JIHAD SECTION · 145 – PUNISHMENT FOR STEALING WAR BOOTY
Salih bin Muhammad bin Zayd reported:
He said: Abu Dawud said: The Salih in this narration is Abu Waqid.
I entered Roman territory with Muslama. A man was brought who had stolen from the spoils of war. Salih asked Salim about the ruling concerning him. Salim said: I heard my father, Salih, relate from Umar bin al-Khattab, who related from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), saying: "If you find someone stealing from the spoils of war, burn his possessions and flog him." Salih said: We found a Qur’an among his belongings. Muslama asked Salim about the ruling concerning it. Salim replied: Sell it and donate the money. [483]
COMMENTARY
The flogging of those who steal from the spoils of war is for discipline. As for burning his possessions, Hasan al-Basri says that if it is an animal or a Qur’an, it should not be burned.
Awza'i and Ahmad bin Hanbal said: His own belongings are burned. That which he gained from the spoils of war is returned into the spoils.
Salih bin Muhammad bin Zayd:
Salih was a virtuous person who gave much counsel. He participated in many battles and displayed excellence in them. He is mentioned among the narrators of hadith. (Tahdhib al-Tahdhib, p. 42)
Salih ibn Muhammad related, saying:
We went on expedition with Walid ibn Hisham, and Salim ibn Abdullah ibn Umar and Umar ibn Abdulaziz were with us. A man took something from the spoils of war. Walid ordered that it be brought to him and burned. He was paraded among the people (exposed). And he was not given his share of the spoils.
Abu Dawud said: This hadith is more authentic than the preceding one. Many related that Walid ibn Hisham burned and beat Ziyad ibn Sa’d's possessions.
Amr bin Shu’ayb narrated from his grandfather through his father:
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ burned the possessions of someone who stole from the spoils of war and beat him.
Abu Dawud says: The Shaykh, Ali bin Bahr, added some sentences to this narration from Walid, but I did not hear from him the sentence, "they did not give him his share." Again, my other Shaykh, Abdul Wahhab Najdat al-Huti, did not narrate the sentence, "they did not give him his share.”
EXPLANATION:
When spoils of war are obtained, one fifth of it is set aside for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ’s family and Bayt al-Mal (the public treasury). The remainder was distributed among the soldiers; a share for infantrymen and two shares for cavalry. Those who secretly take from it or fail to deliver the spoils of war have misappropriated [it] and committed treachery. The punishment for those who commit treachery with respect to the spoils of war is as reported in the hadith narrations.