from every thirty head of cattle one tabīʿ or tabīʿah, and from every forty a musinnah,” narrated by the Five and declared sound by Ibn Ḥibbān and al-Ḥākim.

Accordingly, whenever the herd exceeds forty head, a tabīʿ is due for every thirty and a musinnah for every forty. The musinnah is the cow that has reached the thaniyyah stage—so called because it has grown its permanent incisors; hence it is also termed a thaniyyah.

Third: Zakat on sheep

The duty to pay zakat on sheep is established by the Sunnah and by consensus. In the Sahih collection it is related from Anas that Abū Bakr wrote to him: “This is the prescription of charity that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ made obligatory upon the Muslims and which Allah commanded His Messenger to collect…,” until he said: “In the case of sheep that graze, when they number from forty up to one hundred and twenty, one sheep is due….”

Thus, when a flock—whether of ewes or of goats—reaches forty, one sheep is payable: a jadhaʿ from ewes or a thaniyyah from goats. This is confirmed by the hadith of Suwayd ibn Ghaflah, who said: “The tax collector of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ came to us and said, ‘We have been commanded to take a jadhaʿ from ewes and a thaniyyah from goats.’” A jadhaʿ of ewes is the one that has completed six months, while a thaniyyah of goats is the one that has completed a full year.