The Treasury (بَيْتُ الـمالِ)
أصول الفقه
المعنى الاصطلاحي :
The authority that possesses the public funds of the Muslims.
الشرح المختصر :
The term “bayt-ul-maal” (the treasury) was used in the early days of Islam to refer to the building or place where the public funds of the Islamic state were kept. Later, it evolved until it has come to refer to the authority that possesses the public funds of the Muslims. ‘Public funds’ means all the wealth that all Muslims are entitled to own, and it does not belong to any specific person or group of them.