Zakat

[A] Camels

Zakât is not due upon less than five camels; and upon five camels it is one goat or sheep, provided that they subsist upon pasture throughout the year; because zakât is due only upon such camels living on pasture and not upon those which are fed in the home of the forage. One goat or sheep is due upon any number of camels from five to nine; two goats for any number of camels from ten to fourteen; three goats for any number from twenty to twenty-four. Upon any number of camels from twenty-five to thirty-five, the zakât is a bintmakâd, or a yearling female camel; from thirty-six to forty-five, a bint-labûn, or a two-year old female camel; from forty-six to sixty, a hoqqa, or a three-year-old female camel; from sixty-one to seventy-four, a jaza’a, or four-year-old female camel; from seventy-five to ninety, two female two-year-old colts. When the number of camels exceeds one hundred and twenty, the zakât is calculated by the afore-said rule.

[B] Bulls, Cows and Buffaloes

No zakât is due upon fewer than thirty cattle. Upon thirty cattle which are fed on pasture for the greater part of the year, there is due at the end of the year a jazu’a, or one year-old calf; and upon thirty is due a musinna, or a calf of two year old; and where the number exceeds forty, the zakât is to be calculated according to this rule. For example, upon sixty, the zakât is a two yearling calves upon seventy, one tabî’a and one musinnas; upon ninety, three tabî’as and one musinna; and thus upon every ten heads of cattle a musinna and a tabî’a alternately. Upon one hundred and nine, the zakât is two musinna and one tabia; and upon one hundred and twenty, four tabî’as. The usual method, however, of calculating the zakât upon large herds of cattle is by dividing them into thirties and forties, imposing upon every thirty-one: a tabî’a, or upon every forty-one: a musinna.

[C] Sheep and Goats 

No zakât is due upon less than forty which have fed the greater part of the year on pasture, upon which is due one goat or sheep, until the number reaches one hundred and twenty; for one hundred and twenty-one to two hundred, it is two goats or sheep, and above this, one for every hundred.

[D] Horses

When horses and mares are kept indiscriminately together, feeding for the great part of the year on pasture, it is the option of the proprietor to give one dînar [a dînar is worth about 13 grams gold, or its currency equivalent] per head of the whole, or to estimate the whole and give five per cent upon the total value. No zakât is due upon droves of horses consisting entirely of males, or entirely of mares. There is no zakât due upon horses or mules, unless they are articles of merchandise; nor it is due upon war horses, or upon beasts of burden, or upon cattle kept for drawing ploughs and so forth.

[E] Silver

It is not due upon silver of value less than two hundred dirhams [one dirham is equivalent to 3.12 grams], but if one be possessed of this sum for a whole year, the zakât due upon it is five dirhams till such excess amounts to forty, on which the zakât is one dirham, and for every succeeding forty-one dirhams. These dirhams on which silver predominates are to be accounted silver, and the laws respecting silver, apply to them, although they should contain some alloy; and the some rule holds with regard to all articles falling under the denomination of plate such as cups and drinking bowls.

[F] Gold and Silver Ornaments:

 No zakât is due upon gold under the value of twenty misqâls [1], and the zakât due upon twenty is half a misqâl. When the quantity of gold exceeds twenty misqâls, on every four misqâls above twenty are due two qirâts [2], and so on in proportion. Zakât is due upon gold and silver bars and upon all gold and silver ornaments and utensils.

[G] Cash, Bank-Notes, Etc.

No zakât is due upon notes, etc., the value of which does not exceed eighty nine grams of gold, twenty one carat or its equivalent of foreign currency. And the zakât due upon a value of eighty nine grams of gold, twenty one kirate and upwards is two and half per cent of the total money remaining idle in possession for the duration of one year.

[H] Articles of Merchandise

Articles of merchandise should be valued, and a zakât of two and a half per cent is paid upon the value if it exceeds two hundred dirhams of silver in value.

[I] Mines or Buried Treasures

Mines of gold, silver, iron, lead or copper are subject of a zakât of one-fifth, but if the mine is discovered within the grounds of a person’s own home, nothing is due. And if a person finds a deposit of buried treasures, one-fifth is due upon it. No zakât is due upon precious stones.

[J] Fruits of the Earth

Upon everything produced from the ground, there is one-tenth whether the soil be watered by the overflow of rivers, or by periodical rains, excepting the articles of wood, bamboo, and grass, which are not subject to the tithe. If the soil is watered by means of buckets, machinery, or watering camels, etc., the zakât is one twentieth.

Honey and fruits collected in the wilderness are subject to tithe.

The zakât is received by collectors duly appointed by the State, although it is lawful for the possessor to distribute his alms himself. If a person comes to the collector and makes a declaration upon oath as to the amount of his property or as to his having himself distributed the alms due, his statement is to be credited.