❖ Zakat on Sheep and Goats: Nisab, Rates, and Scholarly Consensus ❖
✍ Written by: Imran Ayub Lahori
✿ Introduction
Zakat on sheep and goats is a well-established obligation in Islam. The rules regarding the Nisab (minimum threshold) and the rate of Zakat for these animals are explicitly defined in authentic Hadiths and upheld by scholarly consensus.
❖ Zakat Schedule on Sheep and Goats
وَيَجِبُ فِي أَرْبَعِيْنَ مِنَ الْغَنَمِ شَاةً إِلى مِائَةٍ وَإِحْدَى وَعِشْرِينَ، وَفِيْهَا شَاتَانِ إِلَى مِائَتَيْنِ وَوَاحِدَةٍ، وَفِيهَا ثَلَاثُ شِيَاءٍ إِلَى ثَلَاثِمَائَةٍ وَوَاحِدَةٍ، وَفِيهَا أَرْبَعٌ، ثُمَّ فِي كُلِّ مِائَةٍ شَاةٌ
Zakat due on grazing sheep and goats is as follows:
➊ From 40 to 120 animals ➝ 1 sheep due
➋ From 121 to 200 animals ➝ 2 sheep due
➌ From 201 to 300 animals ➝ 3 sheep due
➍ Above 300 animals ➝ 1 sheep for every 100 animals
❖ Authentic Hadith Evidence
Narrated by Anas ibn Mālik رضي الله عنه:
“For grazing sheep and goats, from forty up to one hundred and twenty, one sheep is to be given in Zakat. From one hundred and twenty-one to two hundred, two sheep are due. From two hundred and one to three hundred, three sheep are to be given. When the number exceeds three hundred, then for every hundred, one sheep is to be given. If someone owns fewer than forty grazing sheep, there is no Zakat due—unless he gives voluntarily.”
References: [Bukhārī: 1454; Abū Dāwūd: 1567; Ibn Mājah: 1800; Ibn Khuzaymah: 2261]
❖ Important Condition: Grazing Livestock
The above ruling applies specifically to grazing sheep and goats—that is, animals that feed on open pasture throughout most of the year. Animals that are stall-fed or used for labor or trade may fall under different rulings.
❖ Scholarly Consensus
There is Ijmāʿ (consensus) among scholars regarding the obligation of Zakat on sheep and goats and the Nisab mentioned above.
✔ Ibn al-Mundhir:
“[Consensus] has been established regarding the obligation of Zakat on sheep and goats and its Nisab.”
[Al-Ijmāʿ: p. 46–47]
✔ Imām al-Nawawī:
[Al-Majmūʿ: 5/417]
✔ Ibn Qudāmah:
[Al-Mughnī wa al-Sharḥ: 2/472]
✔ Ibn Rushd (Imām Mālikī):
[Bidāyat al-Mujtahid: 1/224]
✔ Yūsuf al-Qaraḍāwī:
[Fiqh al-Zakāh: 1/204]
