Zakat - 102

FIQH: TRADITIONAL AHLUS SUNNAH WAL JAMA'AH - SHAFI'IYYAH
MASA'ALAH: ZAKAT

Continuing our discussion on Zakat, the next issue is on Livestocks. I know that this may not be relevant to the most of us, though those who are involved in the business will find this useful, InshaAllah. Zakat on livestock is a command of Allah SWT.

Zakat on Livestock

1. Zakat on livestock is restricted to camels, cattle, sheep, and goats only.

2. Zakat is obligatory when one has owned:
(a) a zakat-payable number of livestock;
(b) for one year;
(c) and has been grazing them for the entire year.

3. There is no zakat on work animals, for example, those trained to plow or bear loads, since the purpose in having them is utility, like clothes or household furnishings, and is not production.

4. Grazing means that they have been grazed on open range pasturage; excluding pasturage growing on land that a person owe, as it would then be considered fodder. (Fodder refers to coarse food for livestock, composed of entire plants, including leaves, stalks, and grain.)

5. If the livestock have been given fodder for a period long enough that they would have been unable to survive had they not eaten during it, then there is no zakat on them, though if fed with it for less than such a period, then this does not affect the necessity of paying zakat on them.

6. There is no zakat on cattle that have been solely fed fodder or grain, even if they could have otherwise been grazed. It is religiously more precautionary and of greater benefit to the poor to follow Imam Malik on this question. ImamMalik holds that zakat is obligatory whenever one has possessed a zakat-payable number of livestock for a year, whether or not they are work animals, and whether they have been grazed on open pasturage or fed with fodder for the entire year.


Zakat On Cattle

7. For cattle,the minimum on which zakat is payable is 30 heads, for which it is obligatory to pay a yearling, meaning a male calf in its second year (though a female may take its place, being worth more).

8. The zakat due on 40 heads is a two-year-old female that has entered its third year (a male will not suffice).

9. The zakat on 60 heads is 2 yearling males. Zakat on additional numbers is figured in the same way: on 30 heads, a yearling male, and on 40 heads, a two-year-old female (according to which of the two alternatives accommodates the last 10 heads.


Zakat On Sheep And Goats

10. For sheep or goats (the Arabic ghanam meaning both), the minimum on which zakat is payable is 40, on which it is obligatory to pay a shah, meaning either a one-year-old sheep ( in its second year) or a two-year-old goat (in its third year). The zakat on 121 sheep or goats is 2 shahs; on 201 sheep or goats is 3, on 400 sheep or goats is 4 and for every additional 100 the zakat is 1 shah.


Calculating The Number Of Animals

11. Numbers (of camels, cattle or sheep) which are between zakat quantities (i.e. which number more than the last relevant zakat quantity but do not amount to the next highest one) are not counted, and no zakat is due on them.

12. New offspring of a zakat-payable quantity of livestock that are born during the year are counted for the zakat of the year their mothers are currently in, no matter whether their mothers survive or die.

13. Thus, if one owned 40 sheep or goats which gave birth to 40 young a month before the year's end, but then the 40 mothers died, one's zakat on the offspring would be 1 shah.

14. If a group of livestock are all female, or are both male and female, then only a female animal may be paid as zakat, except as mentioned above for 30 cattle, where a yearling male is acceptable.

15. If a group of livestock are all male, then a male animal may be paid as zakat.

16. If all the livestock are below the minimum age that may be given as zakat, then one of them is given anyway. But if the herd is mixed, with only some of them underage, then only an animal of the acceptable age may be paid.

17. If the animals of the herd are defective, an animal is taken which is of the average defectiveness (of the group, defective meaning with defects that permit return for refund when sold as merchandise).

18. If the herd is composite, such as sheep and goats, then either kind may be paid as zakat, though the value of the animal given must correspond to the average value of the members of the herd.

19. The following are not taken as zakat unless the owner wishes to give them:

(i) a pregnant female (O: because of its superiority);

(ii) one that has given birth (O: because of the high yield of milk);

(iii) a stud (O: as it is for insemination, and the owner would suffer its loss);

(iv) a superior quality animal;

(v) or one fattened for eating.


Zakat On Jointly Owned Property Or Ventures With Shared Facilities

20. Two people pay zakat jointly as a single person if:

(i) they jointly own a zakat-payable amount of livestock or something else (such as fruit, grain, money, or trade goods), as when two people inherit it;

(ii) or when the property is not jointly owned, as when each owner has, for example, 20 heads of cattle (of a herd amounting to the zakat minimum of 40), but they share the same place to bed them down, to gather them before grazing, to pasture, water, or milk them, or share the same stud, employ the same shepherd, or similar, such as having the same watchman (for orchards and fields), the same drying or threshing floor (for fruit or grain), the same store, or the same warehouse.