Tanwîr al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs
(And know) O believers (that whatever) of wealth (you take as spoils of war, lo! a fifth thereof is for Allah) a fifth of the spoils of war is given in the way of Allah, (and for the messenger) and for the use of the Messenger (and for the kinsmen) and for the kinsmen of the Prophet (pbuh) (and orphans) who are other than the orphans of the Banu 'Abd al-Muttalib (and the needy) other than those of the Banu 'Abd al-Muttalib (and the wayfarer) and for the weak who is in need of help, whoever he may be. This fifth used to be divided at the time of the Prophet (pbuh) into five shares: one share for the Prophet (pbuh) which was the share given for the sake of Allah (Allah's share); a share for the Prophet's kinsmen, because the Prophet (pbuh) used to give to his kinsmen on behalf of Allah; a share for the orphans; a share for the needy; and a share for the wayfarer. When the Prophet (pbuh) died, the share of the Prophet (pbuh) and that of his kinsmen were cancelled due to the saying of Abu Bakr: “I heard Allah's Messenger (pbuh) say: each prophet has, while still alive, an assigned means of subsistence, and when he dies, it is cancelled and belongs to no one”. Abu Bakr, 'Umar, 'Uthman and 'Ali in their respective reigns divided the fifth into three shares: a share for the orphans, other than the orphans of Banu 'Abd al-Muttalib, a share for the needy, other than the needy of 'Abd al-Muttalib, and a share for the wayfarers who are weak and in need of help; (if ye believe in Allah and that which We revealed unto Our slave) Muhammad (pbuh) (on the Day of Discrimination) and the day of the alternation of power and victory of Muhammad (pbuh); it is also said that the Day of Discrimination means the day when Allah discriminated between truth and falsehood, i.e. the Day of Badr, when Allah decreed victory and the spoils of war for the Prophet (pbuh) and his Companions, while inflicting death and defeat upon Abu Jahl and his host, (the day when the two armies) the army of Muhammad (pbuh) and that of Abu Sufyan (met. And Allah is Able to do all things): victory and the possession of the spoils of war for the Prophet (pbuh) and death and defeat for Abu Jahl and his host.
Tafsir Ibn 'Abbas, trans. Mokrane Guezzou
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