The Sawad of Iraq

Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) said: I do not know what to say about the land of al-Sawad (the cultivated land of Iraq) except a supposition joined to knowledge. That is because I found that the soundest hadith which the people of Kufah narrate about al-Sawad contains no clear statement, and I found among their hadiths others that contradict it: among them, they say al-Sawad was taken by treaty; they say al-Sawad was taken by force; and they say part of al-Sawad was taken by treaty and part of it by force.

Ash'ath narrates from Ibn Sirin (may Allah have mercy on him) that he said: Part of al-Sawad was taken by treaty and part of it by force. What was taken by force belongs to the Muslims, and where there was a treaty, their wealth remains theirs.

Abdullah bin Ma'qil (may Allah have mercy on him) said: No land on this side of the mountain is to be sold, except the land of Banu Saluba and the land of al-Hirah, for they have a covenant. Al-Hasan bin Salih (may Allah have mercy on him) said: We used to hear that what lies on this side of the mountain, as against what lies beyond it, was taken by treaty.

Abdullah bin Ma'qil (may Allah have mercy on him) said: The people of al-Sawad have no covenant except (the people of) the land of al-Hirah, Ullays and Baniqya. Sharik (may Allah have mercy on him) said: The people of Baniqya had guided Jarir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) to a ford, and the people of Ullays had hosted Abu Ubaydah (may Allah be pleased with him) and guided him to something. Yahya (may Allah have mercy on him) said: I think he means a weak point of the enemy.

Al-Sha'bi (may Allah have mercy on him) said that Khalid bin al-Walid (may Allah be pleased with him) made a treaty with (the people of) al-Hirah and the people of Ayn al-Tamr, and wrote to Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), who approved it. Yahya said: I said to al-Hasan bin Salih (may Allah have mercy on him): So the people of Ayn al-Tamr are like the people of al-Hirah: something is due from them, but nothing is due on their land? He said: Yes.

Al-Aswad bin Qays (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates from his father (may Allah have mercy on him) that he said: When we reached the people of al-Hirah, we made a treaty with them for one thousand dirhams and a mount. He said: I said to my father: What did you do with that mount? He said: (It was for) a companion of ours who had no mount. This is how it is in my book: one thousand dirhams; others said: seventy thousand dirhams.

Ash'ath narrates from al-Hakam (may Allah have mercy on him) that they used to permit buying land of al-Hirah, because they had a treaty.

Mujalid bin Sa'id said: The people of al-Hirah were given terms only on what they had not divided among themselves, and nothing was due on the heads of the men.

Jabir (al-Ju'fi) narrates from al-Sha'bi (may Allah have mercy on him) that he said: The people of al-Anbar had a covenant, or he said: a pact.

Jabir (al-Ju'fi) narrates from Amir (al-Sha'bi) (may Allah have mercy on him) that he said: The people of al-Sawad had no covenant; they only surrendered to a ruling.

Muhammad bin Qays al-Asadi narrates from Imam al-Sha'bi (may Allah have mercy on him) that he was asked, in the time of Umar bin Abd al-Aziz (may Allah have mercy on him), about the people of al-Sawad: Did they have a covenant? He said: They had none; but when kharaj (land tax) began to be taken from them with consent, they came to have a covenant.

Al-Hasan bin Salih narrates from Ibn Abi Layla that Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) returned their lands to them and made a treaty with them on (payment of) kharaj.

Yazid bin Abi Habib (may Allah have mercy on him) said that Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) wrote to Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him) at the time of the conquest of Iraq: After praise and glorification: Your letter has reached me, in which you mention that the people ask you to divide the spoils of war among them, and what Allah has granted you as fay'. When my letter reaches you, look at whatever horses or wealth the people have brought to you in the camp, and divide it among the Muslims who are present. Leave the lands and the rivers to those who work them, so that (their revenue) goes into the stipends of the Muslims. If you divide them among those present, nothing will remain for those who come after them.

It is reported from Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) that he intended to divide the people of al-Sawad among the Muslims and ordered that they be counted. They found that each Muslim man would receive three peasants (non-Arab farmers). He consulted the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) about it, and Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Leave them, so that they remain a source of supply for the Muslims. So he sent Uthman bin Hunayf (may Allah be pleased with him), who imposed on them (a tax of) 48, 24 and 12 (dirhams).

Abd al-Malik bin Abi Hurrah narrates from his father that Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) reserved for himself ten categories of al-Sawad: (1) the land of those killed in the fighting, (2) of those who fled to the disbelievers, (3) all the land of Kisra, (4) all the land that belonged to anyone of his (Kisra's) family, (5) every marshland where water collects, (6) every post-house. He said: I have forgotten four. Their total kharaj amounted to seven million. When the (battle of Dayr al-)Jamajim took place, the people burned the registers, and everyone took possession of whatever came into his hands.

A man of Banu Asad narrates from his father that Sayyiduna Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) reserved for himself the land of Kisra and the land of the family of Kisra, and the land of those whose land Kisra had reserved for himself, and the land of those killed in the fighting and of those who fled, and the reed-thickets and the marshlands where water collects.

Tha'labah al-Himmani said: We came to Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) at a place called al-Rahbah, and he said: If you would not fight among yourselves, I would divide al-Sawad among you.

Tha'labah bin Yazid al-Himmani narrates something similar (to the previous report) from Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him).

Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) said: They say that Jarir bin Abdullah al-Bajali (may Allah be pleased with him) (the report follows in the next narration).

Qays bin Abi Hazim narrates from Sayyiduna Jarir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) that Bajilah were a quarter of the people, so a quarter of the Sawad was allotted to them, and they took its produce for three or four years (this doubt is mine). Then I came to Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), and with me was a woman from among them; I do not remember her name. Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Were it not that I fear being questioned, I would leave you with your allotment; but I think you should return it to the people." Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) said: In the hadith it is: "He compensated me for my right with more than eighty dinars," and in another narration the woman said: "My father was present at the Battle of al-Qadisiyyah and his share was fixed; I will not give it up until I am given such-and-such." So he gave it to her.
(b) Hushaym narrates from Isma'il that he mentioned the story of the woman, who was Umm Kurz (may Allah be pleased with her); she said: "Now mount me on a she-camel bearing a red cloth, and fill both my hands with gold." So he gave it, and the dinars were about eighty.

Qays bin Abi Hazim (may Allah have mercy on him) said: When Jarir bin Abdullah and Ammar bin Yasir (may Allah be pleased with them both) and some Muslims came to Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said to Jarir (may Allah be pleased with him): By Allah! Were I not a distributor who is answerable for it, you would have remained upon the first allotment; but I want to return it to the Muslims. And he did return it. A quarter of the Sawad had been with Bajilah; they collected its kharaj for three years, and he took it back from them and gave him eighty dinars.

Qays bin Abi Hazim said: We were a quarter of the people on the day of al-Qadisiyyah, and Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) gave us a quarter of the Sawad; we collected its kharaj for three years. After that, the delegation of Jarir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) came to Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), and he said: Were I not afraid of being questioned about the distribution, I would have kept you upon that allotment; but in my view you should return it to the Muslims. They did so, and Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) rewarded him with eighty dinars.

Qays bin Abi Hazim said: Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) gave Jarir (may Allah be pleased with him) and his people a quarter of the Sawad. They collected its kharaj for two or three years. Then Jarir and Ammar bin Yasir (may Allah be pleased with them both) went to Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), and he said: "O Jarir! If I were not going to be questioned about the distribution, I would have kept you in that same state. But now return it to the Muslims." So Jarir (may Allah be pleased with him) returned the quarter of the Sawad, and in exchange Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) gave him eighty dinars.

Al-Sha'bi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said to Jarir (may Allah be pleased with him): "Will you go to Iraq? You will be given a quarter or a third, after the fifth, of every land and everything."
This report is munqati' (its chain is broken), while the one before it is mawsul (connected), and among the reports we have narrated concerning the Sawad of Iraq there is none more authentic than it.
Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) said: In this hadith there is an indication that, when Jarir al-Bajali was given compensation for his share, just as the woman was given compensation for her father's share, this was with the willing consent of those who had ridden against it in battle. They gave up their rights and it was made a waqf (endowment) for the Muslims. It is permissible for the Imam, if a land is conquered by force today and he counts those who conquered it and they willingly give up their rights in it, to make it a waqf; their right in it is four-fifths, and the people of the fifth are to be given their full right, unless the adults among them give up their rights, in which case that is for the Imam. The ruling on land is like the ruling on wealth. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) took the people of Hawazin captive and divided their wealth among those who had conquered. Then the delegation of Hawazin came as Muslims and appealed to him to show them favour, so he (peace and blessings be upon him) gave them the choice of taking one thing, either the captives or the wealth. They said: "You (peace and blessings be upon him) have given us a choice between our kin and our wealth; we choose our kin." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) gave up his own right and the right of his household. When the Muhajirun and the Ansar (may Allah be pleased with them) heard of it, they too gave up their rights. Some of the later Muhajirun and of those who embraced Islam at the Conquest remained, so he (peace and blessings be upon him) appointed one man as overseer over every ten, then said: "Bring me the willing consent of those who remain; whoever is unwilling, he will have from me such-and-such camels," up to a time that he (peace and blessings be upon him) specified. All of them gave up their rights except al-Aqra' bin Habis and Uyaynah bin Badr (may Allah be pleased with them both); the two of them refused in order to shame Hawazin. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not compel them to do so, until later both of them gave up their right, while Uyaynah was tricked out of his right, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) handed over to them (Hawazin) the right of those who had willingly given up their right.
Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) said: In our view, concerning the Sawad and its conquests, if they were by force, this is the most fitting course to attribute to Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him).

Sayyiduna Adi bin Hatim (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The city of al-Hirah was shown to me like the canine teeth of dogs, and you will conquer it." A man stood up and said: O Prophet of Allah! Grant me the daughter of Buqaylah. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "She is yours." He (peace and blessings be upon him) gave her to him. Then her father came and said: Will you sell her? He asked: For how much? He said: Decide whatever you wish. He said: A thousand dirhams. He said: I have bought her. They said: Had he asked even thirty thousand, they would still have bought her. He said: Is there any number greater than a thousand?
Ibn Abi Umar alone narrated it from Sufyan in this way; others narrated it from Sufyan through Ali bin Zayd bin Jud'an.
(b) The well-known version is that this hadith is from Khuraym bin Aws; he is the one to whom the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) gave this woman.