In Islam, khums ( ) is a tax on Muslims which obligates them to pay one-fifth (20%) of their acquired wealth from the spoils of war and, according to most Muslim jurists, other specified types of income, towards various designated beneficiaries. Khums is the first Islamic tax, which was imposed in 2 AH/624 CE, after the Battle of Badr. such as zakat and jizya. It is treated differently in Sunni and Shia Islam; key topics of debate include the types of wealth subject to khums, the methods of its collection and distribution, and the categories of recipients (asnāf).

Historically, one-fifth of the spoils of war (i.e., the khums) was placed at the disposal of the Islamic prophet Muhammad who distributed it among himself, his close relatives, orphans, the needy and travelers (the remaining four-fifth of the spoils went to soldiers of the Muslim army who attacked the non-Muslims). After Muhammad's death, disagreement arose about how to use the share once given to Muhammad and whether to continue to give his close relatives a share of the khums. The institution of khums has its origins in pre-Islamic Arab custom, where the chief received one-fourth (mirbā) or one-fifth of the war booty along with the ṣafw al-māl (any part of the booty that particularly attracted him). The remaining booty was typically shared among the raiders who accompanied the chief, but the chief retained the right to dispose of the booty as he saw fit.

frameless|center|alt=Example alt text|Arabic text of verse 8:41 of the Quran

Two people who collected khums for Muhammad are identified as Mahmiya b. Jaz' and Abd Allah b. Ka'b al-Ansari. Ali b. Abi Talib was appointed by Muhammad to distribute the portion of khums allocated to his near relatives. Umar (r. 634–44) proposed using the khums to cover marriage expenses and debts for the unmarried members of the Muhammad's family. When Muhammad's closest relatives demanded their entire share, Umar refused their request. and is one of the practices that are considered the obligatory acts of faith (furūʻ al-dīn). The discussion of khums is a vital component of all Twelver works of jurisprudence and constitutes one of the basic differences between the Twelver school and other Islamic legal schools. The systematic collection of khums as a mandatory tax seems to have started in 220/835 when the ninth Imam Muhammad al-Jawad (d. 220/835), through a document, directed his financial representatives to collect khums on specific types of income. The document from Muhammad al-Jawad attests to the fact that the tax was not systematically collected before the date mentioned. Historical accounts indicate that the practice of collecting this tax through local representatives of the Imam became well-established during the latter part of the tenure of the tenth Imam Ali al-Hadi (d. 254/868). The revenues of the office of the Imamate increased significantly with the introduction of the khums tax, which the Imam's agents collected from the faithful, under the justification that such was his right. Since this tax was still a new imposition, questions arose regarding the extent of this "right." Three key representatives of Ali al-Hadi informed him that they had encountered questions from the Shia community about the right of the Imam that the representatives had been unable to answer.

Applicability

For the Shia, the main Quranic reference for khums is verse 8:41 of the Quran. While Sunni exegetes consider Quran 8:41 to relate to war booty (ghanīma), Twelver and Zaydi scholars consider the phrase "whatever of a thing you acquire" (annamā ghanimtum min shayʼin) in the verse to refer to wealth more generally. This distinction is a fundamental difference between the Twelver school and other schools of fiqh. It becomes obligatory (wajib) to pay khums at the beginning of the new financial year on the profit or surplus of the past year's income. It can be paid either in kind or as an equivalent amount of money, which must reflect the fair market value of the taxable item. Unlike zakat, which applies as long as the holdings exceed the required nisab, khums is a one-time tax - once khums is paid on an item, that item is permanently exempt from any future khums. The sahm al-sadat portion of khums is given to the following among the Twelver Shia population:

Similarly, from 8th to 10th century, the Berber people in North Africa were treated as pagans, raided and the booty of seized wealth and slaves were subject to khums.

Europe

From the 8th century onwards, Southern Europe became a target of raids and military campaigns from Morocco and by the Ottoman Sultanate. After the conquest of Cordoba by Muslim armies, khums (20%) of all moveable booty seized from Christians and Jews after the war was transferred to the caliphal treasury, the rest was distributed among the commanders and Muslim soldiers of the invading army. According to Musa Nusayr, the army commanders also set aside 20% of land vacated by non-Muslims to the caliph. Outside Spain, Ghanima and fayʾ were sought from Muslim conquests in Sicily, Greece and Caucasian region of Europe. Khums was paid from all seized movable property to the caliphal treasury.

India

From the 10th century through the 18th century, Muslim armies raided non-Muslim kingdoms of India. Some of these Muslim armies came from the northwest, consisting of Turko-Mongols, Persians and Afghans. In other times, these were commanders of Delhi Sultanate. War spoils and looted movable property from non-muslims was subject to khums. The 20% tax was transferred to the treasury of the sultanate, and the 80% was distributed among the commanders, mounted soldiers and foot soldiers. The mounted soldiers were given two to three times as much of the war booty as the foot soldiers. The collected war booty from the treasuries and temples of Hindus were an incentive for war, and the Khums (Ghanima tax) was a source of wealth for the sultans in India. One batch of loot was from Warangal, and it included the Koh-i-Noor, one of the largest known diamonds in human history.

See also

  • Zakat
  • Qard al-Hassan
  • Jizya
  • Kharaj
  • Nisab
  • Dhimmi
  • List of expeditions of Muhammad
  • Criticism of Twelver Shia Islam

Notes

References

  • Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan Ṭūsī, , Sections 12 and 13, pages 149–151; 11th Century Shia views on Khums, Ghana'im and Anfal
  • Abdulaziz Sachedina, Journal of Near Eastern Studies, Vol. 39, No. 4 (Oct., 1980), pp. 275–289; Al-Khums: The Fifth in the Imāmī Shīʿī Legal System
  • Khums, An Islamic Tax