The obligation of khums, which is understood from verse 41 of Surah Anfal, is a difference of opinion among the scholars of the two sects in some aspects, such as the meaning and scope of the word booty, from the branches of Islam and the common denominator of all Muslims. Shiite scholars, citing the absoluteness of the word booty and emphatic words and the word "I am the object" in the verses and hadiths of the Infallibles (peace be upon them), call booty any benefit that man obtains. The Sunni scholars also, since there is no restriction in its original meaning and by quoting the word "I am an object" and the narrations of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), have interpreted the word booty in everything that a person obtains. But for customary reasons they consider it bound to spoils of war, because the narrations of the Prophet (peace be upon him) which stated only the division of spoils, never indicate the monopoly of khums on spoils of war and the interpretation of spoils to spoils of war by the followers. Most are the result of their ijtihad.This article tries to study the word "booty" from the perspective of Shiite and Sunni scholars by using the library and analytical-descriptive method in order to reveal the reasons for the scholars' disagreement.
