What is the zakat of the animal? How many types of zakat are there? What are the 4 conditions of zakat?
The possession of animal species subject to zakāt may be as follows:
- a) Animals kept as commercial property are subject to zakāt on the basis of being commercial property. For example, the animals that an animal trader buys and keeps to make a profit and the lambs and calves that are fed and raised for commercial purposes are also treated as trade goods. When these reach the amount of niṣāb, like other trade goods, they become subject to zakāt at the end of the year over their value.
For example, a person who has ten sheep, three horses, and five bovine animals, bought for commercial purposes, gives their zakāt at the end of the year over their value.
- b) If cattle, water buffaloes, and camels are acquired to benefit from their muscle power, they are considered basic needs and exempt from zakāt. The Prophet (saw) said, “There is no giving zakāt from a working animal.”[1]
- c) Animals that spend most of the year in the barn feeding fodder are called “ma’lūfa”. In the case of such animals, growth and development in terms of profit are neglected, as these animals are not fed on free pastures and are subject to costly maintenance. In other words, society does not have the right to them because they are not fed on common pastures. For this reason, animal species that are fed in barns for more than half of the year just for their meat, milk, or offspring, without a commercial purpose such as raising and selling them, do not require zakāt to be paid for them. However, the milk, fat, and cheese produced from the milk, their meat, and their offspring kept for sale are added to other zakāt goods and are subject to zakāt as money or trade goods. Accordingly, it cannot be said that such cow breeds and livestock farms are exempt from zakāt. Islam’s exemption of the “ma’lūfa” animals from zakāt is to encourage animal husbandry because the maintenance in the barn is both difficult and costly.
- d) Animals that are fed more than half of the year by grazing on permissible pastures are called “sāima”. The sāima animals below the niṣāb amount are exempted from zakāt. For example, if a person has thirty-eight sheep, twenty-eight cattle, and four camels, these sāima animals of different types cannot be added together or combined with other trade goods at the end of the year. Therefore, zakāt is not required for them. This can be considered as an incentive measure to encourage animal husbandry.
Apart from these, domestic or domesticated animals such as horses, mules, donkeys, chickens, turkeys, rabbits, and ostrich, if they are kept for commercial purposes only, they are subject to zakāt as trade goods. However, if such animals are raised for their muscle power or eggs, they will be subject to zakāt by their returns. When they are sold, their price at the time of sale is included in zakāt along with other goods as of the end of the year.
[1] Abū Dawūd, Zakāt, 5; al-Darimī, Zakāt, 36.
Source: Basic Islamic Principles (ilmiḥal) According to the Four Sunni Schools With Evidence From The Sources of Islamic Law, Prof. Hamdi Döndüren, Erkam Publications