Khums in the Qur'an and History

 

"Khums" literally means "one-fifth” (or 20%). In Islamic legal terminology, it means "one-fifth of certain items which a person acquires as wealth, and which must be paid as an Islamic tax".

The Qur'an mentions it in the following verse:

In this verse, the word "ghanimtum" has been used which has been translated as "you acquire".

As explained above, it means "certain items which a person acquires as wealth." What are these certain items?

According to the ahadith of the Imams of Ahl al-Bayt, the items which are eligible for Khums are seven:

1.        the profit or the surplus of income.

2.        the legitimate wealth which is mixed with some illegitimate wealth.

3.        mines and minerals.

4.        the precious stones obtained from the sea by diving.

5.        treasures.

6.        the land which a dhimmi kafir buys from a Muslim.

7.        the spoils of war.

However, there are some people who interpret the word "ghanimtum" as "whatever of a thing you acquire as spoils of war," thus confining the obligation of khums to the spoils of war only. This interpretation is based on ignorance of the Arabic language, the history of khums, the Islamic laws and of the interpretation of the Qur'an.

To make this point crystal clear, I would like to quote the following arguments from my father, `Allamah Sayyid Saeed Akhtar Rizvi.

In reading the following paragraphs, remember that the word ghanimtum has been derived from al-ghanimah.

"The Meaning of Ghanimtum: The famous Arabic dictionary of al-Munjid (by Father Louis Ma`luf of Beirut) says, al-ghanim and al-ghanimah means: (a) What is taken from the fighting enemies by force. (b) All earnings generally...Furthermore, the saying al-ghunm bi 'l-ghurm means that the profit stands against expenses, i.e., as the owner is the sole proprietor of the profit and nobody shares it with him, therefore only he bears all the expenses and risk.'(See the entry under G-N-M; in the 28th edition of al-Munjid (Beirut: Dar el-Machreq, 1986) it is on p. 561. Also see other famous dictionaries like Lisan al-`Arab and al-Qamus.)

This implies that in Arabic language al-ghanimah has two meanings: one the spoils of war, and the other 'profit'. The above quoted proverb also proves that 'profit' is not uncommon meaning. When a word in the Qur'an can be interpreted in more than one way, it is incumbent upon the Muslims to seek guidance from the Prophet and the Ahl al-Bayt. Otherwise, they would be guilty of tafsir bil ra'iy (interpreting the Qur'an according to one's own personal views); and this is a sin which pushes the sinner into jahannam.

The History of Khums

Khums is one of those things which were introduced by `Abdu 'l-Muttalib, the grandfather of the Prophet, and continued in Islam. Acting upon a command of God given to him in dream, when `Abdul-Muttalib rediscovered the well of Zamzam, he found in it many valuable things which were buried in it in very remote past by the Ismailites when they feared that their enemies would usurp them. When `Abdul-Muttalib found that buried treasure, he gave away its one-fifth (literally, khums) in the way of God and kept the remaining four-fifths to himself. Then it became a custom in his family; and after the hijrah of the Prophet, the same system was incorporated in Islam. Thus the first khums was not given from the 'spoils of war', but from a buried treasure (which is one of the seven items eligible for khums.)

The Islamic Laws

Not a single sect of Islam confines the meaning of ghanimah to the 'spoils of war'. In addition to the 'spoils of war' the following items are subject to khums: (a) Minerals: eligible for khums in Shi`ah and Hanafi sects. (B) Buried treasure: eligible for khums in all Muslim sects (that is, Shi`ah, Hanafi, Maliki, Hanbali and Shafi`iy).

The Interpretation of the Qur'an

As mentioned earlier, the interpretation of the Qur'an must be based on the teachings of the Ahlu 'l-bayt. The word ghanimah in the verse under discussion has clearly been interpreted as 'al-fa'idatu 'l-muktasabah -- the earned profit' by our Imams.

"To conclude, we can say that the word ghanima was never treated as being confined to the 'spoils of war' by any sect of Islam; and as far as our Imams are concerned, it meant many things besides the spoils of war right from the day of Imam `Ali (peace be upon him), as the authentic traditions show." (Rizvi, S.S.A., Your Questions Answered, vol. 1 (Dar-es-salaam: Bilal Muslim Mission, 1973) p. 44-46.)

Other Links:

Khums (The Islamic Tax)

Author: Allamah Sayyid Saeed Akhtar Rizvi.