Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah

Hazrat Abdullah bin Al-Mustawrad narrates that I heard Hazrat Abu Qilabah relating this hadith in the presence of Hazrat Umar bin Abdul Aziz: When Hazrat Siddiq Akbar sent the collectors of charity (zakat) to various cities, he instructed them to sell the jaz’ah for forty, the hiqqah for thirty, the ibn labun for twenty, and the bint makhad for ten. So the collectors of charity set out and sold them at the prices Hazrat Abu Bakr had set, then returned. When the next year came and he was about to send them again, they said, “If we wish, can we increase the price?” He replied, “Increase it by ten each year.” Then the following year, when he was about to send them, they said, “If we wish, can we increase it?”

When Hazrat Umar Farooq became caliph, he sent the collectors to various cities at the last price set by Hazrat Siddiq Akbar. When the next year came, the collectors said, “If we wish, can we increase it?” He replied, “Increase it by ten each year.” Then the following year, when he sent those collectors, they again said, “If we wish, can we increase it?” He replied, “No, do not increase it now.”

When Hazrat Uthman Ghani became caliph, he sent his collectors at the last price set by Hazrat Umar. When the next year came, the collectors said, “If we wish, can we increase it?” He replied, “Increase it by ten each year.” Then when the following year came, they again said, “If we wish, can we increase it?” He replied, “No.”

Then when Hazrat Amir Muawiyah became ruler, he sent them at the last price set by Hazrat Uthman Ghani. When the next year came, the collectors said, “If we wish, can we increase it?” He replied, “Increase it by ten each year.” Then the following year, they said, “If we wish, can we increase it?” He replied, “Take the obligatory shares according to their age, then record their names and announce them (make them known). Then sell them immediately. If you have the ability to reduce the price, then reduce it, and if you have the ability to increase the price, then increase it.”

The narrator, Hazrat Abdullah, says that he saw Hazrat Umar bin Abdul Aziz did not see any harm in this. He asked Hazrat Abu Qilabah, “How should the zakat of goats be collected?” He replied, “Collect the zakat and distribute it among the poor of the villages (and wilderness).” Then Hazrat Abdul Malik bin Marwan ordered this and divided it into fifths, and kept a fifth for each needy person, which continues to this day.