Chapter: The Division of Fai', War Booty (Ghanima), and Charity (Sadaqa)

Fai' is that which returns to the Muslims from the wealth of the disbelievers without fighting. It is said: "The Fai' returned" (fa'a al-fai'), meaning it turned back toward the east. War booty (Ghanima) is that which is taken from them by force through fighting. Its etymology is from al-ghunm, which is profit. Each one of the two is [in reality] both Fai' and Ghanima, but each has been specified by a name to distinguish it from the other. The basis for both is the saying of Allah, the Almighty: {Whatever Allah restored (afa'a) to His Messenger from the people of the towns}, the verse, and His saying, glory be to Him: {And know that anything you take as war booty (ghanimtum), to Allah belongs a fifth of it}, the verse.

1075 - Issue: He said: (The wealth is of three types: Fai', Ghanima, and Sadaqa).

He means—and Allah knows best—that the wealth managed by the rulers from the wealth of the Muslims is divided into three categories. Two categories are taken from the wealth of the polytheists. One of them is Fai': It is that which is taken from the wealth of a polytheist without riding horses or camels against it, such as that which they left behind out of fear of the Muslims and fled, the Jizya, the tithe (ushr) on the wealth of the people of the Abode of War (Dar al-Harb) when they enter our lands as merchants, the half-tithe on the trade of the Dhimmis (protected non-Muslims), the land tax (kharaj), and the wealth of one who dies among the polytheists leaving no heir. Ghanima is that which is taken from the disbelievers by force and fighting. The third category is Sadaqa, which is that which is taken from the wealth of