A Fifth, and Four Fifths

Anfāl, the plural of nafl, as was discussed in the previous chapter, means the spoils of war, and there is much discussion of it here. At the beginning of the sūrah there was the question yasʾalūnaka ʿani al-anfāl: they ask about the spoils of war. And now, at the beginning of the tenth juzʾ here, from verse 41, the discussion goes on to the ghanīmah, as it is called — anfāl or ghanīmah, the sense being much the same.

So Allah (swt) says that of the spoils of war, of whatever the army receives and takes, one fifth is to go to the Messenger. And when it is said for Allah and His Messenger, that means the family of the Prophet (peace be upon him), the orphans and the needy, who are all provided for out of it. Where, then, do the four fifths go? Where does the other eighty per cent go? The four fifths, the eighty per cent, is then distributed among the mujāhidīn, among the warriors. That is one of the sources of income of the mujāhidīn: the spoils of war. That is one way of income, if it is done properly.