What is the meaning of the hadith: "One does not gather what is separated, nor does one separate what is gathered"?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : A hadith, may Allah honor you, Sahih al-Bukhari 6955 What is the ruling on this hadith, O our Shaykh?
The Shaykh : This is regarding livestock.
The questioner : Livestock.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : The zakah of livestock, O our Shaykh?
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : How, O our Shaykh...
The Shaykh : I am trying to gather my thoughts. Regarding the zakah of livestock, if one passes by the owners of livestock, and the owner of the livestock has a herd in such-and-such a land, and a herd in another land, it does not become permissible for the collector to gather this herd with that herd, or the reverse. What is the effect? I think you know it. For example, the nisab for livestock, such as sheep, is forty heads. If there are twenty heads in one place and twenty heads in another place, and the owner is one person, the owner is one person, this total obligates him to pay zakah. But if they remain separated, he owes no zakah. So the collector, or the tax collector as it is called in legal terminology, it is not permissible for him to gather these and those in order to take the zakah. And conversely, it is not permissible for the owner to scheme against the collector and separate them here and there.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : That is the opposite of the first case. That is, the collector does not act for the benefit of the treasury, nor does the rich man act to cause a loss to the treasury, but rather he leaves everything as it is. If he has forty heads, yes, now the collector must not scatter them, some here and some there. No, this is not permissible, and the reverse is the reverse. Is that clear?
The questioner : Clear, Shaykh.
The Shaykh : But this ruling does not apply to the two currencies (gold and silver).
The student : Yes.
The questioner : Okay, O my Shaykh, does this distance or the two places have a specific limit?
The Shaykh : No, no, no. The intended meaning is very clear: there is no excess and no deficiency. The natural state. This has examples, for instance, a person who is traveling in Ramadan breaks his fast, whereas a person who travels only in order to break his fast. Now, the entire road has become paved.
The student : The entire road has become paved.
The Shaykh : The entire husk.
The questioner : O Shaykh, it was standing in my mind regarding this hadith that it relates to manumission, that one does not separate the mother from her child in manumission, because there is a text, O my Shaykh, regarding this matter.
The Shaykh : Yes, but it has no connection to this hadith.
The questioner : I mean, I want to gather my thoughts on the hadith. Please recall the hadith for us.
The Shaykh : There are explicit hadiths: "He prohibited separating the mother from her child." That is, a person—for example—has slaves, a mother and her son; it is not permissible for him to sell the mother to one person and the son to another.
The questioner : Does the one who travels for the sake of breaking the fast have a dispensation to... this?
The Shaykh : May Allah forgive you, O Sami. May Allah guide you.
one should neither collect various portions (of the property) nor divide the property into various portions
لا يجمع بين متفرِّق ، ولا يفرِّق بين مجتمعThe Shaykh : This is regarding livestock.
The questioner : Livestock.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : The zakah of livestock, O our Shaykh?
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : How, O our Shaykh...
The Shaykh : I am trying to gather my thoughts. Regarding the zakah of livestock, if one passes by the owners of livestock, and the owner of the livestock has a herd in such-and-such a land, and a herd in another land, it does not become permissible for the collector to gather this herd with that herd, or the reverse. What is the effect? I think you know it. For example, the nisab for livestock, such as sheep, is forty heads. If there are twenty heads in one place and twenty heads in another place, and the owner is one person, the owner is one person, this total obligates him to pay zakah. But if they remain separated, he owes no zakah. So the collector, or the tax collector as it is called in legal terminology, it is not permissible for him to gather these and those in order to take the zakah. And conversely, it is not permissible for the owner to scheme against the collector and separate them here and there.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : That is the opposite of the first case. That is, the collector does not act for the benefit of the treasury, nor does the rich man act to cause a loss to the treasury, but rather he leaves everything as it is. If he has forty heads, yes, now the collector must not scatter them, some here and some there. No, this is not permissible, and the reverse is the reverse. Is that clear?
The questioner : Clear, Shaykh.
The Shaykh : But this ruling does not apply to the two currencies (gold and silver).
The student : Yes.
The questioner : Okay, O my Shaykh, does this distance or the two places have a specific limit?
The Shaykh : No, no, no. The intended meaning is very clear: there is no excess and no deficiency. The natural state. This has examples, for instance, a person who is traveling in Ramadan breaks his fast, whereas a person who travels only in order to break his fast. Now, the entire road has become paved.
The student : The entire road has become paved.
The Shaykh : The entire husk.
The questioner : O Shaykh, it was standing in my mind regarding this hadith that it relates to manumission, that one does not separate the mother from her child in manumission, because there is a text, O my Shaykh, regarding this matter.
The Shaykh : Yes, but it has no connection to this hadith.
The questioner : I mean, I want to gather my thoughts on the hadith. Please recall the hadith for us.
The Shaykh : There are explicit hadiths: "He prohibited separating the mother from her child." That is, a person—for example—has slaves, a mother and her son; it is not permissible for him to sell the mother to one person and the son to another.
The questioner : Does the one who travels for the sake of breaking the fast have a dispensation to... this?
The Shaykh : May Allah forgive you, O Sami. May Allah guide you.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.