(b) All earnings generally… Furthermore...

(b) All earnings generally… Furthermore, the saying al-ghunm bi ‘l-ghurm means that the profit stands against expenses, as the owner is the sole proprietor of the profit and nobody shares it with him, therefore only he bears all the expenses and risk.’ (1) This implies that in the Arabic language al-ghanimah has two meanings: one, the spoils of war, and the other ‘profit’. The above-quoted proverb also proves that ‘profit’ isn’t an uncommon meaning.

When a word in the Qur’an can be interpreted in more than one way, it is incumbent upon Muslims to seek guidance from the Prophet and the Ahl ul-Bayt (PBUH). Otherwise, they would be guilty of tafsir bi ‘r-ra’iy (interpreting the Qur’an according to one’s own personal views); and this is a Big sin which pushes the sinner into Hell based on so many traditions.

The History of Khums Khums is one of those things which were introduced by `Abdu ‘l-Muttalib (PBUH), the grandfather of the Prophet (PBUHH), and continued in Islam. Acting upon a command of Allah given to him in a dream, when `Abdu ‘l-Muttalib (PBUH) rediscovered the well of Zamzam, he found in it many valuable things which were buried in it in a very remote past by the Ismailites when they feared that their enemies would usurp them.

When `Abdu ‘l-Muttalib found that buried treasure, he gave away its one-fifth (literally, khums) in the way of God and kept the remaining four-fifth to himself. Then it became a custom in his family; and after the Hijrah of the Prophet (PBUH&HP), the same system was incorporated into Islam.

Thus, the first khums was not given from the ‘spoils of war’, but from a buried treasure (which is one of the seven items eligible for khums.) “The Islamic Laws: Not a single sect of Islam confines the meaning of ghanimah to the ‘spoils of war’. In addition to the ‘spoils of war’ the following items are subject to khums: (a) Minerals: eligible for khums in Shia and Hanafi sects. (b) Buried treasure: eligible for khums in all Muslim sects (that is, Shia, Hanafi, Maliki, Hanbali and Shafi`iy).

“The Interpretation of the Qur’an: As mentioned earlier, the interpretation of the Qur’an must be based on the teachings of the Ahlu ‘l-Bayt (PBUTH). The word ghanimah in the verse under discussion has clearly been interpreted as ‘al-fa’idatu ‘l-muktasabah — the earned profit’ by our Imams (PBUTH). What has been quoted above can also be substantiated from the practice of the Prophet of Islam himself.