Chapter 15(a) - Distribution of the Properties Captured from the Enemy

“One fifth of the properties captured is first kept aside to distribute as Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Glorious, has instructed. The remaining properties are distributed among those who have taken part in the war in which the properties were captured and are the authority thereof. He (the Imam) said, ‘The Imam has the right to have the best from such properties, the best slave-girls and the best animals, the best cloths and other items which are liked and desired for. Such items are for him (the Imam) before the distribution and before the deduction of the one-fifth. He (the Imam) then said, ‘There is nothing for the fighters of the land and not even of that on which they have defeated the enemy except that much which contains the army. The Arabs do not have any share in the properties captured in the war even if they are of the fighters alongside the Imam. It is because the Messenger of Allah had made a treaty with them which said that they can live in their land and do not migrate. In exchange, they must mobilize against those of the enemies who may attack the Messenger of Allah and fight them and will not have any share in the properties captured from the enemy. It is a tradition established in them and others. “The land which is taken by force and means such as mules and other means are of endowment that is left alone in the hands of those who revive them. They reach a settlement with governing authority on the basis of their abilities to pay back such as half, one-third or two-thirds and so on so that they can benefit and do not suffer losses.’”