Why have Shia jurists developed Khums?
Ayatollah al-Azmi subhanani: Khums, just as it is obligatory on war spoils, it is also obligatory and necessary on other legitimate incomes, under the conditions stated by jurists in the book of Khums . Now we present the issue to the Qur’an and the Sunnah of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace .
The Holy Quran says: “And know that I have not stolen anything, for Allah is a fifth, and to the Messenger, and to those who are close to me, my governor, and to the poor, and to Ibn al-Sabeel, if you are short, I believe in Allah, and We have sent down upon our servant the Day of Al-Furqan, the Day of the Gathering of the World, and Allah is Almighty over all things.” Anfal / 41
“Know that whatever booty you get, one-fifth of it is for God, the Prophet, relatives, orphans, the poor, and those who are left on the way, if God and what He revealed to His servant on the day of separation of truth from falsehood and the day of conflict between two groups. “You have faith, God is able to do everything.”
Does the blessed verse refer only to the spoils of war, or does it have a broad meaning? To answer this question, the word “wheat” should be examined from the point of view of the word. In jurisprudence books, whenever the word booty is used, it is usually war booty, but this does not mean that we limit the meaning of the verse to war incomes, but the meaning of the verse that includes any income is a proof for us. Arab lexicographers mention a wide meaning for the word booty, which is not specific to war booty. We remind some of them:
۱٫ Khalil bin Ahmad Farahidi (170 AH) says: “Whatever a person gets without suffering is a booty.” Kitab al-Ain, 4/426, wheat material.
۲٫ Azhari says: “Wheat is to get something, and to seize is to take advantage of the booty.” Tahzib al-Lagheh, the material of wheat.
۳٫ Ibn Faris writes: “Ghanm is nothing more than a root that indicates obtaining something that one did not have before, and then it is used in the case of war spoils.” Al-Lagheh, the material of wheat.
Here, we will limit ourselves to this amount of speech of the elders of literature, by mentioning that the interpretation of booty as absolute “income” is included in most Arabic dictionaries. Refer to Ibn Athir’s Nahayeh, Firozabadi’s dictionary and Zubaydi’s Tajul-Arus, Madh Ghanm.
Incidentally, the Qur’an uses this word in the absolute sense of “making profit”, where it says: “O you who believe, if I hit you in the way of Allah, then understand and do not say to whom I have sent peace to you. You are not a believer, and you are afraid of the breadth of the life of this world, for with Allah, I have many blessings.” Nisa/94.
“O people of faith, when you walk in the way of God and travel for Jihad, do research. And don’t say to the one who greets you that you are not a believer, so that you want to get worldly goods in this way, because there are many benefits with God. The phrase “Fandallah Maghanem” in this verse includes worldly and hereafter rewards, although it is not related to war income, but it can be said that it means the hereafter reward, as opposed to “Aarad al-hayat al-dunya”, “the goods of worldly life”.
In his Sunan, Ibn Majah narrates from the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, that the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, used to say when receiving zakat: “Lord! Make this zakat a profit and a reward for its processor and make it a loss. Sunan Ibn Majah, Book of Zakat, Chapter Ma Yaqal when expelling Zakat, Hadith 1797. Ahmad Ibn Hanbal narrates from the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace: “The benefit of gatherings of remembrance of God is heaven.” Musnad Ahmad, 2/330, 374, and 524. His Holiness describes the month of Ramadan as follows: “Ghanam for Paradise” Musnad Ahmad, 2/377. “Profit is for heaven.”
The clearest proof that even though the verse was revealed about war spoils, but its ruling is not specific to the case of revelation, is that the jurists of the four Sunni religions, in cases where the property was not obtained from war spoils, it is necessary to pay Khums. They have known and argued with the honorable verse that khums in mines is one of the Islamic taxes that Islam has made obligatory, and Hanafi jurists have argued with two things when arguing about the obligation of khums in mines:
۱٫ The verse of booty (which we mentioned earlier.)
۲٫ Hadith of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace: “Wafi al-Raqaz al-Khums” Islamic jurisprudence and justice, 2/776; Musnad Ahmad, 1/314; Sunan Ibn Majah, 2/839, printed 1373.
“Khums is obligatory on things underground, mining and treasure.”
The examination of the hadith books shows that the mentioned sentence of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, has been included in several traditions. According to Shia, khums is given to all business incomes of a person, after deducting the annual expenses. Of course, other conditions are necessary in this matter, which is not the place to express it here, but the aim is to show that the Imamiyyah’s statement here is in complete agreement with the hadiths that the Sunnis narrate from the Holy Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace.
Since we cannot narrate everything in this brief, we will suffice with quoting some of them:
۱٫ “Abdul Qais” delegation
The tribe of Abdul Qais lived in the eastern region of Arabia, and today the people of Qatif, Ahsa and even Bahrain belong to this tribe. The head of the tribe named Abdul Qais came to the presence of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, and said: Between us and you, tribes live who are polytheists and do not allow us to reach your presence except during the forbidden months. We ask you to give us the necessary training and we will pass it on to others. The Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him, said: “I command you to do four things and forbid you from four things:
۱٫ I command to believe in God and do you know what faith in God is? testimony to his unity,
۲٫ To establish prayer,
۳٫ Payment of Zakat,
۴٫ Payment of Khums from booty. Sahih Bukhari, 4/250, chapter “God created me and your actions” from the book of Tawheed; Sahih Muslim, 1/35-36, Chapter of the Commandments.
It should be noted that what is meant by Mughnem?
Here are two possibilities:
a. spoils of war
b. Halal income.
Certainly, the first possibility is ruled out, because Abdul Qaisi’s delegation openly said that we cannot meet you except during the forbidden months, because our exit from the region and passing through the tribes is a source of danger and bloodshed. How could such people go to war with the enemy and take booty from them?! After all, jihad against the enemy is not permissible without the permission of the Prophet and his successor. It may be thought that the intention is bloodshed and looting. This possibility is also not correct, because the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him, forbade any kind of looting and his words are included in the books of hadith that: “Nahi al-Nabi’i an al-Nahb…”; Al-Taj al-Jami Lal Asul, 4/334, quoted by Sahih Bukhari. “The Prophet forbade looting.” In this case, after deducting the expenses, nothing else will be considered except the halal income of a person.
۲٫ When the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him, sent Amr bin Hazm to Yemen, he wrote an order for him, part of which is as follows:
“The commandment is to fear God in the commandment of the whole, and that he take from me the khums of God and what is written on the believers, from the charity, from the wealth of the tenth of the water of the Baal, and the water of the sky, and half of the tenth of the water of the west.” Fatuh al-Beldan, 1/81, chapter of Yemen; Ibn Hisham’s biography, 4/265.
First, we explain some of the words used in the command:
a. “Al-Aqar” means land and here it means agricultural lands.
b. “Al-Baal” are trees that do not need irrigation, because their roots use surface water near the rivers.
J. “Al-Gharb” means a big bucket and it means trees that are irrigated by drawing water with a bucket.
In this hadith, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, after commanding piety, mentions two types of Islamic taxes:
۱٫ Khums of booty.
۲٫ Zakat of land, sometimes one-tenth and sometimes one-twentieth of the land that is irrigated by rain or nearby waters.
Due to the lower cost of one tenth and the land that is irrigated with a bucket and drawing water from a well, one twentieth. The Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him, sent Amr bin Hazm as the governor of Yemen, not as a military person to fight with the polytheists there, because the people of Yemen had accepted Islam; Of course, the meaning of the sentence “And he takes from me the khums of Allah” is the halal earned income.
In this case, many covenants were written by the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him, to the personalities who lived around the peninsula, and in all of them, the payment of khums from the booty was entered, while these people were not military commanders and warriors, but in their own region. They were leaders and the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him, ordered them to collect the khums of the income and send it to him.
۳٫ The Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, wrote the following in a pledge to Juhaina bin Zayd: “Under the earth and on it and the bottom of the valleys and on them be yours, use its pastures and consume their water, on the condition that you pay a fifth of your income.” Political documents, page 265, number 157.
Apart from this, the imams of Ahl al-Bayt, peace be upon them, who are equal to the Qur’an and its cornerstone, have considered it necessary and obligatory to pay one-fifth of the income in many hadiths. Those who have given the seal of authenticity to the hadith of Saqlain should consider it necessary and obligatory to follow their words.
tenant
