Suwaid bin Ghaflah reported The collector of the Prophet ﷺ came to us. I caught hold of his hand and read in the document that the goods were not to be combined nor were they to be separated for fear of zakat. There is no mention of milch animals in this tradition.
Related hadith on this topic
Explanation & Benefits
Shaykh Umar Farooq Saeedi
1580. Commentary:
➊ According to the circumstances, there is no harm in asking a government official for his identification and the original government order.
➋ In the last sentence of Imam Abu Dawood «لاتجمع», there is a warning to the collector that he should not combine separate animals... and in «لایجمع» (third person passive form), there is a warning to both the owner of zakat and the collector.
Source: Sunan Abu Dawood – Commentary by Shaykh Umar Farooq Saeedi, Page: 1580
Shaykh Umar Farooq Saeedi
1579. Commentary:
➊ It is prohibited to take the finest goods in zakat, but it was due to religious devotion and sincerity that people would present excellent goods, yet the collectors would not accept them. Where is such blessing in taxation?
➋ To collect zakat, the collector (amil) should go to the people’s dwellings, rather than making them circle around their own centers and offices.
Source: Sunan Abu Dawood – Commentary by Shaykh Umar Farooq Saeedi, Page: 1579