Tribute, Spoils, and Rulership (Kitab Al-Kharaj, Wal-Fai' Wal-Imarah)

Dawud :: Book 19 : Hadith 2978

Narrated Ali ibn AbuTalib:

I, al-Abbas, Fatimah and Zayd ibn Harithah gathered with the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) and I said: Apostle of Allah, if you think to assign us our right (portion) in this fifth ( of the booty) as mentioned in the Book of Allah, and this I may divide during your lifetime so that no one may dispute me after you, then do it. He said: He did that. He said: I divided it during the lifetime of the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him). AbuBakr then assigned it to me. During the last days of the caliphate of Umar a good deal of property came to him and took out our portion. I said to him: We are well to do this year; but the Muslims are needy, so return it to them. He, therefore, returned it to them. No one called me after Umar. I met al-Abbas when I came out from Umar. He said: Ali, today you have deprived us of a thing that will never be returned to us. He was indeed a man of wisdom.