The share of the near kin: for whom is it?

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Jubayr bin Mut'im (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) distributed the share of the near relatives among Banu Hashim and Banu al-Muttalib.

Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I said: "O Messenger of Allah, if you see fit, appoint me as guardian over our share of the one-fifth in the Book of Allah, so that I may distribute it during your lifetime and no one may dispute with me over it after you." He said: "We will do that." So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) appointed me its guardian, and I distributed it during the lifetime of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Then Sayyiduna Abu Bakr al-Siddiq appointed me its guardian, and I distributed it during the lifetime of Sayyiduna Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him). Then Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) appointed me its guardian, and I distributed it during the lifetime of Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him). Then came the last year of the caliphate of Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him). A great deal of wealth came to him, and he set our right aside. Then he sent for me and said: "This is your right. Take it and distribute it where you used to distribute it." I said: "O Commander of the Faithful, this year we have no need of it, while the Muslims have greater need of it." So that year it was returned to him. Then after Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) no one called us to it, up until I have come to stand in this position of mine. After I left Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), I met Sayyiduna al-Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him), and he said: "O Ali, this morning you have deprived us of something (a right) that will never be given to us until the Day of Resurrection." And Sayyiduna al-Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) was a man of excellent judgment.

It is narrated from Yazid bin Hurmuz that Najdah wrote to Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), asking him for whom the share of the near relatives is. Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) wrote back: "You have written to ask me for whom the share of the near relatives is. That share is for us." Then he said: "Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) invited us to have our unmarried women married from it, to provide servants from it for our needy, and to pay off from it the debts of our debtors. We refused that unless all of it was handed over to us. He refused to do so, so we left it with him."

It is narrated from al-Hasan bin Muhammad Ibn al-Hanafiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) that after the passing of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), the people differed concerning two shares: the share of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and the share of the near relatives. One group said: "The share of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) after him goes to his successor (Caliph)." Another group said: "The share of the near relatives goes to the relatives of the Caliph." Then they all agreed that they would spend these two shares on horses and on preparation for jihad.

Ata said: When Umar bin Abd al-Aziz became Caliph, he sent these two shares (the share of the Messenger of Allah and the share of the near relatives) to Banu Hashim.

Al-Suddi said that what is meant by the statement of Allah, "and for the near relatives," is Banu Abd al-Muttalib.

It is narrated from Sa'id al-Maqburi (may Allah have mercy on him) that Najdah wrote to Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), asking him about the share of the near relatives. Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) wrote in reply: "We hold that we are the ones meant, but our people refused this to us."

Al-Hasan (may Allah have mercy on him) said concerning the verse of the Noble Qur'an, "for Allah and for the Messenger and for the near relatives and the orphans and the needy and the wayfarer" [Al-Hashr: 7]: After the passing of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), the one-fifth (khums) was not given to the People of the Household, neither by Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), nor by Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), nor by anyone else. They held that this was at the discretion of the Imam, who would spend it in the way of Allah and on the poor, wherever Allah guided him.