On the authority of Habib ibn Maslamah: that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, used to grant the one-fourth after the fifth was taken, and the one-third after the fifth was taken, upon their return (from an expedition).

2750 — 'Abdullah ibn Ahmad ibn Bashir ibn Dhakwan and Mahmud ibn Khalid, both of Damascus — with the same meaning — narrated to us: Marwan ibn Muhammad narrated to us, Yahya ibn Hamzah narrated to us, saying: I heard Abu Wahb say: I heard Mak-hul say: I was a slave in Egypt belonging to a woman of Banu Hudhayl, and she freed me. I did not leave Egypt while it contained any knowledge but that I had encompassed it, as far as I could tell. Then I came to the Hijaz, and I did not leave it while it contained any knowledge but that I had encompassed it, as far as I could tell. Then I came to Iraq, and I did not leave it while it contained any knowledge but that I had encompassed it, as far as I could tell.

Its chain of transmission is sound. Ibn Jariyah: he is Ziyad — and it is said: Zayd — a trustworthy successor (tabi'i), as we have mentioned previously in the preceding chain.

It is found in the Musnad of Ahmad (17465).

See also what follows it.

Al-Khattabi said: Ibn al-Mundhir said: It is said that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, only distinguished between the initial advance and the return so as to favor one of the two grants over the other, because of the strength of their mounts upon entering and their weakness upon departing — for they, while entering, are more energetic and more eager for travel, and for pressing deep into enemy territory, and more rested; whereas upon returning, their mounts have weakened, and they are more eager to go back to their homelands and families, due to the length of their absence from them and their longing to return to them. So we hold that he increased their share upon the return for these reasons.

I (the speaker being al-Khattabi) say: This statement of Ibn al-Mundhir is not clear, because its gist suggests that the meaning of "the return" (ar-rij'ah) is the return to their homelands, and that is not the meaning of the hadith.

Rather, "the initial advance" (al-bad'ah) is the beginning of the campaign journey, when a detachment sets out from the main army and falls upon a group of the enemy — whatever they gain, they receive one-fourth of it, and the rest of the army shares with them in the remaining three-fourths.

But if they return from the raid and then go back and fall upon the enemy a second time, they receive one-third of what they gain, because their advance after the return is more arduous, and the danger in it is greater.