Section: The male animal is not to be given in Zakat at all, except in the case of cattle. As for the ibnal-labun, it is not a primary category; rather, it is a substitute for the bint makhad, and for this reason, it does not suffice when the latter is present. The male only suffices in the Zakat of cattle for the thirty-count and what repeats of it, such as sixty and ninety (10), and what is compounded from thirty and other numbers, such as seventy, which contains one tab'i and one musinna, and one hundred, which contains one musinna and two tab'is. If he wishes, he may bring out females in place of the males, because the textual evidence (nass) has been narrated for both of them. As for the forty-count and what repeats of it, such as eighty, nothing suffices as its mandatory payment except for females, unless he produces two tab'is in place of the musinna, in which case it is permissible. When the cattle reach one hundred and twenty, both obligations agree, so the owner of the wealth is given the choice between producing three musinnas or four tab'is; the duty is one of these two, whichever he chooses, according to what the aforementioned report stated. The choice in production belongs to the owner of the wealth, as we have mentioned regarding the Zakat of camels. This detailed analysis applies to cases where there are females among them; if they are all males, the male suffices in all cases, because Zakat is an act of charitable support (muwasa), and one is not burdened to provide support from wealth other than his own. It is possible that it does not suffice him to produce anything but females in the case of the forties, because the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, explicitly specified musinnas, and it is necessary to follow his specific wording; thus, he would be burdened to purchase them if they are not in his herd, just as if he could not find anything except animals of a younger age. The first view is more appropriate, because we have permitted the male in the Zakat of sheep, even though it has no place in their Zakat when females are present, so cattle [for which the male has a role] (11) are more appropriate; [because the male has a role in them] (12).

404 - Issue: He said: (And buffaloes are like other cattle).

There is no disagreement on this that we are aware of. Ibn al-Mundhir said: Every scholar whose opinion is preserved has reached a consensus on this, and because buffaloes are a type of cattle, just as the Baktrian camels are a type of camel. Thus, if buffaloes and another type of cattle, or Baktrian and Arabian camels, or goats and sheep are found together in the wealth, the nisab (minimum threshold) of one is completed by the other, and the obligatory payment is taken from one of them according to the proportion of the two types of wealth, as we shall mention, if Allah Almighty wills.