22nd Safar 1444AH
Assalamu alaykum warahmatullahi wabarakaatuh!
Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Raheem.
May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon our Leader and Master, Muhammad (SAW).
Zakah in general and on livestock in particular is obligatory. Narrated Abu Dhar: Once I went to him (the Prophet – SAW) and he said, “By Allah, except Whom none has the right to be worshipped, whoever had camels or cows or sheep and did not pay their Zakat, those animals will be brought on the Day of Resurrection far bigger and fatter than before and they will tread him under their hooves, and will butt him with their horns, and (those animals will come in circle). When the last does its turn, the first will start again, and this punishment will go on till Allah has finished the judgments amongst the people” (Bukhari).
For the purpose of ascertaining the Zakah on livestock, distinction is made between:
Freely grazing (as done by the nomads) – By freely grazing is meant the animal goes out to feed without the owner buying or bringing it feed or hay. Grazing camels, grazing cows and grazing sheep and goats are all eligible for Zakat payment.
Ranched animals – Animals do not go the way of the nomads but keep in ranches and fed at the expense of the owner. There is no Zakah in the stock by ranching. The stock will, however, be considered as articles of trade, then will be assessed for Zakah as articles of trade when the profit earned from their sale reaches the amount by itself or in combination with other articles of the trade.
The following conditions are relevant in the determination of Zakah payable on livestock:
o The minimum number of heads (nisab) is attained for each category. Further details are provided below.
o A lunar year (hawl) has elapsed while nisab remained in ownership (the year starts from the day of the nisab’s possession, without any decrease during the year). The Prophet (SAW) said, ”Zakah is not due on a property unless after the lapse of a full year.”
o These animals were not used as beasts of burden (draft animals), that is, in physical activities such as ploughing, logging, harrowing, transport, etc. This is confirmed by the Prophet’s saying, ”Nothing is due on the cattle used in cultivation.”
o These animals were not fed fodder (i.e., they were left freely grazing for most of the year). This is the opinion of majority of the scholars. However, the Malikis didn’t stipulate this condition.
In case the cattle bear offspring during the year, the value of the offspring is to be added to the total value of cattle. If the possession is interrupted during the year due to selling cattle or bartering them, a new year is to be calculated from the day in which the cattle are sold or bartered, provided that the owner did not do that with the intention of evading the payment of Zakah.
If these conditions are met, the next step will be the application of zakah rates to each category of livestock. To this end, there are standard tables of numbers that are used to determine how many heads of each kind will be taken out for the purpose of zakah. Animals that would be given out for zakah must be healthy, defect-free, and missing no organ or limb such as an eye, an ear, a leg, a tail, etc.
The Percentage and Amount of Zakah
Zakah on Camels: The Nisab and amounts of Zakah due on camels are illustrated as follows:
No. of Camels The amount of Zakah due Remarks
From 1 To 4 No Zakah is due Abu Sa’eed al-Khudri (RA) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (SAW) said: “No Zakah is imposed on less that 5 camels” (Bukhari).
From 5 To 9 One sheep of 2years or One goat of 3 years
From 10 To 14 Two sheep
From 15 To 19 Three sheep
From 20 To 24 Four sheep
From 25 To 35 A she-camel between 1 and 2 years Giving Zakah in Camel starts at this point. The sheep/goat substitutes in the earlier classes is an ease granted by Allah.
From 36 To 45 A she-camel between 2 and 3 years
From 46 To 60 A she-camel between 3 and 4 years
From 61 To 75 A she-camel between 4 and 5 years
From 76 To 90 Two she-camels between 2 and 3 years
From 91 To 120 Two she-camels between 3 and 4 years
From 121 To 129 Three she-camels between 2 and 3 years
From 130 To 139 A she-camel between 3 and 4 years and two she-camels between 2 and 3 years
From 140 To 149 Two she-camels between 3 and 4 years and a she-camel between 2 and 3 years
From 150 To 159 Three she-camels between 3 and 4 years
From 160 To 169 Four she-camels between 2 and 3 years
From 170 To 179 Three she-camels between 2 and 3 years and a she-camel between 3 and 4 years
From 180 To 189 Two she-camels between 2 and 3 years and two she-camels between 3 and 4 years
From 190 To 199 Three she-camels between 3 and 4 years and a she-camel between 2 and 3 years
From 200 To 209 Four she-camels between 3 and 4 years or five she-camels between 2 and 3 years
Any increase beside the above-mentioned amounts is to be calculated as follows:
1. On every increment of 40 camels, a she-camel between 2 and 3 years is due as Zakah.
2. On every increment of 50 camels, a she-camel between 3 and 4 years is due as Zakah.
Zakah on Cows: The Nisab and amounts of Zakah due on cows are illustrated as follows:
No. of Cows The amount of Zakah due
From 1 To 29 No Zakah is due
From 30 To 39 A one year old bull
From 40 To 59 A two year old cow
From 60 To 69 Two cows or bulls aging 1 year
From 70 To 79 A cow aging 2 years and a bull aging 1 year
From 80 To 89 Two cows aging 2 years
From 90 To 99 Three cows aging aging 1 year
From 100 To 109 A cow aging 2 years and 2 bulls aging 1 year
From 110 To 119 Two cows aging 2 years and a bull aging 1 year
From 120 To 129 Three cows aging 2 years or four bulls aging 1 year
Any increase beside the above-mentioned amounts is to be calculated as follows:
a. On every increment of 30 cows, a cow or bull aging 1 year is due as Zakah.
b. On every increment of 40 cows, a cow aging 2 years is due as Zakah.
Zakah on Sheep: The Nisab and amounts of Zakah due on sheep are illustrated as follows:
No. of Sheep The amount of Zakah due
From 1 To 39 No Zakah is due
From 40 To 120 1 Goat
From 121 To 200 2 Goats
From 201 To 399 3 Goats
From 400 To 499 4 Goats
From 500 To 599 5 Goats
On every increment of 100 sheep, a goat is due as Zakah.
Cattle Raised for Trade
The cattle raised for trade will be treated exactly as the commercial commodities; Zakah on them will be calculated on the basis of their value not number. Therefore, Zakah falls due on the cattle if their value reaches the minimum amount of money liable to the payment of Zakah (a value equal to 85 grams of pure gold). In this case, the cattle owner should add it to what he possesses of money and commercial commodities and pay 2.5 % as Zakah on it provided that it meets the conditions of the obligation to pay Zakah on commodities.
However, in case the value of cattle does not reach the minimum amount counted for Zakah when estimated as commercial commodities, but do reach it when estimated on the basis of their number, the numerical method explained earlier is to be applied.
Is there Zakah on Horses?
There is no Zakah due on horses, as the Prophet (SAW) said: “No Zakah is due on the slave or the horse of a Muslim.” (Al-Bukhari and Muslim). It was authentically reported that Allah’s Messenger (SAW) said: “A horse may be kept for one of three purposes: for a man it may be a source of reward; for another it may be a means of living; and for a third it may be a burden (a source of committing sins). As for the one for whom it is a source of reward, he is the one who keeps his horse for the sake of Jihad (fighting in the Cause of Allah); he ties it with a long rope on a pasture or in a garden, and whatever its rope allows it to eat will be regarded as good rewardable deeds (for its owner). If it breaks off its rope and jumps over one or two hillocks, even its dung will be considered amongst his good deeds. If it passes by a river and drinks water from it, that will be considered as good deeds (for the owner) even if he had no intention of watering it. A horse is a shelter for the one who keeps it so that he may earn his living honestly and takes it as a refuge to keep him from following illegal ways (of gaining money), provided that he does not forget the rights of Allah (i.e., paying the Zakah and allowing others to use it in the Cause of Allah). A horse may be also a burden (and a source of committing sins) for a person who keeps it out of pride and pretense, and with the intention of harming the Muslims.”
From the above hadith in relation to the one who keeps horses without forgetting the rights of Allah which has been expanded to mean paying the Zakah and allowing others to use it in the Cause of Allah, it can be argued that there is Zakah on horses if they become used as a store of wealth. This was the wisdom applied by Sayyidina Umar Ibn al-Khattab (RA), the second khalifah, when told how expensive horses had become in Yemen, he said, “I did not know that horses could be that expensive. Shall we take [Zakah] on forty sheep and not take [it] on [these] horses? Take one dinar on each horse.” [Reported by al Baihaqi and Abd al Razzaq]. The decision of Umar shows that he understood the saying of the Prophet (SAW) to have relevance to circumstances similar to those prevailing in Madinah during the time of the Prophet ((SAW)), but not to a situation where horses are expensive and represent an important item of wealth.
Zakah on Poultry Farm Products, Fish Farms, etc
We have in our time the rearing of livestock like poultry, grass cutters, snails and fish farms. The Zakah on these items is not like the Zakat on cattle, cows, camels and goats. Rather, they are treated as tradable items. Therefore, if a person has a poultry farm, he should ascertain its value at the beginning and start to enlist it for Zakah from the very moment its’ values reach the Nisab for Gold and at the end of a lunar year he should calculate his cash money and the poultry that he has (by evaluating its value), then if the total of all that he possesses reaches the Nisab, then he should pay the Zakah on the totality, which is 2.5%.
We end this discussion with the wisdom passed on to us by Imam Ghazzali, RA, that we “do not be bankrupt of works, nor empty of states; be assured that knowledge alone does not strengthen the hand: a parable of this is, if a man in the wilderness wore ten Indian swords and other weapons, and the man were brave and a warrior, and a terrifying lion attacked him, what do you think? Would the weapons ward off the evil from him without his using them and thrusting with them? it is perfectly obvious that they would not ward (it) off, except by activity. Just so, though a man read a hundred thousand scientific questions and understood them or learned them, they do not benefit him except by working.” So all that we have been teaching one another about our deen will only avail us if put to use. Wake up from your ignorance (or is it arrogance) and miserliness and start making plans for your Zakah.
We ask Allah to help us know the truth and uphold it and also to know evils and evil channels and distance us from them and through this awareness help us fulfill all our obligations to qualify us for His Rahmah and Ridwan on the Day of Questioning. Allahumma Aamiiin!
Walhamdu Lillahi Rabbil A’lameen.
Suleiman Zubair
