TO THE CHIEFS OF YEMEN

In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful.



From Muhammad, Prophet of Allah--



To Shuraihbeel and Haris, etc.



Your messenger reached here with Khums (one-fifth of the benefit of the Holy wars), sent by you.



Allah has fixed 'Ushr ' on the produce of rain fed land and fruits of gardens. But 'Ushr on fields and gardens which are irrigated, is half (20th part or 5%) provided in both the cases, the quantity of the produce comes to five wasaq (about two quintals of the present day).



The rate of Zakat on camels and goats is:



1. On every five camels up to 24, grazing on meadows, one goat be given.



2. From 25 to 35, one binte makhaz (the young one of camel, which has entered the second year of life) be given.



3. From 36 to 45, one binte laboon (the young camel which has entered the third year) be given.



4. From 46 to 60, one hiqqa he/she camel which has entered fourth year) be given



5. From 61 to 90, one Jiz' a (one he/she camel which has entered fifth year) be given



6. From 91 to 120, two hiqqas be given



7. On more than 120 camels, one binte laboon on every 40 additional camels and on every 50 additional camels one hiqqa is fixed.



8. On the goats grazing on meadows, Zakat from 40 to 120 goats, is one goat.



9. From 121 to 200, two goats.



10. From 201 to 300, three goats be given and likewise on every 100, one goat be added.



11. Useless, deformed and old cattle should not be given in Zakat.



12. To avoid Zakat, the cattle of two persons should neither be combined nor separated.



13. One every 5 auqias' of silver, the obligatory Zakat is 5 dirham and on less than 5 auqias, there is no Zakat.



14. On more than five auqias, Zakat is one dirham on every 40 dirhams.



15. On gold, on every 40 dinars.' one dinar is obligatory



16. It is not admissible for Muhammad (S.A.W.) and his kins to accept Sadaqa (charity) and Zakat. It is for the poor travellers, etc. only.



17. To associate someone with Allah, to kill a sinless Muslim, to avoid Jihad (holy war), to disobey parents, to falsely accuse a sinless person, to learn magic, to take interest and to grab the property of an orphan, are the major sins in the eyes of Allah.



18. None should touch the Quran without cleansing



19. The Umra of the House of Allah, is a smaller Hajj.



20. There can be no divorce before nikah (formal marriage). In Order to set a slave free it is essential first to purchase to him.



21. Prayers should not be offered in a cloth which cannot cover the entire body. It is not permissible (for a woman) to say prayers, after tying her hair, in the shape of a hump.



22. Whoever will murder a momin (true believer) qisas (death punishment) shall be imposed on him, but if the heirs of the murdered person agree to accept diat (blood money), 100 camels shall be given as compensation for the murder. Compensation for eyes, lips, backs, tongues and private parts, is the same.



23. Compensation for a foot is 50 camels. The same is the compensation for mamuma (the wound of skull which penetrates to the membrane of the brain). Compensation for jaefa(wound of belly) is one third. The compensation of the wound, inflicted with a stick is 15 camels and that for the fingers of hand or foot, is 10 camels for each finger. And for each tooth the compensation is 5 camels. Compensation for muzeha(the wound of head, which exposes skull) is also 5 camels.



In the qisas of a woman, the murderer whether man or woman, shall be put to death.



This is the rate of compensation for the common men. A wealthy person will have to pay one thousand dinars, as compensation.'



Seal: Allah's Prophet Muhammnd



Note: It has been mentioned elsewhere that the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) had sent 'Amar Bin Hazm Ansari as Governor of Yemen. At that time he sent the above injunctions to his administrators Shuraih-beel and Haris.