When is zakah obligatory on sheep, and is there a specific number required for zakah to be due on them, or is zakah due on them even if there is only one and a lunar year has passed?

The questioner : When is zakah obligatory on sheep? Is there a specific number required for zakah to be due on them, or is zakah due on them even if there is only one and a lunar year has passed?

The Shaykh : Keeping sheep falls into two categories. The first category is keeping them for milk and offspring; in this case, there is no zakah until they reach forty. The zakah on forty is one sheep out of forty. Zakah is not due on them unless they are grazing, meaning they live on pasture without being fed, either for the entire lunar year or for most of it. The second category of keeping sheep is that of merchants who trade in sheep; they buy one animal and sell it, then buy another and sell it. In this case, zakah is due if they reach the minimum threshold (nisab) in value, even if there is only one animal. For example, if a person has a small capital and owns only ten sheep that he buys and sells, zakah is due on them even if the number decreases to one, provided that the value of that one animal reaches the minimum threshold (nisab). In that case, he owes zakah on it.

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.