How to Pay the Zakah of Sheep Shared Between Two People
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Question:
We ask your Eminence to inform us about the zakah of sheep. Specifically, regarding twenty sheep belonging to one person and twenty belonging to another, and whether it is permissible to give the zakah to one’s brother who is with you?
Answer:
Zakah on sheep is established by explicit text and scholarly consensus, and its minimum threshold is forty. If a person owns forty sheep or goats that are grazing and not fed, he must pay zakah on them in the form of one sheep out of forty, provided that they are fully owned by him, are grazing and not fed, and graze for most of the lunar year; in that case, he is obligated to pay zakah, which is one sheep for every forty. For any number above forty up to one hundred and twenty, there is only one sheep due: forty, fifty, sixty, seventy, eighty, ninety, one hundred, one hundred and ten, and one hundred and twenty all require only one sheep. This is part of the ease and mercy of Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He), who has only obligated a small amount .
If the number increases by one, becoming one hundred and twenty-one, then two sheep are due up to two hundred. There are only two sheep due up to two hundred. If it increases by one above two hundred, becoming two hundred and one, then three sheep are due. After that, for every hundred sheep, from four hundred there are four sheep, from five hundred there are five sheep, and so on for every hundred sheep, provided they are grazing in the open.
As for if he feeds them, and there is no grass for them, so he keeps them in the house and feeds them, or they go out to the open but there is nothing for them, then however many they number, there is no zakah on them; because the Messenger of Allah spoke regarding those that are grazing.
If two partners share forty mixed sheep, with this one owning twenty and that one owning twenty, then one sheep is due on them, split in half. Each one is responsible for half. One of them pays it, and the other gives him half the value. Likewise, if the number reaches sixty between them, or seventy, or eighty, up to one hundred and twenty between them, then one sheep is due on them, provided they are mixed in the pasture. The zakah is shared between them.
We ask your Eminence to inform us about the zakah of sheep. Specifically, regarding twenty sheep belonging to one person and twenty belonging to another, and whether it is permissible to give the zakah to one’s brother who is with you?
Answer:
Zakah on sheep is established by explicit text and scholarly consensus, and its minimum threshold is forty. If a person owns forty sheep or goats that are grazing and not fed, he must pay zakah on them in the form of one sheep out of forty, provided that they are fully owned by him, are grazing and not fed, and graze for most of the lunar year; in that case, he is obligated to pay zakah, which is one sheep for every forty. For any number above forty up to one hundred and twenty, there is only one sheep due: forty, fifty, sixty, seventy, eighty, ninety, one hundred, one hundred and ten, and one hundred and twenty all require only one sheep. This is part of the ease and mercy of Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He), who has only obligated a small amount .
If the number increases by one, becoming one hundred and twenty-one, then two sheep are due up to two hundred. There are only two sheep due up to two hundred. If it increases by one above two hundred, becoming two hundred and one, then three sheep are due. After that, for every hundred sheep, from four hundred there are four sheep, from five hundred there are five sheep, and so on for every hundred sheep, provided they are grazing in the open.
As for if he feeds them, and there is no grass for them, so he keeps them in the house and feeds them, or they go out to the open but there is nothing for them, then however many they number, there is no zakah on them; because the Messenger of Allah spoke regarding those that are grazing.
If two partners share forty mixed sheep, with this one owning twenty and that one owning twenty, then one sheep is due on them, split in half. Each one is responsible for half. One of them pays it, and the other gives him half the value. Likewise, if the number reaches sixty between them, or seventy, or eighty, up to one hundred and twenty between them, then one sheep is due on them, provided they are mixed in the pasture. The zakah is shared between them.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.