Zakat on Livestock
প্রশ্ন · Question
Our Esteemed Amir, Assalamu Alaikoum wa Rahmatu Allah wa
Barakatuh,
May Allah honor your efforts with goodness and bring victory and
strength through you.
It was mentioned in the book “Finance in the Khilafah State”, (Arabic
edition page 153) in the chapter “Zakat on Livestock: Cattle” as
follows: “Zakat obligated on cattle livestock which have been pasturing
for almost a year”. It was also mentioned in “Zakat on Sheep” on page
155 as follows: “Zakat is obligated on sheep livestock which have been
pasturing most of the year if the liable prescribed minimum has
reached the whole year.”
The question is: Is there no Zakat on the non -pasturing sheep and
cattle but money has been spent on them most of the year? If there is
Zakat on them, how much would that be?
Another question, if you don’t mind answering: Why was the Zakat on
livestock mentioned for cattle, sheep, and camels but have not been
mentioned on birds especially chicken, which have been bred in the
thousands inside modern cages, or are they considered part of
transactions??
May Allah reward you for welcoming my questions, Wa Assalamu
Alaikoum wa Rahmatu Allah wa Barakatuh
উত্তর · Answer
Wa Alaikum Assalam wa Rahmatuh Allah wa Barakatuh,
1. Yes, there is no Zakat on foraged sheep and cattle, because the
“animal’s supplied food” describes the concept of the causation, and
the concept of the attribute is to connect the legal ruling with an
attribute from amongst the personal attributes. This shows the
negation of the legal ruling for the individual when the attribute does
not exist, and its condition is for this attribute to be distinctively clear,
meaning that it fulfills the causation, and so if it doesn’t, then the
concept ceases to exist. I repeat, the condition of the concept of the
attribute must be a distinctively clear attribute, such as what he ﷺ
said: «“… the owner has to pay one sheep as
Zakat” (reported by Bukhari). The term “sheep” is a noun, and it has
two attributes: pasturing and foraging, and so the obligation is upon
those which pasture, yet not those which forage.
As for the other question about why is there Zakat on livestock (e.g.
sheep, cattle, and camels) yet not on others animals such as birds,
poultry, etc., this is because the text mentioned only these livestock,
so we follow that and we stop at that. The texts regarding this are
three:
• Abu Dharr narrated from Abu Bakr, from the Rasuul ﷺ that he
ﷺ said: «
القيامة، أعظم ما كانت، وأسمن، تنطحه بقرونها، وتطؤه بأخفافهاThere is
no owner of camels, cattle or sheep who does not give Zakah
on them, but they will come on the Day of Resurrection as big
and fast as they ever were, and will gore him with their horns
and trample him with their hooves.” (Agreed upon)
• Abu Daoud narrated from Abu Bakr from the Rasuul ﷺ in a
long Hadith that he ﷺ said: ي سائمة الغنم إذا كانت أربعيْ ، ففيها
«
شاةas for the pasturing sheep, if they reach forty, then
one sheep is given in Zakat…”
• From Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, who narrated from
the Rasuul ﷺ :ي البقر العوامل صدقة
«“There is no Zakat on
the plowing bovine” (reported by Abu Obeid and al-Bayhaqi)
• Also narrated from Amr ibn Dinar who said that he heard that
the Rasuul ﷺ said «ي الثور المثيْة صدقة
ليس ف There is no Zakat
on the plowing bovine” (reported by Abu Obeid), and it was
also narrated from Jaber ibn Abdullah that he ﷺ said: «لا صدقة
علَ مثيْة » “There is no Zakat on the plowing cattle” , and the
term “plowing cattle” means the animals used to plow the
ground, making it ready for agriculture.
• Al-Hakim extracted in his book, Al-Mustadrak, two Hadith Sahih
narrated by Bahz ibn Hakim on the authority of his father on
the authority of his grandfather, who said: I heard the Rasuul
ﷺ say: ..ي كل أربعيْ ابن لبون
ي كل إبل سائمة ف
«» . “With regards to
pasturing camels, for every forty there is a BinLabboun (a two-
year old camel)…” (reported by Al -Hakim that this Hadith is
Sahih in its Isnad (chain of transmission) “The pasturing
livestock: are livestock which graze in the prairies and farm
lands without being foraged.”
•
• Therefore, these three farm animals must have Zakat paid for
them, as mentioned above, since the Zakat is upon the
pasturing animals which have been grazing for more than a
year.
The text did not mention Zakat on any other type of animals, birds, or
sea creatures, as these texts stop at only mentioning Zakat on the farm
animals previously cited. As for the animals meant for trading, then
Zakat is obligatory upon them according to the Zakat of transactions as
it was clarified in its chapter from the Book of Finance.
In summary, there is no Zakat on a variety of animals except for farm
animals: sheep, cattle, and camels. As for animals in transactions,
there is Zakat on every animal whether it was for trading (i.e. selling
and buying) since there are texts about such Zakat on everything that
is put up for trading offers whatever the product is, whether it was
seeds, cloths, or animals, etc. We shall mention some of the texts
about transactions:
• From Samura ibn Jundub who said: «
عليه وسلم كان يأمرنا أن نخ رج الصدقة من الذي نعد للبيع To proceed,
the Rasuul ﷺ used to order us to take out the Zakat from the
things we put up for sale” (reported by Abu Daoud)
• From Abu Dharr, who narrated from the Rasuul ﷺ saying:ي
«
اليَْ ر صدقته There is Zakat on textiles” (reported by Ad -
Darqutni and Al -Bayhaqi). Textiles include clothes and cloths
meant for trading.
• Abu Obeid reported from Abu Umra ibn Hamas from his father
who said: «
لَي مال إلاّ جعاب، وأدم. فقال: قوّمها قيمة، ثمّ أدّ زكاتها ... Omar ibn Al
Khattab passed by me, and he said: O’ Hamas, pay the Zakat
on your money”. So, I said: I don’t have any money except for
this bag, and a skin bag. He said: Then try putting a value on
it, then pay its Zakat.”
We hope that this will be a fulfilling answer, and Allah is All Knowing
and Most Wise.
Your Brother,
Abu Yasin
19 Muharram 1440 AH
Corresponding to 29/09/2018 CE