Tribute, Spoils, and Rulership (Kitab Al-Kharaj, Wal-Fai' Wal-Imarah)

Narrated 'Abdullah bin 'Umar: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying: Each of you is a shepherd and each of you is responsible for his flock. The amir (ruler) who is over the people is a shepherd and is responsible for hs flock ; a man is a shepherd in charge of the inhabitants of his household and he is responsible for his flock ; a woman is a shepherdess in charge of her husband's house and children and she is responsible for them; and a man's slave is a shepherd in charge of his master's property and he is responsible for it. So each of you is a shepherd and each of you is responsible for his flock.

Narrated 'Abd al-Rahman b. Samurah: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said to me: 'Abdul al-Rahman b. Samurah, do not ask for the position of commander, for if you are given it after asking you will be left to discharge it yourself, but if you are given it without asking you will be helped to discharge it.

Narrated Abu Musa: I went along with two men to see the Prophet (ﷺ). One of them recited tashahhud and said: We have come to you so that you may employ us for your work. The other also said the same thing. He (the Prophet) replied: The most faithless of you in our eyes is the one who asked for it (responsible post). Abu Musa then apologized to the Prophet (ﷺ) and said: I did not know why they came to you. He did not employ them for anything until he died.

Narrated Anas: The Prophet (ﷺ) appointed Ubn Umm Makthum as a governor of Medina (in his absence) twice.

Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu'minin: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: When Allah has a good purpose for a ruler, He appoints for him a sincere minister who reminds him if he forgets and helps him if he remembers; but when Allah has a different purpose from that for him. He appoints for him an evil minister who does not remind him if he forgets and does not help him if he remembers.

Narrated Al-Miqdam ibn Ma'dikarib: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) struck him on his shoulders and then said: You will attain success, Qudaym, if you die without having been a ruler, a secretary, or a chief.

Narrated Ghalib al-Qattan: Ghalib quoted a man who stated on the authority of his father that his grandfather reported: They lived at one of the springs. When Islam reached them, the master of the spring offered his people one hundred camels if they embraced Islam. So they embraced Islam, and he distributed the camels among them. But it occurred to him that he should take the camels back from them. He sent his son to the Prophet (ﷺ) and said to him: Go to the Prophet (ﷺ) and tell him: My father extends his greetings to you. He asked his people to give them one hundred camels if they embraced Islam, and they embraced Islam. He divided the camels among them. But it occurred to him then that he should withdraw his camels from them. Is he more entitled to them or we? If he says: Yes or no, then tell him: My father is an old man, and he is the chief of the people living at the water. He has requested you to make me chief after him. He came to him and said: My father has extended his greetings to you. He replied: On you and you father be peace. He said: My father asked his people to give them one hundred camels if they embraced Islam. So they embraced Islam, and their belief in Islam is good. Then it occurred to him that he should take his camels back from them. Is he more entitled to them or are they? He said: If he likes to give them the camels, he may give them; and if he likes to take them back, he is more entitled to them than his people. If they embraced Islam, then for them is their Islam. If they do not embrace Islam, they will be fought against in the cause of Islam. He said: My father is an old man; he is the chief of the people living at the spring. He has asked you to appoint me chief after him. He replied: The office of a chief is necessary, for people must have chiefs, but the chiefs will go to Hell.

Narrated Ibn 'Abbas: The Prophet (ﷺ) has a secretary named Sijill.

Narrated Rafi' ibn Khadij: I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: The official who collects sadaqah (zakat) in a just manner is like him who fights in Allah's path till he returns home.

Narrated Uqbah ibn Amir: I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying: One who wrongfully takes an extra tax (sahib maks) will not enter Paradise.

Narrated Ibn Ishaq: Sahib maks means one who (receives) tithes (from) people.

Narrated Ibn 'Umar: 'Umar said: I shall not appoint a successor, for the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) did not appoint a successor. If I appoint a successor (I can do so), for Abu Bakr had appointed a successor. He Ibn 'Umar) said: I swear by Allah, he did not mention (anyone) but the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and Abu Bakr. So I learnt he would not equate anyone with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), for he did not appoint any successor.

Narrated Ibn 'Umar: We used to take the oath of allegiance to the Prophet (ﷺ) to hear and obey, and he would tell: In What I am able.

Narrated 'Aishah: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) never touched the hand of woman, but he received the oath of allegiance from her. When he received the oath of allegiance from her, she gave it to him, and he said: Go, I have received your oath of allegiance.

Narrated 'Abd Alla b. Hisham, : who was a Companion, reported that his mother Zainab daughter of Humain went to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and said: Messenger of Allah, receive the oath of allegiance from him. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: He is Minor. He then wiped his head.

Narrated Buraidah: The Prophet (ﷺ) as saying: When we appoint someone to an administrative post and provide him with an allowance, anything he takes beyond that is unfaithful dealing.

Narrated Ibn al-Sa'idi: 'Umar reported me to collect the sadaqah (i.e. zakat). When I became free, he ordered to give me payment for it. I said: I have worked for the sake of Allah. He said: Take what you have been given, for I held an administrative post in the time of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), and he gave me payment for it.

Narrated Al-Mustawrid ibn Shaddad: Al-Mustawrid heard the Prophet (ﷺ) say: He who acts as an employee for us must get a wife; if he has not a servant, he must get one, and if he has not a dwelling, he must get one. He said that AbuBakr reported: I was told that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: He who takes anything else he is unfaithful or thief.He said that Abu Bakr reported: I was told that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: He who takes anything else he is unfaithful or thief.

Narrated Abu Humaid al-Sa'idi: The Prophet (ﷺ) appointed a man of Azd called Ibn al-Lutbiyayah (to collect sadaqah). The narrator Ibn al-Sarh said: (He appointed) Ibn al-Utbiyyah to collect the sadaqah. When he returned he said: This is for you and this was given to me as present. So the Prophet (ﷺ) stood on the pulpit, and after praising and extolling Allah he said: What is the matter with a collector of sadaqah. We send him (to collect sadaqah), and when he return he says: This is for you and this is a present which was given to me. Why did he not sit in his father's or mother's house and see whether it would be given to him or not ? Whoever takes any of it will inevitably bring it on the Day of Resurrection, be it a camel which rumbles, an ox which bellows, or sheep which-bleats. Then raising his arms so that we could see where the hair grow under his armpits, he said: O Allah, have I given full information ? O Allah, have I given full information ?

Narrated AbuMas'ud al-Ansari: The Prophet (ﷺ) appointed me to collect sadaqah and then said: Go, AbuMas'ud, I should not find you on the Day of Judgment carrying a camel of sadaqah on your back, which rumbles, the one you have taken by unfaithful dealing in sadaqah. He said: If it is so, I will not go. He said: Then I do not force you.

Narrated AbuMaryam al-Azdi: When I entered upon Mu'awiyah, he said: How good your visit is to us, O father of so-and-so. (This is an idiom used by the Arabs on such occasions). I said: I tell you a tradition which I heard (from the Prophet). I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: If Allah puts anyone in the position of authority over the affairs of the Muslims, and he secludes himself (from them), not fulfilling their needs, wants, and poverty, Allah will keep Himself away from him, not fulfilling his need, want and poverty. He said: He (Mu'awiyah) appointed a man to fulfil the needs of the people.

Narrated AbuHurayrah: The Prophet (ﷺ) said: It is not on my own that I give you or withhold from you: I am just a treasure, putting it where I have been commanded.

Narrated Umar ibn al-Khattab: Malik ibn Aws ibn al-Hadthan said: One day Umar ibn al-Khattab mentioned the spoils of war and said: I am not more entitled to this spoil of war than you; and none of us is more entitled to it than another, except that we occupy our positions fixed by the Book of Allah, Who is Great and Glorious, and the division made by the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), people being arranged according to their precedence in accepting Islam, the hardship they have endured their having children and their need.

Narrated Abdullah ibn Umar: Zayd ibn Aslam said: Abdullah ibn Umar entered upon Mu'awiyah. He asked: (Tell me) your need, AbuAbdurRahman. He replied: Give (the spoils) to those who were set free, for I saw the first thing the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) did when anything came to him was to give something to those who had been set free.

Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu'minin: The Prophet (ﷺ) was brought a pouch containing bead and divided it among free women and slave women. Aisha said: My father used to divide things between free men and slave.

Narrated 'Awf bin Malik: When the spoils (fai') came to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), he divided it that day ; he gave two portions to a married man and one to a bachelor. The narrator Ibn al-Musaffa added: We were summoned, and I would be summoned before 'Ammar. So I was summoned and he gave me two portions, for I had a family ; then 'Ammar b. Yasir was summoned after me and given one.

Narrated Jabir ibn Abdullah: The Prophet (ﷺ) said: I am nearer to the believers than themselves, so if anyone leaves property, it goes to his heirs, and if anyone leaves debt and dependants, let the matter come to me and I shall be responsible.

Narrated Abu Hurairah: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying: If anyone leaves property, it goes to his heirs. And if anyone leaves dependents (without resources), they come to us.

Narrated Jabir b. 'Abd Allah : The Prophet (ﷺ) as saying: I am nearer to every believer than himself, and if anyone leaves, it goes to his heirs.

Narrated Nafi': That Ibn 'Umar was presented before the Prophet (ﷺ) on the day of Uhud, when he was fourteen years old, but he did not allow him. He was again presented to him on the day of Khandaq (the battle of Trench) when he was fifteen years old, he allowed him.