The Verse of Khums (Al-Anfal 41): how Sunni and Shia scholars read it
The verse that sets aside a fifth, its context in Surah Al-Anfal, and how it is read in the two traditions - drawn from al-Muyassar, al-Safi and al-Mizan, with the points of agreement before the points of difference, and no adjudication.
The verse
And know that anything you obtain of war booty - then indeed, for Allah is one fifth of it and for the Messenger and for [his] near relatives and the orphans, the needy, and the [stranded] traveler, if you have believed in Allah and in that which We sent down to Our Servant on the day of criterion - the day when the two armies met. And Allah, over all things, is competent.
Three questions decide how this verse is read. What does "whatever you have gained" cover? Who are "the near relatives"? And what happens to the share named for God and for the Messenger?
This article sets out each tradition's reading from a commentary the site itself serves. The commentaries are quoted in Arabic on the Arabic version of this page; here the readings are summarised in our own English, and attributed. Nothing is adjudicated.
The context
Surah Al-Anfal opens with a question about the spoils themselves:
They ask you, [O Muhammad], about the bounties [of war]. Say, "The [decision concerning] bounties is for Allah and the Messenger." So fear Allah and amend that which is between you and obey Allah and His Messenger, if you should be believers.
Later in the same surah the spoils are made lawful to consume:
So consume what you have taken of war booty [as being] lawful and good, and fear Allah. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.
And Surah Al-Hashr contains a verse that names almost the same recipients, but about fay' — property that came without fighting — rather than about battlefield spoils:
And what Allah restored to His Messenger from the people of the towns - it is for Allah and for the Messenger and for [his] near relatives and orphans and the [stranded] traveler - so that it will not be a perpetual distribution among the rich from among you. And whatever the Messenger has given you - take; and what he has forbidden you - refrain from. And fear Allah; indeed, Allah is severe in penalty.
The close of the khums verse — "the day of distinction, the day when the two armies met" — ties it to the occasion of its revelation, and on that both traditions agree.
The Sunni reading
Al-Tafsir al-Muyassar, published by the King Fahd Complex, reads the verse this way:
- "Whatever you have gained" is what the fighters took from the enemy in fighting for God's cause.
- Four fifths belong to the combatants who were present at the battle.
- The remaining fifth is divided into five parts.
- The first part, named for God and the Messenger, is put to the general welfare of the Muslims.
- "The near relatives" are the Banu Hashim and the Banu al-Muttalib.
- Their share was assigned to them in place of charity, because charity is not lawful for them.
- The rest goes to the orphans, the needy and the traveller.
The Shia reading
Al-Fayd al-Kashani, in Tafsir al-Safi, first records the view that spoils are what was taken from the disbelievers by force, and then reports from al-Kafi, on the authority of Ja'far as-Sadiq, that it is "gain, day by day" — and al-Kashani adds, in his own voice, that this means acquiring wealth from any direction whatever.
On "the near relatives" al-Safi reports from Muhammad al-Baqir that they are the relatives of the Messenger of God, and that "the fifth is for the Messenger and for us". It reports from Ali that these are the ones God joined to Himself and to His Messenger in the verse of al-Hashr, and that no portion of the charity share was assigned to them — God honoured His Prophet, and honoured them, above being fed from what people's hands have discarded.
On the share named for God and for the Messenger, al-Safi reports from Ali ar-Rida that what belonged to God belongs to the Messenger, and what belonged to the Messenger belongs to the Imam; and that if one category of recipients is larger and another smaller, the apportioning is left to the Imam's judgement, as the Prophet himself gave according to what he saw fit.
Allamah at-Tabataba'i, in Tafsir al-Mizan, argues from the wording before the reports. He first establishes the lexical sense: ghanm and ghanimah mean obtaining a benefit, whether through trade, work or war, and it applies — given the occasion of revelation — to the spoils of war. He then concludes that the ruling is permanent and general, attached to whatever is called a gain, "whether war spoils taken from the disbelievers or anything else the language calls a gain, such as the profits of earnings, diving, seafaring, and what is extracted from treasures and mines" — and that although the occasion of revelation was war spoils, "the occasion cannot restrict" the ruling. He also holds that the categories named in the verse are exhaustive, each with an independent share, as in the verse of zakat, rather than being examples. On "the near relatives" he says the sense is the Prophet's kin, or specific persons among them, as the established reports determine.
Points of agreement
- The verse establishes a fifth as a due in what is gained, and its recipients are the categories the verse itself names.
- "The near relatives" are the Prophet's kin; the difference is over who exactly falls inside that kinship.
- That share was assigned to the Prophet's kin in place of charity, because charity is not lawful for them. This is stated in al-Muyassar and in the report from Ali that al-Safi records.
- "The day of distinction, the day when the two armies met" is the day of Badr. Al-Mizan says so explicitly, and al-Muyassar names Badr in its gloss on the same clause.
Points of difference
- On what "whatever you have gained" covers. Al-Muyassar confines it to what fighters took from an enemy in war. Al-Safi and al-Mizan extend it to anything called a gain, including the profits of earnings, mines and treasure.
- On who "the near relatives" are. Al-Muyassar identifies them as the Banu Hashim and the Banu al-Muttalib. Al-Safi reports traditions restricting them to the People of the House, and al-Mizan refers their identification to the established reports.
- On the share of God and the Messenger. Al-Muyassar puts it to the general welfare of the Muslims. Al-Safi reports from ar-Rida that what was the Messenger's belongs to the Imam, who also apportions between the categories.
- On the four fifths. Al-Muyassar states that they belong to the combatants present at the battle. Al-Mizan, in commenting on this verse, addresses the fifth and its recipients rather than the four fifths.
- On method. Al-Muyassar explains the wording. Al-Safi builds on transmitted reports. Al-Mizan builds on the apparent sense of the wording and then supports it with reports.
These are the readings as their own books state them. Weighing between them is not the business of this page.
Sources
- Al-Tafsir al-Muyassar — a panel of commentators, King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Quran.
- Tafsir al-Safi — al-Fayd al-Kashani.
- Tafsir al-Mizan — Sayyid Muhammad Husayn at-Tabataba'i.
All three texts in full, each attributed to its author, are on the verse's own page: