suwaida', a man suddenly came searching for medicine and ammonium anthorhizum extract, and he said: A man who heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) addressing the people commanding a…

Narrated Dhul-Zawa'id:

Mutayr said: I heard a man say: I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) in the Farewell Pilgrimage. He was commanding and prohibiting them (the people). He said: O Allah, did I give full information? They said: Yes. He said: When the Quraysh quarrel about the rule among themselves, and the presents becom…

Narrated 'Abd Allah b. Ka'b b. Malik al-Ansari:

An expedition of the Ansar was operating in Persia with their leader. 'Umar used to send expeditions by turns every year, but he neglected them. When the expired, the people of expedition appointed on the frontier came back. He ('Umar) took serious action against them and threatened them, though the…

Narrated Umar ibn al-Khattab:

A son of Adi ibn Adi al-Kindi said that Umar ibn AbdulAziz wrote (to his governors): If anyone asks about the places where spoils (fay') should be spent, that should be done in accordance with the decision made by Umar ibn al-Khattab (Allah be pleased with him). The believers considered him to be ju…

Narrated AbuDharr:

I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: Allah, the Exalted, has placed truth on Umar's tongue and he speaks it.

Narrated Malik b. Aws b. Al-Hadathan:

'Umar sent for me when the day rose high. I found him sitting on a couch without cover. When I entered upon him, he said: Malik, some people of you tribe gradually came here, and I have ordered to give them something, so distribute it among them. I said: If you assigned this (work) to some other per…

Narrating this tradition Malik b. Aws said:

They i.e 'Ali and al-'Abbas (Allah be pleased with them), were quarrelling about what Allah bestowed on His Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), that is, the property of Banu al-Nadir. Abu Dawud said: He ('Umar) intended that the name of division should not apply to it.

Narrated 'Umar:

The properties of Banu al-Nadir were part of what Allah bestowed on His Apostle from what the Muslims has not ridden on horses or camels to get; so they belonged specially to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) who gave his family their annual contribution. Ibn 'Abdah said: His family (ahlihi) and not the …

Narrated Al-Zuhri:

'Umar said explaining the verse: "What Allah has bestowed on His Apostle (and taken away) from them - for this ye made no expedition with either cavalry or camelry" this belonged specially to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ): lands of 'Urainah, Fadak, and so-and-so. What Allah as bestowed on His Apostle (…

Narrated Umar ibn al-Khattab:

Malik ibn Aws al-Hadthan said: One of the arguments put forward by Umar was that he said that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) received three things exclusively to himself: Banu an-Nadir, Khaybar and Fadak. The Banu an-Nadir property was kept wholly for his emergent needs, Fadak for travellers, and Khayba…

Narrated 'Aishah, wife of Prophet (ﷺ):

Fatimah daughter of Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) sent a messenger to Abu Bakr demanding from him in inheritance of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) from what Allah bestowed on him at Medina and Fadak, and what remained of the fifth of Khaibar. Abu Bakr said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) has said: We are not inher…

Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu'minin:

Fatimah was demanding (the property of) sadaqah of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) at Medina and Fadak, and what remained from the fifth of Khaybar. Aisha quoted AbuBakr as saying: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: We are not inherited; whatever we leave is sadaqah. The family of Muhammad will eat from th…

Narrating the above tradition, 'Aishah added:

Abu Bakr refused that to her. Her said: I am not going to leave anything the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to do but I shall carry it out. I fear if I depart a little from his practice, I shall diverge (from the right path). As regards his sadaqah (property) at Medina, 'Umar had given it to 'Ali ad 'A…

Al-Zuhri, explaining the verse "For this you made no expedition with either cavalry or camelry" said:

The Prophet (ﷺ) concluded the treaty of peace with the people of Fadak and townships which he named which I could not remember ; he blockaded some other people who sent a message to him for capitulation. He said: "For this you made no expedition with either cavalry or camelry" means without fighting…

Narrated Umar ibn AbdulAziz:

Al-Mughirah (ibn Shu'bah) said: Umar ibn AbdulAziz gathered the family of Marwan when he was made caliph, and he said: Fadak belonged to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), and he made contributions from it, showing repeated kindness to the poor of the Banu Hashim from it, and supplying from it the cost of …

Narrated AbuBakr:

AbutTufayl said: Fatimah came to AbuBakr asking him for the inheritance of the Prophet (ﷺ). AbuBakr said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: If Allah, Most High, gives a Prophet some means of sustenance, that goes to his successor.

Narrated Abu Hurairah:

The Prophet (ﷺ) as saying: Do not distribute dinars among my heirs: Whatever I left after contribution to my wives and provisions for my governor is sadaqah (alms). Abu Dawud said: 'Amil means the workers or laborers on the land (i.e. peasants).

Narrated Umar ibn al-Khattab:

AbulBakhtari said: I heard from a man a tradition which I liked. I said to him: Write it down for me. So he brought it clearly written to me. (It says): Al-Abbas and Ali entered upon Umar when Talhah, az-Zubayr, AbdurRahman and Sa'd were with him. They (Abbas and Ali) were disputing. U…

Narrated 'Aishah:

When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) died, the wives of the Prophet (ﷺ) intended to send 'Uthman b. 'Affan to Abu Bakr to ask him their cost of living from (the inheritance of) the Prophet (ﷺ). Thereupon 'Aishah said: Did not the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: We are not inherited. Whatever we leave is sadaqah.

A similar tradition has been narrated by Ibn Shihab through a different chain of narrators. This version says:

I said: Do you not fear Allah ? Did you not hear the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: We are not inherited. Whatever we leave is sadaqah (alms). This property belongs to the family of Muhammad for their emergent needs and their guest. When I die, it will go to him who becomes ruler after me.