Al-Huda
Foundation, NJ U. S. A
the Message Continues ... 5/179
Newsletter for October 2016
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Khums, the Fund of Independence
of Bayt Al-Mal
Opinion of
Commentators
Lots of
commentators who have discussed
about this verse explicitly
confessed that Advantage (غنیمت)
has mainly a vast meaning and
consists of spoils of war and
other than them and generally
all that a person could gain
without hardship. Even those who
consider this verse exclusive to
spoils of war confess that there
is no such a limitation in its
main meaning, but for another
reason its meaning has been
limited. “Ghartabi”,
famous Sunni commentator, writes
below this verse in his
interpretation: “Literally,
“advantage” (غنیمت) is the thing
that a person or a group of
people gain with endeavor … and
know that the consensus (of
Sunni scholars) is that the
meaning of advantage (غنیمت) in
the verse “ وَ اعْلَمُوا اَنَّما
غَنِمْتُمْ” is assets which
reach Muslims by fight and
victory over infidels, but it
should be considered that this
limitation is not in its literal
meaning as we said before, but
this bond has been set in the
common law of religion”. “Fakhr
Raazi” affirms in his
interpretation that: “ الغنم
الفوز بالشیء (advantage is that
a person gains something”. And
then after expressing this vast
literal meaning adds: “Religious
meaning of advantage (غنیمت) (in
opinion of Sunni scholars) is
spoils of war”. And also in
“Al-Manar” interpretation, the
definition of advantage (غنیمت)
has been expressed in its vast
meaning and it has not been
limited to spoils of war,
although author believes that
according to religious bond the
vast meaning of this verse
should be limited to spoils of
war. Also it has
been mentioned in the
interpretation of “Rooh
Al-Ma’aani” written by Aloosi,
famous Sunni commentator, that: “Mainly,
“غنم” (three word root of غنیمت
in Arabic) means any kind of
interest and benefit”. And in
“Majma’ Al-Bayan” interpretation
first advantage has been
interpreted in the meaning of
spoils of war, but during the
explanation of the meaning of
the verse it says:
قال اصحابنا انّ الخمس واجب فى
کلّ فائدة تحصل للانسان من
المکاسب و ارباح التّجارات، و فى
الکنوز و المعادن و الغوص و
غیرذلک ممّا هو مذکور فى الکتب، و
یمکن ان یستدلّ على ذلک بهذه
الایة فانّ فى عرف اللّغة یطلق
على جمیع ذلک اسم الغنم و الغنیمة
Shiite scholars believe that
Khums is obligatory in any
benefit that a person would
gain, consisting of it is from
business, or from treasure or
mine and anything that derives
from the sea by diving, and
other jobs that has been
mentioned in Fiqh books, and it
is possible to ratiocinate with
this claim about this verse
because advantage (غنیمت)
implies to all of these in its
common meaning”.
It is
amazing that some partial
persons who seems to have a
special mission for poisoning
the common thoughts, have tried
a funny falsification in their
book which have written about
Khums in the expression of
Majma’ Al-Bayan interpretation;
they have mentioned the first
part of the expression which
guaranties the interpretation of
advantage (غنیمت) in the meaning
of spoils of war (according to
the opinion of some
commentators), but they have
ignored the explanation about
the generality of literal
meaning of the word and the
meaning of the verse completely
and have ascribed a false matter
to this great Islamic
commentator, maybe they thought
they are the only persons who
have the book “Majma’ Al-Bayan”
and nobody will read that book
in order to reveal their lie to
everyone and it is strange that
they did not perform this
betrayal only about this matter,
but in other cases anything that
might have benefit has been
mentioned and anything that
might be the opposite direction
has been ignored. Also it has
been affirmed in Al-Mizan
interpretation according to the
words of scientists of
literature that advantage
(غنیمت) is any benefit that
person gains from business,
working or the war and although
the point for descending of the
verse is spoils of war but we
know that never the point
particularizes the generality of
definition. It is
concluded from all that has been
said: The verse of
advantage (غنیمت) has a vast
meaning and consists of any kind
of income, interest and benefit,
because literal meaning of this
word has a vast meaning and
there is no clear proof about
particularizing it in hand. The only
thing that some of Sunni
commentators refer to, is that
the verses before and after this
verse are about Jihad and this
matter shows that the verse of
advantage (غنیمت) points to
spoils of war in proportion. While we
know that the reasons of
descending or the direction of
discussion in Suras never
particularize the generality of
a verse; and in more clear way,
there is no problem in that the
meaning of the verse to be a
general and overall definition
while the reason of descending
the verse is one sample of that
general and overall concept. For example,
we read in verse 7 of Sura
Hashr:
وَمَا آتَاكُمُ الرَّسُولُ
فَخُذُوهُ وَمَا نَهَاكُمْ عَنْهُ
فَانْتَهُوا
… So take what the Messenger
assigns to you, and deny
yourselves that which he
withholds from you. (59:7) This verse
says a general order about the
necessity of obeying Prophet
(S), while the case for
descending was assets which has
been taken under the ownership
of Muslims from enemies without
war (and the term “فیء” is used
for them). And also in
verse 233 of Sura Baqara:
… لَا تُكَلَّفُ نَفْسٌ إِلَّا
وُسْعَهَا …
no soul shall have imposed upon
it a duty but to the extent of
its capacity; .. (2:233) has been
mentioned as a general rule
while the case for descending
was about paying women who
feeding babied and it has been
ordered to the father of infant
to pay according to his ability;
but can reference of the verse
to this special matter prevent
the generality of this rule (not
to do more than the ability)?! Briefly,
this verse has been said among
the verses of Jihad but it says:
Pay one fifth (Khums) of any
income that you gain from any
source (which one of them is
spoils of war). Specially the
relative word ” (any) and the
word “شیء” (thing) which are two
general and without any bond or
condition words emphasize this
matter.
Khums in Sunni Cabbalas Some people
say that in none of Islamic
cabbalas Khums has been
mentioned in a case other than
spoils of war and in cabbalas it
has been talk about Khums
exclusively for spoils of war. This claim
is one of baseless claims and is
a sign of ignorance of the
person who has said this about
Islamic Ahadith, because Khums
in other than spoils of war has
been mentioned in Sunni cabbalas
and also Shiite cabbalas (but in
Sunni cabbalas only some parts
of Khums have been mentioned,
while in Shiite cabbalas all of
them have been expressed). First, we
point to a part of Sunni
cabbalas which explicitly proves
Khums of things other than
spoils of war. These
cabbalas have been chosen from
famous resources of Ahlul Sunnah
which are acceptable for all of
them. A) It has
been quoted in “Sunan of
Beihaghi” from Abu Harira that
Prophet (S) said:
فى الرّکاز الخمس قیل و ما
الرّکاز یا رسول اللّه؟ قال
الذّهب و الفضّة الّذى خلقه اللّه
فى الارض یوم خلقت.
There is Khums in Rekaz, a
person who was there asked: What
is Rekaz? Prophet (S) answered:
“Mines of gold and silver which
Allah has been created on earth
from the beginning day. It should be
considered that Rekaz (it is
pronounced like Ketab) literally
means any kind of asset that is
placed in earth; and accordingly
all mines are called Rekaz; and
also all treasures and assets
which have been remained in
earth from former humans are
called Rekaz; and the fact that
we see in the Hadith above it
has been interpreted to mines of
gold and silver is that a kind
of clear samples not being
exclusive to them. B) It has
been quoted in a Hadith from
Anas ibn Malik that: We were in
a road with Prophet (S), one of
our friends entered to ruins …
and he found there a treasure of
gold … they weighted that and it
was about two hundreds dirhams,
Prophet said that it is Rekaz
and it is obligatory to pay its
Khums. C) It has
been quoted in Sahih of Muslim
from Abu Harira that Prophet (S)
said: “فی الرّکاز خمس” (there is
Khums in Rekaz). The same matter
has been also mentioned in Sahih
of Bokhari. It has been
affirmed in this Hadith which is
one of famous Ahadith among
Sonnies that there is Khums in
Rekaz and as we said and it is
understood from its main root
and also it has been affirmed in
some famous dictionaries like
Qamoos, Rekaz has a vast meaning
which consists of any kind of
asset that is placed and saved
in earth, like mines and
treasures of former humans that
has been buried in lands; and
accordingly, some pf Sunni
Faqihs like “Abu Hanifa”
affirmed that Khums is
obligatory in mines and Nisab
(minimum needed level or amount)
of Zakat is not a condition in
this case. It has been
quoted in the book “Kanz Al-Ummal”,
vol. 7, page 65 that Prophet (S)
said:
ان لکم بطون الارض و سهولها و
تلاع الاودیة و ظهورها، على ان
ترعوا نباتها و تشربوا مائها على
ان تؤدّوا الخمس 2
Deep inside the earth, fields
and inside the valleys and out
of them are all in your hands in
order to use their plants, drink
their water and pay Khums about
them.5 There is no
doubt that here, the purpose of
Khums is not Zakat of sheep,
because Zakat of sheep is not
one fifth. Therefore, the
purpose is to use these lands
and pay the Khums of its income. It has been
quoted in a Hadith in the book “Usd
Al-Ghaba” that “Masrooq ibn Wael”
came to prophet (S) and became
Muslim, and he said I like you
to send some people to my tribe
in order to invite them to
Islam, and please write a letter
for them, may Allah guide them
all. Prophet (S) ordered to
write this letter:
بسم الله الرّحمن الرّحیم من
محمّد رسول الله الی الاقیال من
حضرموت باقام الصّلوة و ایتاء
الزٌکوة و الصّدقة علی التیعة و
لصاحبها التیمة و فی السّیوب
الخمس و فی البعل العشر.
In the name of Allah the
Compassionate the Merciful We will
discuss soon about the purpose
of Soyoob which Khums is
obligatory in it. We read in
another Hadith in the book “Al-Aghd
Al-Fareed” that Prophet (S)
wrote a letter to Wael ibn Hajr
Hadhrami: “From Muhammad Prophet
of Allah to chieftains of
Abahela …” to the point that
said: “and there is Khums in
Soyoob”. We read in
footnote of the book “Al-Aghd
Al-Fareed” after quoting the
Hadith above that “Soyoob” is
plural form of “Sayb” that means
assets which had been remained
as treasures from the time of
ignorance or mines, because they
consider as divine gifts. But we read
in “Qamoos” which is one of
famous Arabic dictionaries that:
Mainly “Sayb” means any kind of
gift and benefaction and “Soyoob”
is in the meaning of “Rekaz”
(treasures and mines). If we
consider “Sayb” in the meaning
of any kind of gift and
benefaction and the purpose is
divine gift and benefaction, it
consists of all incomes and
according to that Khums should
be paid in all of them; and if
we consider it as the exclusive
meaning of mines and treasures,
it also proves that Khums is
obligatory in other than spoils
of war and it is not exclusive
to spoils of war. |
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