Bayt al-Mal is a compound phrase construction, and indicates the place where the State's revenues are kept till they are spent. It could also mean the authority responsible for receiving and spending the funds entitled for the Muslims. .

We have already adopted that the wali is given a special authority that excludes the army, judiciary and funds. Thus, the whole army will be a central department (presided over by Amir al-Jihad). The judiciary will be a central department (known as judiciary), and the entire funds form a central department (known as bayt al-mal), which is separate from any other organisation in the State, and follows the Khalifah as do the other organisations. .

There are abundant evidences that the bayt al-mal was under the direct authority of the Messenger (PBUH) or the Khalifah, or whoever he appointed to preside over it. The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) used to on occasions deal directly with the funds, where they had a safe. He used to receive the funds, distribute them and spend them in their due place. On other occasions He (PBUH) used to appoint somebody to take care of that. This is what the Khulafaa' Rashidun used to do after him, where they either they took charge of the Bayt al-mal by themselves or they delegated others to do that on their behalf.. The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) used to place the funds in the mosque, as Al-Bukhari narrated from Anas, he said:. "Some funds were brought to the Prophet (PBUH) from Bahrain. He said: ‘Spread it in the mosque’" [Bukhari, Sahih, #421].. He would sometimes put it in one of the rooms of his wives, as it was narrated by Al-Bukhari from Uqbah, he said: .

hold me back, and I ordered it should be divided’". He otherwise kept them in his safe as Muslim narrated from ‘Umar that he said: .

"So I said to her, ‘Where is the Messenger of Allah (PBUH)?’ She said ‘He is in his safe in the wooden oriel.’ I gazed in the safe of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH), and I suddenly saw an amount of barley of about one sa' (a small cubic measure) and equal to that of tree fruits used for juice on one side of the room. I saw as well an untanned skin hanging in the room. My eyes wept. The Prophet said ‘What does make you weep, son of Al-Khattab?’ I said ‘O Prophet of Allah! Why I should not weep when this mat has influenced your side and this is your safe in which I do not see except that which I see’.” .

At the time of the khulafa’ al-rashidun, the place in which funds were kept came to be known as bayt al-mal. Sa'd mentioned in Al-Tabaqaat from Shall ibn Abi Haythma and others: "Abu Bakr used to have a house in Al-Sanh not guarded by anybody. So it was said to him, ‘Why do you not put somebody to guard it?’ He said, ‘It has a lock.’ He used to give out that which was in it till it became empty. When he moved to Madinah, he moved it and placed it in his house." .

Hinad narrated in Al-Zuhd through a good narration from Anas, he said: "A person came to ‘Umar and said, ‘O Amir ul-Mu'minin! Support me for I want to go in Jihad. ‘Umar replied, ‘Hold his hand and take him to bayt al-malso he can take the funds he wants." Al-Shafi'i narrated in Al-Umm, which was authenticated by Ibn Hajar from ‘Abdullah ibn Wadi’ah, he said: "Salim, the servant of Abu Hudhayfah was a servant to a woman from us called Salma bint Yeaar, she freed him in her days of Jahiliyyah. When he was killed in Al- Yamamah, his heritage was brought to ‘Umar ibn Al-Khattab. So he called upon Wadeeah ibn Khidham and said, ‘This is the heritage of your servant, and you deserve it more.’ He said, ‘O Amir ul-Mu'minin. Allah has made us of no need to him. Our woman has freed him unrestricted; so we do not want to bring disgrace to ourselves, (or to bring loss upon us) from his matter.’ So, ‘Umar put his heritage wealth in the Bayt al-Mal." Al-Bayhaqi and Al-Darimi narrated, and Ibn Hazim corrected that "Sufyan ibn Abdullah ibn Rabeeah Al- Thaqafy found a leather bag and brought it to ‘Umar ibn Al-Khattab. He said, announce it for one year; and if it was recognised then give it, otherwise it is yours.’ .

Nobody recognised it, so he met him the next year and mentioned it to him. ‘Umar said, ‘It is yours, for the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) ordered us "I prayed the asr behind the Prophet (PBUH) in Madinah. He gave salam at the end of the prayer and stood up quickly. He crossed the lines of the Muslims behind him going to some of his wives' rooms. The people were amazed of his speed. He came back to them, and saw they were surprised of his speed. He said, ‘I remembered some gold dust with us, so I hated it would hold me back, and I ordered it should be divided’". He otherwise kept them in his safe as Muslim narrated from ‘Umar that he said: "So I said to her, ‘Where is the Messenger of Allah (PBUH)?’ She said ‘He is in his safe in the wooden oriel.’ I gazed in the safe of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH), and I suddenly saw an amount of barley of about one sa' (a small cubic measure) and equal to that of tree fruits used for juice on one side of the room. I saw as well an untanned skin hanging in the room. My eyes wept. The Prophet said ‘What does make you weep, son of Al-Khattab?’ I said ‘O Prophet of Allah! Why I should not weep when this mat has influenced your side and this is your safe in which I do not see except that which I see’.” .

At the time of the khulafa’ al-rashidun, the place in which funds were kept came to be known as bayt al-mal. Sa'd mentioned in Al-Tabaqaat from Shall ibn Abi Haythma and others: "Abu Bakr used to have a house in Al-Sanh not guarded by anybody. So it was said to him, ‘Why do you not put somebody to guard it?’ He said, ‘It has a lock.’ He used to give out that which was in it till it became empty. When he moved to Madinah, he moved it and placed it in his house.". Hinad narrated in Al-Zuhd through a good narration from Anas, he said: "A person came to ‘Umar and said, ‘O Amir ul-Mu'minin! Support me for I want to go in Jihad. ‘Umar replied, ‘Hold his hand and take him to bayt al-malso he can take the funds he wants." Al-Shafi'i narrated in Al-Umm, which was authenticated by Ibn Hajar from ‘Abdullah ibn Wadi’ah, he said: "Salim, the servant of Abu Hudhayfah was a servant to a woman from us called Salma bint Yeaar, she freed him in her days of Jahiliyyah. When he was killed in Al- Yamamah, his heritage was brought to ‘Umar ibn Al-Khattab. So he called upon Wadeeah ibn Khidham and said, ‘This is the heritage of your servant, and you deserve it more.’ He said, ‘O Amir ul-Mu'minin. Allah has made us of no need to him. Our woman has freed him unrestricted; so we do not want to bring disgrace to ourselves, (or to bring loss upon us) from his matter.’ So, ‘Umar put his heritage wealth in the Bayt al-Mal." Al-Bayhaqi and Al-Darimi narrated, and Ibn Hazim corrected that "Sufyan ibn Abdullah ibn Rabeeah Al- Thaqafy found a leather bag and brought it to ‘Umar ibn Al-Khattab. He said, announce it for one year; and if it was recognised then give it, otherwise it is yours.’ .

Nobody recognised it, so he met him the next year and mentioned it to him. ‘Umar said, ‘It is yours, for the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) ordered us to do that.’ He said, ‘I do not want it.’ ‘Umar took it and put it in the Bayt al- mal." Al-Darimi narrated from Abdullah ibn Amru, he said: "A servant passed away at the time of ‘Uthman without having a relative. So, he ordered that his wealth be put in Bayt al-mal." Ibn Abd al-Barr narrated in Al-Istidhkar from Anas ibn Sirin “Ali used to divide the funds until the bayt al-mal became empty. It would then be cleaned and he would sit in it.". This is in regards to the first meaning of Bayt al-mal, which is the place. With regards to the second meaning, which is the responsible authority, this is necessitated by the fact that the funds are sometimes not kept in a place, such as like the lands, oil wells, gas wells, mines, and the charity funds that are taken from the wealth and paid to its deserved people without being kept in a place. The Bayt al-malis sometimes used to mean the responsible authority as narrated by Al-Bayhaqi, Ahmad in Al-Musnad, and ‘Abd al-Razzaq in His Musannaf, from Lahiq ibn Humayd "Ibn Mas'ud was sent to preside over the judiciary and bayt al-mal.” It would not mean that ‘Umar sent him as a doorman to the bayt al-mal, rather with responsible authority of collecting and spending the funds. This is the same meaning as narrated by Ibn Al- Mubarak in Al-Zuhd from Al-Hasan, when the amirs of Al-Basrah came with Abu Musa Al-Ash’ari and requested from him to assign food for them. He said in concluding his words to them: "O folk of amirs! I have assigned to you from the Bayt al-maltwo sheep and two gareeb (a patch of arable land)", thus it can mean the responsible authority.

The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) was the one that received the donations of ‘Uthman to the army of hardship ('usrah) in his lap. Ahmad narrated and Al-Tirmidhi narrated from hasan and gharib, and Al-Hakim narrated it and corrected it, Al-Dhahabi agreed with him, from Abdul Rahman ibn Samrah that he said: .

"‘Uthman came to the Prophet (PBUH) with one thousand dinar when he prepared the army of the hardship (ghazwah of Tabuk) and he emptied it in the lap of the Prophet (PBUH). He said the Prophet (PBUH) started to turn them around and say: ‘Uthman will not be harmed by any work he does after today, and he said that many times". He used sometimes to divide them by himself. Al-Bukhari narrated from Anas: .

"Funds from Bahrain were brought to the Prophet (PBUH). He said spread them in the mosque. When he finished the prayer, he sat down close to them and left nobody he saw without giving him. So, when the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) stood up there was no single dirham left with them.". Abu Bakr took responsibility of dividing by himself the funds coming from Bahrain. Al-Bukhari narrated from Jabir, he said: .

"The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: ‘If funds came from Bahrain, I would give you thus and thus and thus, i.e. three times. When the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) passed away and the funds came from Bahrain, Abu Bakr ordered somebody to call: Whoever has some debt or something with the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) let him come to us. So I went to him and said the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: ‘for me is thus and thus, so he gave me three times.’".

In a hadith mentioned above of Sufyan Al-Thaqafy regarding the leather bag which he found and announced to ‘Umar: "‘Umar took it and put it in the Bayt al-mal". Al-Shafi'i narrated in Al-Umm, he said: "More than one of the scholars told us that when the spoils of Iraq reached ‘Umar ibn Al-Khattab, the trustee of Bayt al-mal told him, ‘let me put them in the Bayt al-mal.’ He said: ‘No! By the Lord of the Ka'bah, it will not be kept in any house till it is divided.’ So he ordered it should be put in the masjid, and leather mats were put on top of it and men from Al-Muhajirin and Al-Ansar guarded it. In the morning, Al-‘Abbas ibn Abdul Muttalib and Abdul Rahman ibn Awf went out with him, he was either holding the hand of one of them, or one of them was holding his hand. When they saw him, they removed the leather mats away from the funds. So, he saw a scene he never saw before. He saw the gold, sapphire, chrysolite and pearl sparkling and he cried. One of them said to him, ‘By Allah! This is not a day of crying, rather a day of praising and delight.’ He said ‘By Allah! I did not think of it your way. Rather, such funds will not increase in any people except their harm falls between them.’ Then he turned to the Qiblah, rose up his hands and said, ‘O my Lord! I seek protection with you from being allured, for I hear You (S.W.T) saying: .

"We lead them on from whence they do not know". [TMQ 7:183].

Then he said, ‘Where is Suraqah ibn Ja'sham?’ He was brought to him while his arms were hairy and slim. He gave him the two bracelets of Kisra. He said, .