al-Hashr 59:7

Al-Hashr 59:7 is the seventh verse of Sūrat al-Ḥashr ("The Gathering"), the fifty-ninth chapter of the Qur'an, a Madinan sūra revealed in connection with the expulsion of the Jewish tribe of Banū al-Naḍīr from Madina in 4 AH (625 CE). The verse legislates the distribution of fay'—property acquired from non-Muslims without the deployment of cavalry or combat, as distinct from ghanīma (spoils taken in actual battle, governed by al-Anfāl 8:41). It directs that such wealth belongs to Allah, the Messenger, near relatives (dhī al-qurbā), orphans (al-yatāmā), the needy (al-masākīn) and the wayfarer (ibn al-sabīl). The verse then states its governing rationale in a clause that has become a foundational maxim of Islamic political economy: kay lā yakūna dūlatan bayna al-aghniyā'i minkum—"so that it does not become a circulation [confined] among the rich among you."

The verse's operative mechanism is twofold. First, it removes fay' from the one-fifth/four-fifths division applicable to battlefield spoils, instead vesting the entire amount in the state and its designated welfare beneficiaries, since no fighters earned it by combat. Second, the closing imperative—wa mā ātākum al-rasūlu fa-khudhūhu wa mā nahākum ʿanhu fa-antahū ("whatever the Messenger gives you, take it; whatever he forbids you, abstain from it")—is cited by classical jurists as a primary textual proof (dalīl) for the binding authority of the Sunna alongside the Qur'an. Thus a single verse anchors both an economic doctrine and a source-of-law principle.

The redistributive clause was invoked historically by ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb when he declined to distribute the conquered agricultural lands of Iraq (the Sawād) among the soldiers after the conquests, retaining them as a continuing fay' endowment for the bayt al-māl and future generations—arguing precisely that wealth must not become a dūla (a thing passed around) among a privileged few. Modern Islamic economists cite 59:7 as a Qur'anic basis for circulation of wealth, anti-monopoly policy, and welfare redistribution, often pairing it with the zakāt and ʿushr systems. As of 2026 the verse remains a standard citation in debates on Islamic finance and distributive justice.

For the CSS Islamic Studies paper, al-Hashr 59:7 is examined chiefly under the economic system of Islam and the concept of circulation of wealth, where candidates are asked to define fay' versus ghanīma, quote the dūla clause, and explain its redistributive logic. It also surfaces in questions on the sources of Islamic law, where the "take what the Messenger gives you" clause is adduced as proof of the Sunna's authority. A strong answer cites the occasion of revelation (Banū al-Naḍīr), distinguishes the categories of beneficiaries, and connects the verse to ʿUmar's Sawād decision and to contemporary Islamic economic thought on wealth concentration.