#الأربعون_في_ذكر_الأربعين

#الأربعون_البراوية_في_النصوص_الشرعية 32. Forty: The Nisab of Sheep عن سالم بن عبد الله، عن أبيه، عن النبي ﷺ، قال: ‌أقرأني ‌سالم ‌كتابا ‌كتبه رسول الله ﷺ في الصدقاتِ قبلَ أن يتوفاهُ اللهُ عزَّ وجلَّ فوجدتُّ فيه في أربعينَ شاةٍ شاةً إلى عشرينَ ومائةَ فإذا زادتْ واحدةٌ ففيها شاتانِ إلى مائتينِ فإنْ زادتْ واحدةٌ ففيها ثلاثُ شياهٍ إلى ثلاثِ مائةٍ فإذا كثرتْ ففي كلِّ مائةٍ شاةٌ ووجدتُ فيه لا يجمعُ بين متفرقٍ ولا يفرقُ بين مجتمعٍ ووجدتُ فيه لا يؤخذُ في الصدقةِ تيسٌ ولا هرمةٌ ولا ذاتُ عوارٍ. From Salim ibn 'Abdullah, from his father' Abdullah ibn 'Umar, from the Prophet ﷺ: He said: Salim showed me a document that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had written regarding zakat before Allah took his soul. In it I found: In forty sheep, one sheep is due (as zakat), up to one hundred and twenty sheep. If they increase by one more (above 120), then two sheep are due, up to two hundred sheep. If they increase by one more (above 200), then three sheep are due, up to three hundred sheep. If the number increases beyond that, then one sheep is due for every hundred sheep. And I found in it: “You must not combine separate herds, and you must not separate a combined herd (to avoid zakat).” And I found in it: “No male goat, no very old animal, and no defective animal should be taken for zakat.” [Reported by Abu Dawud (1570), Tirmidhi (621), and Ibn Majah (1805); authenticated by Sheikh Albani] Brief Commentary: 1. Zakah is one of the pillars of Islam. It is a right that Allah has placed in wealth, given to the poor from the wealth of the rich. The Prophet ﷺ taught us its conditions, its categories, and what is due for each type of wealth. 2. In this hadith, Muhammad ibn Shihab Az-Zuhri reports about a written document that was with Salim ibn Abdillah, and it had been preserved by his father Abdullah ibn Umar. Az-Zuhri said: Salim read to me a document written by the Messenger of Allah ﷺ about zakah. This means it explained the rules of zakah, its minimum amounts, and what is required. The Prophet ﷺ had ordered it to be written before Allah took his soul. Note: The word “sheep” here includes both male and female animals. 3. The owner of sheep gives one sheep for every forty animals, and this continues until the number reaches one hundred and twenty sheep. If the number increases by one more (to 121), then two sheep are due, up to two hundred sheep. If it increases by one more (to 201), then three sheep are due, up to three hundred sheep. If it goes beyond three hundred, then the rule changes to one sheep for every hundred sheep. 4. Then it says: “Do not combine separate flocks, and do not separate a combined flock.” This means the zakah collector should not join animals that are separately owned in order to take zakah from them unfairly, and owners should not split their animals into smaller groups to avoid paying zakah. Both actions are forbidden because they manipulate the obligation. Examples: a) A man has forty sheep in Riyadh and forty sheep in Al-Qasim. On each group, he owes one sheep, so he owes two sheep in total. But if he gathers them all in one place, it becomes one group of eighty sheep, and only one sheep is due. So he combined what was separate to reduce zakat. Likewise, if two different people each own forty sheep, and they mix their flocks to avoid paying Zakat. Instead of each paying one sheep, they would together pay only one. b) A man owns forty sheep in one place, which normally requires one sheep in zakat. But he splits them into two groups of twenty in different locations so that no zakat is due. The reason is clear: any trick used to remove an obligation has no effect, and any trick used to permit something forbidden also has no effect. The obligation remains obligatory, and the prohibition remains forbidden. In fact, those who try to use tricks to avoid Allah’s commands may face a more severe punishment than those who openly disobey, because it involves mocking and belittling Allah’s laws.