Zakat on Livestock: Goats, Cows, Buffaloes and Camels (Maweshi ki Zakat)

Livestock zakat is paid in animals, not as 2.5% of a value, and it has its own tables that go back to the time of the Prophet ﷺ. That makes it look complicated, but for most households it comes down to one or two questions: do your animals graze freely, and do you have at least 40 goats or 30 cows? This guide explains the conditions, gives the full tables, and walks through examples from Pakistani villages. To work out your own herd, use the livestock tab of the ushr and livestock calculator. Buying an animal for Eid? Whether qurbani is wajib on you is a separate question; the qurbani calculator answers it.

The rules below are those of the four Sunni schools unless we say otherwise. Shia Ja’fari rules are similar but not identical; there is a short note on them further down.

The source: the letter of Abu Bakr

The tables come from a letter that Abu Bakr as-Siddiq wrote to Anas ibn Malik when he sent him to collect zakat in Bahrain. It begins: “This is the obligation of charity which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ made obligatory on the Muslims,” and then lists the dues on camels and on sheep and goats. Imam al-Bukhari records it in his Sahih, in the Book of Zakat (the full text is in hadith 1454, with parts of it in neighbouring chapters). Abu Dawud and an-Nasa’i also narrate it.

The tables for cows come from the hadith of Mu’adh ibn Jabal, whom the Prophet ﷺ sent to Yemen with the instruction to take a tabi’ from every 30 cows and a musinnah from every 40 (Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi and an-Nasa’i). All four schools accept these figures.

Conditions: when livestock zakat is due

Zakat on animals is due only when all of these are met:

1. Sa’imah (free grazing). The animals feed themselves on open or common pasture for most of the year. Abu Bakr’s letter says “on the sheep that graze (sa’imah)”. In the Hanafi and Hanbali schools “most of the year” means more than half of it. The Shafi’i school is stricter: if the animals are fed by their owner for a period long enough that they could not survive without it, they lose the sa’imah status. Animals fed at home on fodder you buy, or fodder you cut and carry to them, are ma’lufah (fed), not grazing.
2. Not working animals. Bullocks used for ploughing, camels used for transport and donkeys or horses used for carts are tools of work. The Hanafi, Shafi’i and Hanbali schools exempt them, relying on narrations such as the one from Ali, “there is nothing on working animals” (Abu Dawud). The Maliki school differs: Imam Malik held that zakat is due on camels, cows and goats whether they graze or are fed, and whether they work or not, as long as they reach the nisab. A Maliki owner of 30 stall-fed cows therefore owes zakat on them.
3. Owned for a full lunar year (hawl). As with cash, the herd must stay at or above the nisab for a lunar year. In the Hanafi school, young born to the herd during the year are counted with their mothers when the year ends, as long as the herd was at the nisab to begin with. See how the hawl works for the general rules.
4. Nisab. At least 40 goats or sheep, 30 cows or buffaloes, or 5 camels. Below these numbers nothing is due as livestock zakat, however valuable the animals are.

Only camels, cows (including buffaloes) and goats or sheep carry this zakat. Horses, donkeys, mules and poultry do not, unless they are trade goods. Imam Abu Hanifa held a separate view that grazing horses kept for breeding carry zakat, but his students Abu Yusuf and Muhammad, and the other schools, do not, and that is how most Hanafi muftis answer today.

Goats and sheep (bakriyon ki zakat)

Goats and sheep are one kind for zakat: a herd of 25 goats and 20 sheep counts as 45 and owes one animal.

Number of goats or sheep	Zakat
1 to 39	Nothing
40 to 120	1 goat or sheep
121 to 200	2
201 to 399	3
400 and above	1 for every full 100 (400 = 4, 500 = 5, 650 = 6)

Notice how wide the bands are. Someone with 41 goats and someone with 120 both give one. The animals between the steps are called waqs and carry nothing.

Cows and buffaloes (gaye bhains ki zakat)

Buffaloes are counted with cows by agreement of the scholars; they are treated as one kind. A herd of 18 cows and 15 buffaloes is 33 and owes one tabi’.

• Tabi’ (or tabi’ah): a calf that has completed one year and is in its second.
• Musinnah: a cow that has completed two years and is in its third.

Number of cows or buffaloes	Zakat
1 to 29	Nothing
30 to 39	1 tabi’
40 to 59	1 musinnah
60 to 69	2 tabi’
70 to 79	1 tabi’ + 1 musinnah (30 + 40)
80 to 89	2 musinnah (40 + 40)
90 to 99	3 tabi’ (30 + 30 + 30)
100 to 109	2 tabi’ + 1 musinnah (30 + 30 + 40)
110 to 119	1 tabi’ + 2 musinnah (30 + 40 + 40)
120 to 129	3 musinnah (40 × 3), or 4 tabi’ (30 × 4)

From 60 onwards the rule is simple: split the herd into 30s and 40s so that as much of it as possible is covered, then give a tabi’ for each 30 and a musinnah for each 40. At exactly 120 both splits cover the whole herd; either is valid, and our calculator shows 3 musinnah. Anything left over between the steps is waqs. There is a narration from Imam Abu Hanifa that adds a fraction of an animal for counts between 40 and 60, but his two students and the other schools treat that range as waqs, which is what the table above and the calculator follow.

Camels (oonton ki zakat)

Camel zakat starts with goats, because a single young camel would be too heavy a due on a small herd.

Number of camels	Zakat
1 to 4	Nothing
5 to 24	1 goat for every 5 (5 = 1, 10 = 2, 15 = 3, 20 = 4)
25 to 35	1 bint makhad (female camel in its 2nd year)
36 to 45	1 bint labun (female in its 3rd year)
46 to 60	1 hiqqa (female in its 4th year)
61 to 75	1 jadha’a (female in its 5th year)
76 to 90	2 bint labun
91 to 120	2 hiqqa

Above 120 camels the schools differ. The Shafi’i and Hanbali schools follow the wording of Abu Bakr’s letter: one bint labun for every 40 and one hiqqa for every 50. The Hanafi school starts the count again with goats and young camels on top of the 2 hiqqa, based on narrations from Ali and Ibn Mas’ud. For 121 to 129 camels some Maliki scholars let the owner choose between 3 bint labun and 2 hiqqa. The livestock calculator now works these out for herds of any size: choose Hanafi, the other Sunni schools, or Ja’fari above the animal boxes.

Camels	Shafi’i, Hanbali, Maliki, Ahl-e-Hadith	Hanafi (al-Hidayah)
121	3 bint labun	2 hiqqa
125	3 bint labun	2 hiqqa + 1 goat
130	2 bint labun + 1 hiqqa	2 hiqqa + 2 goats
145	1 bint labun + 2 hiqqa	2 hiqqa + 1 bint makhad
150	3 hiqqa	3 hiqqa
186	4 bint labun	3 hiqqa + 1 bint labun
200	4 hiqqa (or 5 bint labun)	4 hiqqa

Which animal to give: age and quality

The animal you give should be of middle quality: not the best of your herd and not the worst. When the Prophet ﷺ sent Mu’adh to Yemen he told him, “beware of taking the best of their wealth” (Bukhari 1496). Abu Bakr’s letter in turn says the collector should not take an old animal, one with a defect (such as a one-eyed animal), or the breeding male, unless the owner chooses to give it.

• Not sick, injured or blind. If the whole herd is sick or defective, you may give one from it.
• Not your prize animal. You are not required to give the pregnant goat, the milking buffalo the family depends on, or the breeding bull. You may if you wish, and it is rewarded.
• The right age. For cows and camels the age is in the tables. For goats and sheep, Hanafi books say the animal should have completed one year; the other schools set similar minimum ages, which vary a little by species. A newborn kid is not accepted.
• Female where the table says so. Camel dues are female animals. For cows the Hanafi school accepts a male or female tabi’.

Paying the value instead of an animal

Many owners would rather give money than hand over a goat, especially when the recipient lives in a city.

• Hanafi: paying the market value of the animal that is due is allowed, and is often better for the poor person. Value it as a middling animal of the right age on the day you pay, for example by asking what such a goat fetches at your local mandi.
• Shafi’i and Hanbali: the general rule is that the animal itself must be given; value is not accepted. Some Hanbali scholars, Ibn Taymiyyah among them, allowed value where there is a real need or benefit.
• Maliki: the well-known position is also to give the animal, with some allowance in limited cases.

If you follow a school other than the Hanafi, give the animal unless your scholar has told you otherwise.

Animals that are not livestock zakat

Dairy buffaloes and cows fed at home

Most buffaloes and cows in Punjab and Sindh villages are kept at the house or in a dera and fed chara, wanda, bhoosa and green fodder that the family buys or cuts. These are not sa’imah, so there is no livestock zakat on them in the Hanafi, Shafi’i and Hanbali schools, even if there are 30 or more. The money from selling milk, however, is ordinary income. Whatever of it is still with you on your zakat date joins your cash and is counted in the Pakistan zakat calculator. Remember the Maliki view above: a Maliki farmer with 30 or more stall-fed cows owes livestock zakat on them.

Animals bought to sell (Eid ul Adha traders)

Goats, bulls and camels bought with the intention of selling them are trade goods, whether they graze or not. They are not counted by the tables at all. Instead, add their market value on your zakat date to your other business assets and pay 2.5%, using the cash nisab. This covers the traders who buy animals in the months before Eid ul Adha and fatten them for the mandi, and dairy farmers who rear calves specifically to sell. Use the business zakat calculator. An animal you bought for your own qurbani is neither livestock zakat nor trade goods.

Poultry and fish farms

Chickens, ducks and fish are not among the zakatable livestock, so there is no table for them. A broiler farm or fish farm that raises stock to sell is a business: the birds or fish on hand at your zakat date are counted at market value as trade goods, together with your cash and feed held for sale. Sheds, cages, ponds and equipment are not zakatable. In a layer farm the hens are usually treated as means of production, and the egg income joins your cash. Contemporary muftis differ on some of these details, so ask your scholar if the amounts are large.

Mixed herds and partnerships (khulta)

In Pakistani villages it is common for brothers, or several neighbours, to graze their goats together under one shepherd. Does that make one herd or several? Abu Bakr’s letter says: “Separate herds are not to be combined, nor a combined herd separated, out of fear of the charity; and whatever belongs to two partners, they settle between themselves equally.”

• Shafi’i and Hanbali: animals of different owners that share the same pen, pasture, shepherd, watering place and breeding male are treated as one herd (khulta). The dues are worked out on the combined number and shared in proportion. The Maliki school also accepts khulta, but only when each partner owns at least a nisab himself.
• Hanafi: mixing has no effect. Each owner’s animals are counted on their own, and the hadith is understood to stop people from rearranging ownership to dodge zakat.

The difference can go either way, as the examples below show.

Worked examples

1. A village household: 45 goats and 12 buffaloes

The goats graze on common land near the village all day for most of the year; the buffaloes stand at the house and eat bought fodder. The goats are 45, above 40, so 1 goat is due. The buffaloes owe nothing: they are stall-fed and below 30 anyway. Milk sold over the year that is still saved on the zakat date goes in with the family’s cash. A Hanafi family could also give the value of a middling one-year-old goat, say Rs 40,000 as an example, instead of the goat.

2. A Thar herder: 90 goats and 45 sheep

Goats and sheep are combined: 135 animals, in the 121 to 200 band, so 2 animals are due. Give them from the more numerous kind, or one of each, at middle quality.

3. Cholistan: 75 grazing cows and buffaloes

75 is covered best by 30 + 40 = 70, so the due is 1 tabi’ and 1 musinnah. The remaining 5 are waqs.

4. Balochistan: 26 camels

26 is in the 25 to 35 band: one bint makhad, a female camel that has completed its first year.

5. Two brothers sharing a herd

Each brother owns 30 goats, grazed together by one shepherd. In the Shafi’i and Hanbali view the herd is 60, so 1 goat is due and each brother bears half. In the Hanafi view each owns 30, below the nisab, so nothing is due. Reverse it: three partners each own 40 goats in one herd of 120. The Shafi’i and Hanbali answer is 1 goat in total, shared three ways; the Hanafi answer is 1 goat from each partner, 3 in all.

6. An Eid ul Adha trader

A trader has 50 bakray bought for the Eid market when his zakat date comes, with an example market value of Rs 60,000 each. They are trade goods worth Rs 30,00,000, so zakat is 2.5% of that, Rs 75,000, added to the rest of his business zakat. The goat table does not apply.

A note on Shia Ja’fari rules

Ja’fari fiqh, as set out by Ayatollah Sistani, also requires zakat on grazing camels, cows and sheep that are not working animals and have been owned for a year, with similar but not identical tables. There are three differences from the Sunni tables: 25 camels give 5 goats and the young she-camel (bint makhad) starts at 26; 301 to 399 sheep or goats give 4, not 3; and above 120 camels the count is a bint labun per 40 or a hiqqa per 50. Cows are the same. The animals must graze freely for the whole year. Choose Ja’fari (Sistani) in the livestock calculator to apply these, and check his Islamic Laws on sistani.org or ask his office for anything unusual.

Common mistakes

• Paying 2.5% of the value of dairy buffaloes. Stall-fed animals are not zakatable livestock (outside the Maliki school), and livestock zakat is never “2.5% of value” anyway. Only the milk income, once saved, joins your cash.
• Treating Eid animals as livestock. Animals bought to sell are trade goods at market value, even if there are fewer than 40.
• Forgetting that goats and sheep combine, and cows and buffaloes combine. 25 goats and 20 sheep is 45, not two herds below the nisab.
• Giving the weakest animal. A sick or old goat does not discharge the duty; give a middling one.
• Counting working bullocks. Animals used for ploughing or carts are exempt in the Hanafi, Shafi’i and Hanbali schools.
• Splitting a herd on paper to avoid zakat. The hadith forbids exactly this.
• Thinking livestock zakat replaces ushr. They are separate. Crops have their own rules: see ushr on crops.

What to do now

1. Separate your animals into grazing, stall-fed, working and for sale.
2. Count the grazing ones by kind: goats and sheep together, cows and buffaloes together, camels.
3. Enter the numbers in the livestock tab of the ushr and livestock calculator to see which animals are due.
4. Add animals for sale to your business assets, and saved milk income to your cash.
5. Give the animals, or their value if you are Hanafi, to people who are eligible; see who can receive zakat.

Frequently asked questions