Narrated Malik b. Aus b. al-Hadathan told that one day ‘Umar b. al-Khattab mentioned the fai’ saying:
I have no more right to this fai’ than you, and none of us has more right to it than another, except that we occupy our positions fixed by the Book of God who is great and glorious and the division made by His Messenger, people being arranged according to their precedence in accepting Islam, the hardships they have endured, their having children, and their need.
‘A’isha said the Prophet was brought a pouch containing beads and divided it among freewomen and slave women. She said her father used to divide things between freemen and slaves.
He told that ‘Umar b. al-Khattab recited, “Alms are for the poor and needy…Knowing, Wise," (Al-Qur’an; 9:60) and said that this verse applies to such. He then recited, “Know that a fifth of whatever booty you acquire goes to God and the Messenger . . . the traveller," (Al-Qur’an; 8:41) and said that this verse applies to such. He then recited, “What God has bestowed on His Messenger from the people of the towns ... to the poor" (Al-Qur’an; 59:7 f. The last word mentioned is the first word of verse 8. It may mean that he recited the whole of verse 8). He then recited, “And those who came after them," (Al-Qur’an; 59:10) saying that this includes all the Muslims, and adding that if he lived the herdsman in the sarw* of Himyar would certainly get his share which he had not earned by the sweat of his brow.
* The word means a hill slope above a valley, not right upon the mountain. When associated with Himyar it is said to mean their settlement, cf. Yaqut, Mu'jam, iii, 82. The Himyarites were a famous South Arabian people.
