from Yahya ibn al-Hakam, that Mu'adh said: "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, sent me to collect charity (sadaqa) from the people of Yemen, and he ordered me to take from cattle a tab'i from every thirty, and a musinna from every forty." He said: "They offered that I take what is between forty and fifty, and between sixty and seventy, and between eighty and ninety, but I refused that and said to them: 'Until I ask the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, about that.' So I arrived and informed the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and he ordered me to take from every thirty a tab'i, and from every forty a musinna, and from sixty two tab'is, and from seventy a musinna and a tab'i, and from eighty two musinnas, and from ninety three tab'is (26), and from one hundred a musinna and two tab'is, and from one hundred and ten two musinnas and a tab'i, and from one hundred and twenty three musinnas or four tab'is (26). The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, ordered me not to take anything between those [amounts] unless it reaches a musinna or a jada' – meaning a tab'i." He claimed that there is no obligatory charity in the awqas (the ranges between the thresholds). As for consensus, we do not know of any disagreement regarding the obligation of Zakat in cattle. Abu 'Ubayd said: "I do not know of the people differing on it today." This is also because they are one of the categories of grazing livestock (bahimat al-an'am), so Zakat is mandatory on their pasturing animals, like camels and sheep.
402 - Issue: He said: (There is no charity on fewer than thirty grazing cattle.)
The sum of this is that there is no Zakat on fewer than thirty cattle according to the opinion of the majority of scholars. It was narrated from Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib and Al-Zuhri that they both said: "In every five [cattle], there is one sheep." This is because they are equated with camels in the [laws of] hady (sacrificial animals) and udhiya (animal sacrifice), and so it is the same in Zakat. As for us, we rely on the aforementioned report, and because the thresholds (nusub) of Zakat are established only by text (nass) and divine ordinance (tawqif), and there is neither text nor ordinance for what they mentioned, therefore it is not established. Furthermore, their analogy is invalid, for thirty-five sheep are equivalent to five camels in the hady, yet there is no Zakat on them. Once this is established, there is no Zakat on non-grazing cattle according to the majority. It has been narrated from Malik that there is charity on working animals and fodder-fed animals, similar to his view on camels. The discussion regarding him has already preceded. It was narrated from 'Ali, may Allah be pleased with him—the narrator said: I think he meant from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace—regarding the charity of cattle: "There is nothing [due] on working animals." Recorded by Abu Dawood (3). It was also narrated from 'Amr ibn Shu'ayb, from his father, from his grandfather, from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, that he said: "There is no charity on working cattle" (4). This is a restrictive condition (muqayyad) upon which the absolute (mutlaq) is applied. It was narrated from 'Ali, Mu'adh, and Jabir that they said: "There is no charity on working cattle" (5). This is also because the characteristic of growth (nama') is considered in Zakat, and it is found only in grazing animals.
403 - Issue: He said: (And if he owns thirty cattle, and grazes them for most of the year, there is due on them a tab'i or a tab'iyya, up to thirty-nine. When they reach forty, there is due on them a musinna, up to fifty-nine. When they reach sixty, there is due on them two tab'is, up to sixty-nine. When they reach seventy, there is due on them a musinna and a tab'i. If they increase beyond that, then in every thirty there is a tab'i, and in every forty there is a musinna.)
The tab'i is that which is one year old and has entered its second year. It was called that because it follows (yatba'u) its mother.
(25) In M: "'an" (from). (26) In M: "tiba'" (plural). (27) In M: "fiha" (in it). (28) In M: "balagha" (reached). (29) In M: "a'lamu" (I know). (1) In A and M: "wa-li-annaha" (and because it/they).