Zakah on cattle: what it is

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When cows reach thirty, the zakah on them is one tabi' (a one-year-old male) or tabi'ah (a one-year-old female), and on forty cows one musinnah (a calf that has become two years old)."

It is narrated from Masruq that when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sent Sayyiduna Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him) to Yemen, he commanded him to collect as zakah one tabi' or tabi'ah on thirty cows and one musinnah on forty, and to take one dinar from every adult, or instead of the dinar to collect something else whose value equals Ma'afiri cloth. (Ma'afir is the name of a place in Yemen; the cloth is attributed to it.)

It is narrated from al-Sha'bi that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) wrote to Yemen: "Collect one tabi' or tabi'ah on thirty cows, and collect a musinnah on forty."

It is narrated from Ibrahim and Abu Wa'il that when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sent Sayyiduna Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him) to Yemen, he commanded him to collect as zakah one tabi' or tabi'ah on thirty cows and one musinnah on forty, and to take one dinar from every adult, or instead of the dinar to collect something else whose value equals Ma'afiri cloth. (Ma'afir is the name of a place in Yemen; the cloth is attributed to it.)

Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: When cows reach thirty, one gives a tabi' or tabi'ah that is one year old, and when they reach forty, a musinnah that is two years old or older. (One whose two upper or lower front teeth have appeared.)

Nafi' said: The saying of Sayyiduna Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him) reached me: On thirty cows, one tabi', and on forty, one cow.

Ibrahim said: On thirty cows, one tabi' or tabi'ah, (that is) a jadha' (a yearling calf), and on forty one musinnah, is to be given as zakah.

Shahr said: On grazing cows, when they reach thirty, a tabi' will be due, and on forty a musinnah will be due.

Ibrahim said: On thirty cows, one tabi' or tabi'ah, and on forty, one musinnah.

Al-Sha'bi said: On thirty cows, one tabi' or tabi'ah, and on forty, one musinnah.

Ikrimah bin Khalid said: I was entrusted with collecting the zakah of (the tribe of) Akk. I met elders who used to give zakah in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). They differed with me: some said, collect it like the zakah of camels; and some said, collect one tabi' or tabi'ah, that is a jadha' or jadha'ah, on thirty cows, and one musinnah on forty cows.

Al-Sha'bi said: On thirty cows, a tabi' or tabi'ah, a jadha' or jadha'ah, and on forty, a musinnah.

Makhul said: When (cows) reach thirty, one tabi' or tabi'ah is due on them, and when they reach forty, one musinnah is due on them.

Ibn Tawus narrates from his father (Tawus) that he said: On thirty cows, one tabi', a jadha' or jadha'ah, and on forty cows, one cow.

Salih bin Dinar said: Umar bin Abd al-Aziz wrote to Uthman bin Muhammad bin Abi Suwayd: Take one tabi' on thirty cows, and collect one cow on forty cows. And he did not add anything beyond that.

Shu'bah said: I asked al-Hakam and Hammad (about the zakah of cows), and they said: On thirty, one jadha' or jadha'ah, and on forty, a musinnah.

Ibn Jurayj said: Amr informed me that the agents of Ibn al-Zubayr, Ibn Abi Awf and others, used to collect one cow on every fifty cows.

Sulayman bin Musa said: When cows reach thirty, the zakah on them is one tabi' (a yearling calf), a jadh' or a jadh'ah (male or female), until they reach forty; when they reach forty, the zakah on them is a musinnah (a cow in its third year).

Muhammad bin Yahya bin Hibban said that Nu'aym bin Salamah informed him. The seal of Umar bin Abd al-Aziz was in his (Nu'aym's) keeping. Umar bin Abd al-Aziz called for a document which people claimed was the very document that Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) had written to Sayyiduna Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him). Nu'aym said: That document was read before him and I too was present on that occasion. It was written in it: "On every thirty cows, one tabi', a jadh' or a jadh'ah; and on every forty cows, one musinnah." Nu'aym said: I asked: "A tabi' al-jadh'?" Umar said: "A tabi' jadh'."