Prohibition of misappropriating spoils (ghulul)
تحريم الغلول
A strict legal and ethical prohibition forbidding the misappropriation of spoils before equitable distribution; emphasized by the Prophet at al-Ji'rana holding up a tuft of camel hair and warning that ghulul brings disgrace and fire on the Day of Resurrection even down to a needle and thread.
At a glance
- Era
- The Prophetic Era
- Region
- Arabia
- Review
- Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it
Laws of war and peaceHalal and haram
Summary
A legal and ethical ruling in Islam's laws of war: an absolute prohibition on any taking or concealing of spoil wealth before its just division among the army; the Prophet stressed it at al-Ji'rana, warning against even thread and needle 1.
The scene of the hair-tuft and the warning
Amr ibn Shu'ayb related that when the people crowded upon the Prophet at al-Ji'rana asking for the fay', he leaned against a camel, took a tuft of hair from its hump between two fingers and raised it, saying: "People, by God I have nothing of your fay' — not even this hair-tuft — save the fifth, and the fifth is returned to you. Hand over thread and needle, for ghulul is upon its people a disgrace, a fire and a shame on the Day of Resurrection" 1.
A man of the Ansar came with a ball of spun camel hair and said: "I took this to mend my camel's pack-saddle." The Prophet said: "What was mine and Banu Abd al-Muttalib's is yours." The man said: "If it has reached this, I have no need of it" — and threw it down 1.
For young visitors
The Prophet taught his army complete honesty in distributing wealth, and stressed that no soldier may secretly take anything of the spoils — even a thread and a needle — to guarantee full justice for all.
Connections
- Based on
- The distribution of Hunayn spoils at al-Ji'rana
- Practiced in
- al-Ji'rana
People and things also explored
Reconciliation of hearts (al-mu'allafa qulubuhum)The Prophet's address to the Ansar at al-Ji'ranaThe distribution of Hunayn spoils at al-Ji'ranaal-Ji'ranaThe Battle of HunaynThe Hawazin delegation and the amnesty of captivesThe Prophet's speech to the Ansar at al-Ji'ranaThe Prophet's Umrah from al-Ji'rana
Sources
- al-Sira al-Nabawiyya — Ibn Hisham, al-Saqqa edition (1355/1936), 4/135
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “Prohibition of misappropriating spoils (ghulul)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/ghulul/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Accessed 2026-10-12.