consensus. Therefore, making Zakat obligatory upon them is an arbitrary judgment based on personal opinion. If it is said: "Zakat is made obligatory as a precaution (ihtiyatan) and to give weight to the side of obligation, just as we established the prohibition of hunting them in the Sacred Precinct (Haram) and for one in the state of Ihram as a precaution," this is incorrect. For mandatory obligations (wajib) are not established as a precaution based on doubt; for this reason, purification (tahara) is not made obligatory upon one who is certain of it but doubts the occurrence of the ritual impurity (hadath), nor are other mandatory acts [established this way]. As for grazing (sawm) and fodder (alaf), the consideration therein is based on that upon which Zakat is due, not upon the origin from which it was produced. This is evidenced by the fact that if one feeds fodder to an animal produced from a grazing animal, its Zakat would not be due, whereas if one grazes the offspring of a fodder-fed animal, its Zakat would be due. The statement of those who claim that the sheep of Mecca are produced from the crossing of sheep and gazelles is incorrect; for had they been so, they would have been forbidden in the Sacred Precinct and in the state of Ihram, and a penalty (jaza') would have been due for them, like all that is produced between wild and domestic animals. Furthermore, if they were truly produced from two [different] species, they would have no offspring, like the sim' and mules.