Machine summary:
For we come across scores of enfeoffments in the time of the Prophet regarding lands situate in different parts of Arabia and Palestine in favour of people rendering useful services to the Muslim State, in spite of the fact that these places had peacefully been won over to Islam.
Soon after the time of the Prophet, when the fertile lands of 'Iraq and Syria were occupied by Muslim armies, the soldiers clamoured for the distribution among them of the booty, in which they included lands, in accordance with the Muslim law of war-booty.
of peace which the peoples of the conquered countries had offered, and of the request of the Muslims to distribute among them as war• booty the cities and its inhabitants and lands with their trees and cultivation, adding that he had refused to do so until he had written to him and asked for his opinion.
"3 These are the sons of Adam, white and black; and God has included them among the recipients of these spoils down to the Last Day. So let what God has given you as spoil remain in the hands of its [original] owners yet impose the protection-tax upon them according to their capacity, which you shall distribute among the Muslims, and which will be a source of the prosperity of the country.
3 We may conclude this Chapter with a State document of the time oi the Prophet, in which trade with the enemy was expressly permitted : In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.