Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah

Hazrat Sha’bi narrates that the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) wrote to the judge of Yemen: For five camels, the zakat is one goat; for ten camels, two goats; for fifteen camels, three goats; for twenty camels, four goats; and for twenty-five camels, five goats. If there is one camel more than twenty-five, then a bint makhad (a one-year-old she-camel) is due up to thirty-five camels. If a bint makhad is not available for zakat, then a male ibn labun (a two-year-old male camel) should be given. When there is one camel more than thirty-five, up to forty-five, then one bint labun (a two-year-old she-camel) is due. When there is one camel more than forty-five, up to sixty, then one hiqqah (a three-year-old she-camel) is due. When there is one camel more than sixty, up to seventy-five, then one jadh’ah (a four-year-old she-camel) is due. When there is one more than seventy-five, then two bint labun are due. This continues up to ninety. When there is one camel more than ninety, up to one hundred and twenty, then two hiqqah are due. Then, when the camels exceed one hundred and twenty, for every fifty, one hiqqah, and for every forty, one bint labun will be due. The scattered (livestock) will not be combined, nor will the combined be separated, and at the time of collecting zakat, neither a very young nor a very old animal will be taken (rather, a middle-aged one will be taken), nor will a one-eyed or very weak animal be taken. Ajlah, the narrator, says: I asked Imam Sha’bi, what does “laa yujma’u bayna mufarriqin wa laa yufarraqu bayna mujtami’in” mean? He replied: If a man has livestock, he should not separate them with the intention that, when separated, the zakat threshold is not reached and thus zakat is not due on them; nor should the separated be combined, meaning if a people have livestock but zakat is not due on them, the zakat collector should not combine them all together and collect zakat from them.