Miscellaneous rules of zakat
The age of a zakat animal, why herds of different animals cannot be combined, and the option to pay zakat in cash or in kind.
A few more rules of zakat
- An animal given for zakat must be at least one full year old.If all the animals in the herd are under a year old, no zakat is due yet, even if the count is right. But if even one animal has turned a year old, zakat becomes due on the whole herd, and the biggest animal should be given. If an animal dies after turning a year old, the zakat is cancelled.
- You cannot add camels, cows and goats together to reach a nisab.If you have some of each but none of them alone reaches its own nisab, no zakat is due.
- There is no zakat on horses, donkeys or mules.Unless they are kept to be sold, in which case zakat on trade goods applies instead.
- Numbers between two nisab levels (like 31–39 or 41–49) add nothing extra.If an animal in that in-between range is lost, the zakat amount does not go down.
- You may pay zakat with the actual animal or item, or with its value in money or other goods like grain or cloth instead.
Miscellaneous rules of zakat
- Animals liable to zakat must be at least a full year old.If every animal in the herd is under a year, zakat is not obligatory even if the count is otherwise correct. If even one has completed a year, zakat becomes obligatory on the whole herd, and the largest animal is given. If an animal dies after completing a year, the zakat on it is cancelled.
- Camels, cows and goats cannot be combined to reach the nisab.If someone owns some of each but each type is below its own nisab, the animals are not combined and zakat is not due.
- There is no zakat on horses, donkeys or mules.If these animals are kept for trade, zakat is paid on their price instead.
- Numbers between two nisab levels (such as 31–39 or 41–49) are exempt from zakat.If an amount in this exempt range is destroyed, there is no reduction in the zakat owed.
- The person giving zakat may give the actual item due, or its equivalent value in money or in other goods such as grain or cloth.
Miscellaneous rules of zakāh
- Animals on which zakāh is obligatory must have completed at least a full year of age.Where every animal in the herd is under a year old, zakāh does not become obligatory even where the count itself is otherwise sufficient. Where even one has completed a year, zakāh becomes obligatory on the whole herd, and the largest animal is given as zakāh. Should an animal die after completing a year, the zakāh due on it is cancelled.
- Camels, cows and goats are not aggregated to reach the nisab.Where each species falls short of its own nisab individually, the species are not combined, and zakāh is not due.
- Horses, donkeys and mules carry no zakāh.Where such animals are held for trade, zakāh is paid on their value instead, under the ruling for trade goods.
- Any amount falling between two nisab levels (such as 31–39 or 41–49) is exempt from zakāh.The destruction of an amount within such an exempt range causes no reduction in the zakāh otherwise due.
- The payer has the option to give the zakāh item itself, or its equivalent value in cash or in other goods such as grain or cloth.
Related
- Zakat on pasturing animals (saimah) What makes an animal saimah, the nisab and rates for camels, cows and goats, and the rules that apply across all three.
- Zakat on trade goods How the nisab and value of stock-in-trade are worked out, and when profit and rented items are or are not liable to zakat.
- The ruling on zakat, and when it becomes obligatory Who zakat is obligatory on, what denying it means, and the eight conditions that must all be met before zakat is due.
- Zakat on gold and silver The nisab and rate for gold and silver, what happens above the nisab, and the rules for mixed metals, currency and combined holdings.