Khums

In Islamic tradition, Khums (Arabic: خمس‎ Arabic pronunciation: [xums], literally 'Fifth') refers to the historically required religious obligation of Muslim army to pay one-fifth of spoils of war, booty collected from non-believers after a military campaign; this tax was paid to the Caliph or Sultan, representing the state of Islam.

Khums is a 20% tax that must be paid on all items regarded as ghanima (Arabic: الْغَنیمَة‎, booty seized with war). There are differing legal traditions within Islam about what constitutes ghanima, and thus how far-reaching khums should be. In some jurisdictions, Khums included a 20% tax paid on business profit and minerals. Khums is different and separate from other Islamic taxes such as zakat and jizya.

In Sunni tradition, ghanim is defined as the spoils of war. In Shia tradition, the definition also includes taxes on profit and minerals.^[3] There are differences of opinion about the scope of Khums in Sunni and Shia sects of Islam, as well as who owns it and how should the collected khums be spent.