Hurayrah, who said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said: "War spoils were not permissible for any people with dark hair before you; fire used to descend from the sky and consume them." Then, at the beginning of Islam, they were for the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, by evidence of the saying of Allah, the Almighty: {They ask you about the spoils of war. Say: The spoils belong to Allah and the Messenger; so fear Allah.} Then, four-fifths of them became for the combatants, and the fifth was for others, by evidence of His saying, the Almighty: {And know that anything you take as war booty, to Allah belongs a fifth of it.} He attributed the war booty to them and assigned the fifth to others, which indicates that the rest is for them. This follows the same pattern as His saying, the Almighty: {And his parents inherit it, his mother gets one-third.} He attributed his inheritance to them both, then assigned one-third of it to the mother, which indicates that the remainder is for the father. The Almighty also said: {So consume what you have taken of war booty, lawful and good.} Thus, He made it lawful for them.

1076 - Issue: He said: "Fai' is that which is taken from the wealth of a polytheist without urging horses or mounts against it, and war booty (Ghanimah) is that which is urged against."

'Rikab' (mounts) refers specifically to camels. 'Iijaf' (urging) fundamentally means movement, and what is intended here is movement in traveling toward it. Qatadah said: {Whatever you did not urge against with horses or mounts} means: you did not traverse a valley, nor did you march a beast toward it; it was merely the orchards of Banu al-Nadir, which Allah bestowed upon His Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. Abu 'Ubayd said...