Zakat on Sheep and Goats: Brackets, Liability, and Discharge

1. The Livestock Schedule for Sheep and Goats

بَابُ صَدَقَةِ الْغَنَمِ.
Translation: Chapter: Zakat on sheep and goats.

Zakat on sheep and goats follows a bracketed livestock schedule. Below its first qualifying threshold there is no zakat under this schedule; at each boundary, a specified number of animals becomes due.

The schedule concerns grazing sheep and goats. Both wool-bearing sheep (da'n) and goats (ma‘z) fall under this single category, although the choice of animal used in payment has additional rules.

2. First Threshold: Forty Animals

لَيْسَ فِي أَقَلَّ مِنْ أَرْبَعِينَ شَاةً صَدَقَةٌ.
Translation: No livestock zakat is due on fewer than forty sheep or goats.

The sheep-and-goat livestock threshold begins at 40. A flock of 39 or fewer does not trigger zakat under this particular livestock assessment. Zakat on trade inventory, if relevant, is a separate category.

The number 40 applies to the combined qualifying flock; sheep and goats do not require two separate sets of forty.

3. Grazing Status and the Annual Condition

Alongside the figure of forty, the wording identifies sa’imah status and completion of a qualifying year of ownership. Grazing livestock means animals whose upkeep is predominantly by grazing.

Someone who owns 45 animals but has not completed the qualifying year does not acquire liability merely from the headcount. Conditions of liability must first be established, followed by the amount due.

4. Forty Through One Hundred Twenty: One Animal

فَإِذَا كَانَتْ أَرْبَعِينَ شَاةً سَائِمَةً، وَحَالَ عَلَيْهَا الْحَوْلُ: فَفِيهَا شَاةٌ إِلَى مِائَةٍ وَعِشْرِينَ.
Translation: When there are forty grazing sheep or goats and their year has passed, one animal is due up to one hundred and twenty.

For every qualifying count from 40 through 120, the required zakat is one sheep or goat. The term shāh is broad, and the final clause of the passage expressly equates sheep and goats within this zakat category.

Counts such as 40, 75, 100 and 120 all incur one animal under this bracket. An additional animal becomes due only when the next threshold is crossed.

5. The Boundary Between 120 and 121

فَإِذَا زَادَتْ وَاحِدَةً: فَفِيهَا شَاتَانِ إِلَى مِائَتَيْنِ.
Translation: When the flock increases by one beyond that boundary, two animals are due up to two hundred.

At 120 animals, one is due. On reaching 121, the liability becomes two animals. Thus, the expression “up to 120” includes 120 in the first bracket rather than placing it in the next.

This single-animal boundary matters in practical assessments and prevents mistaken calculations at 120 or 121.

6. One Hundred Twenty-One Through Two Hundred

Counts from 121 through 200 call for two animals. Thus 130, 175, 199 and 200 all fall in the same bracket with the same liability.

The bracket starts at 121 and ends at 200. Only the next animal, taking the flock to 201, moves it to a higher bracket.

7. At 201, Three Animals Become Due

فَإِذَا زَادَتْ وَاحِدَةً: فَفِيهَا ثَلَاثُ شِيَاهٍ.
Translation: When it increases by one beyond two hundred, three animals become due.

When the flock increases from 200 to 201, the obligation rises to three animals. This parallels the earlier transition from 120 to 121.

The next express boundary is 400, so counts of 250, 300 or 399 remain in the three-animal bracket.

8. The Long Bracket: 201 Through 399

Throughout 201–399, the due zakat remains three animals, even though the flock may grow considerably. This illustrates why the schedule cannot be reduced to “one animal for every hundred” from the outset.

At 300, the duty has not risen to four. The next formal transition occurs at 400.

9. Four Hundred Animals: Four Due

فَإِذَا بَلَغَتْ أَرْبَعَ مِائَةٍ: فَفِيهَا أَرْبَعُ شِيَاهٍ. ثُمَّ فِي كُلِّ مِائَةٍ شَاةٌ.
Translation: Upon reaching four hundred, four animals are due; thereafter one additional animal is due for each further hundred.

At 400 qualifying animals, four become due. Thus 399 entails three and 400 entails four, just as 120/121 and 200/201 belong to different brackets.

From 400 onward, the schedule takes a regular form: each additional complete hundred animals adds one to the due number.

10. How the Rule Works Above Four Hundred

At 400, four are due; at 500, five; and at 600, six. An increase that does not complete the next hundred does not create a new required animal.

For instance, 450 and 499 remain at four; 500 becomes five. Similarly, 510 and 599 remain at five, and 600 becomes six.

11. Complete Bracket Table

1–39: none due.
40–120: 1 animal.
121–200: 2 animals.
201–399: 3 animals.
400–499: 4 animals.
500–599: 5 animals.
600–699: 6 animals.

This table applies where the flock meets grazing status, completion of the year and other relevant conditions.

12. Da’n and Ma‘z: One Livestock Category

وَالضَّأْنُ وَالْمَعْزُ سَوَاءٌ.
Translation: Sheep and goats are treated alike for this zakat category.

Da’n denotes wool-bearing sheep; ma‘z denotes goats. For zakat thresholds and combined headcount, they are one category under ghanam.

Thus 25 sheep plus 15 goats make 40 qualifying animals; neither subgroup separately has to reach forty. Selection of the animal given in payment can still depend on the majority type and age.

13. Arabic Terms for Sheep and Goats

Da’n refers to sheep; a male may be called kabsh (ram), and a female na‘jah (ewe).

Ma‘z refers to goats; the male is called tays, and the female ‘anz. Males and females of both kinds count toward the livestock total.

Ghanam is the overarching fiqhi category, so sheep and goats are not assigned two distinct numerical thresholds.

14. Male and Female Animals Both Count

Males and females both count toward the flock threshold. Twenty males and twenty females make forty, subject to the other legal conditions.

Counting both sexes for liability does not eliminate separate legal requirements for the age, kind and suitability of the animal handed over in payment.

15. Minimum Age: Thani Versus Jadha‘

In the printed explanatory discussion, a thani of sheep has completed one year, while jadha‘ is described as an animal of about six months.

The stated preferred view is that a thani is taken in zakat, not merely a six-month jadha‘. This is about suitability of the animal paid; it does not independently determine which animals count toward the herd threshold.

16. Counting the Flock Versus Selecting Payment

Liability asks how many qualifying grazing animals exist, whether the year has passed, and what threshold has been reached.

Discharge separately asks how many animals must be transferred and what kind and age are acceptable. A flock of eighty may meet the threshold, while tendering an undersized animal may still fail the stated age requirement.

17. The Majority Kind in a Mixed Flock

Where sheep form the majority and goats the minority, the ordinary discharge is from the majority kind. Paying with a minority-kind animal is not automatically treated as a direct like-for-like animal discharge; a value-based discharge is a distinct possibility.

For example, 30 sheep plus 10 goats make forty and produce one-animal liability, but selection for payment must take the majority kind into account.

18. When Sheep and Goats Are Equal

If sheep and goats are equal in number, a suitable animal from either kind may be tendered, subject to all other requirements.

For example, twenty sheep and twenty goats make forty: one is due, and either type can be chosen as the payable animal. This differs from the preceding case where one kind predominates.

19. One Threshold Category, Distinct Payment Rules

The core implication of “sheep and goats are alike” is that both are combined for calculating the threshold and number due.

Selection for payment can still depend on majority kind, age, and suitability. Membership of one zakat category therefore does not make every animal automatically interchangeable as payment.

20. Intermediate Counts Between Boundaries

Between two stated thresholds, intermediate additions do not immediately increase the number due. Thus 40–120 entails one, 121–200 two, and 201–399 three animals.

This resembles the fiqhi concept of waqs: numbers between independently assessable thresholds. For example, 119 and 120 remain in the same first bracket.

21. Worked Case: One Mixed Flock

If a flock contains 80 sheep and 40 goats, the total is 120, calling for one due animal.

If the count rises to 121, the listed bracket requires two, assuming the relevant annual and ownership conditions are met. This is an illustration of the numerical boundary; it does not independently settle every issue involving last-minute changes in ownership.

22. Worked Boundary: 199, 200 and 201

199 animals: two due.
200 animals: two due.
201 animals: three due.

The change occurs at the first increment beyond two hundred, not at two hundred itself. This is exactly the boundary expressed by the text.

23. Worked Boundary: 399, 400 and 500

399 animals: three due.
400 animals: four due.
450 animals: four due.
500 animals: five due.

Above four hundred, an additional complete hundred is required before the next animal becomes due. A flock of 450 does not yet incur five.

24. Consolidated Legal Summary

Threshold: starts at forty.
Brackets: 40–120 = 1; 121–200 = 2; 201–399 = 3; 400–499 = 4; then another for each additional hundred.
Species: count sheep and goats together.
Liability conditions: grazing and annual ownership, with other qualifying conditions.
Discharge conditions: suitable age and kind, with separate rules for majority and equal mixed flocks.

The legal sequence is liability first, bracket calculation second, and proper discharge of the due amount third.