What is the ruling on paying the zakah of camels if there are no sheep?

The questioner : Yes. If there are no sheep, he is required to buy a sheep. Abu Bakr said that ten dirhams suffice for him because they are the substitute for the sheep in the compensation, but this is not valid.

The Shaykh : No, in the compensation, and stop. I say in the compensation, then stop.

The questioner : I have it in the compensation, by Allah.

The Shaykh : What is the problem? Because it is the substitute for the sheep in the compensation. Do you have a one-year-old camel?

The questioner : Because it is the substitute for the sheep in the compensation.

The Shaykh : Yes, no, I have it because it is the substitute for the sheep in the compensation, and what I have is more correct. Or because it is the substitute for a sheep in the compensation. Because it is the substitute for the sheep in the compensation. The compensation is that if a person lacks a one-year-old camel, he must pay what is below it and add to it.

The questioner : A two-year-old camel.

The Shaykh : Two sheep or twenty dirhams, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) valued it at twenty dirhams. But the correct view is that this is an estimate, and it varies according to the times. In the time of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), the sheep was worth more than ten dirhams. But in our time now, how much is a sheep? Yes, it reaches hundreds. So the correct view is that the compensation is made by buying a sheep.

The questioner : Was the sheep in his time worth ten dirhams?

The Shaykh : Yes, he gave him a dinar.

The questioner : Because it is the substitute for the sheep in the compensation, and it is not valid, because this is paying the value, which is not permissible, just as with the sheep paid out for sheep. And dirhams are not a substitute in the compensation, as proven by their sufficiency even when a sheep is present.