We were not used to taxing the spoils by one-fifth, and al-Bara's spoils have reached a significant amount, so I am taxing them by one-fifth." Thus, the first spoils taxed by one-fifth in Islam were the spoils of al-Bara'. It was recorded by Sa'id in "al-Sunan" (36). It states therein that the spoils of al-Bara' reached thirty thousand. Our evidence is what 'Awf ibn Malik and Khalid ibn al-Walid narrated, that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) decreed [regarding the spoils] (37) for the killer and did not tax the spoils by one-fifth. It was recorded by Abu Dawud (38). The general reports we have mentioned, and the report of 'Umar, are an argument for us, for he said: "We used not to tax the spoils by one-fifth." The narrator's statement, "It was the first spoils taxed by one-fifth in Islam," means that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), Abu Bakr, and 'Umar, for a portion of his caliphate, did not tax the spoils by one-fifth, and following that is more appropriate. Al-Jawzajani said: "I do not think it is permissible for anyone regarding a matter in which the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) has preceded with something, except to follow him, and there is no argument in the statement of anyone alongside the statement of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)." What we have mentioned is sufficient to serve as an exception to the generality of the verse. Once this is established, the spoils are part of the original booty. Malik said: It is counted from (39) the fifth of the fifth. Our evidence is that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) decreed the spoils to the killer unconditionally, and it was not reported from him that he counted it from the fifth of the fifth (40). Furthermore, if he were to count it from the fifth of the fifth, there would be a need to know its value and amount, yet that was not reported. Also, its cause does not require the Ijtihad (legal reasoning) of the Imam, so it is not from the fifth of the fifth, like the share of the horseman and the foot soldier.
Chapter Six: The killer is entitled to the spoils, whether the Imam said so or did not. This is the position of al-Awza'i, al-Layth, al-Shafi'i, Ishaq, Abu 'Ubayd, and Abu Thawr. Abu Hanifah and al-Thawri said: He is not entitled to it unless the Imam stipulates it (41) for him. Malik said: He is not entitled to it unless
(36) Its verification preceded on page 38. (37) In M: "the spoils". (38) In: The Chapter on Spoils that are Taxed by One-Fifth, from the Book of Jihad. Sunan Abi Dawud 2/66. It was also recorded by Imam Ahmad, in: Al-Musnad 4/90, 6/26. (39) In the copies: "if". (40) Omitted from: M. (41) In the original: "stipulates it".
