The house of money and wealth or in Arabic term as Bayt al Mal (Bait ul Maal) is one of the most powerful institution to eradicate poverty of Muslim community during the era of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) and His companions. Bait ul Maal was the department that dealt with the revenues and all other economic matters of the state and it was utilizes for various purposes. Some of the sources indicate to that the Caliph Hazrat Umar (RA) is the one who first initiated the function of Bait ul Maal. However, most of the sources mentioned that the Caliph Abu Bakr (RA) is the one who established Bait ul Maal for the Muslims. At the time of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) though Bait ul Maal was not formed as an institution but some of the activities and services of Bait ul Maal were there. There were people who record the public properties of the Muslims like war booties, fifth of the spoils, charity funds, weapons and instruments of the army and so forth. All of these were registered and stored until disbursement. In fact, Bait ul Maal in the sense of the place where revenues are kept and from which expenses are spent, no such place is specified during the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW); because at that time revenues were limited and there was hardly anything left after what had been distributed amongst the Muslims and spent for them. The Prophet (SAW) used to distribute the spoils and the fifths (khumus) at the end of each battle. He would not delay the distribution of the funds or spending them on their eligible categories.
- There never used to be any saved funds that needed to be kept in a place or on. After the period of Caliph Umar (RA) Bait ul Maal continuously played its role throughout the Islamic epoch until the modern systems have appeared and replaced it, and consequently now it’s role has been confined to a few activities .
Hanzalah ibn Sayfi, who was a clerk to the Prophet, reported: the Prophet (SAW) told me: “Accompany me and remind me of everything for no later than three days”. He said: “so I kept on reminding him for three days about any fund or food or any money I received, so the Prophet (SAW) would not spend the night except after he distributed everything”. Most of the time, the funds used to be distributed on the same day. Hasan ibn Muhammad reported: “the Prophet (SAW) never used to keep any fund till late in the day or overnight”, i.e. if He received it in the morning, he would distribute before noon, if He received in the evening he would spend it and would not keep it overnight. Therefore, there never used to be any saved funds that needed to be kept in a place or on. After the period of Caliph Umar (RA) Bait ul Maal continuously played its role throughout the Islamic epoch until the modern systems have appeared and replaced it, and consequently now it’s role has been confined to a few activities.
