500 – On the authority of ʿAlī (Allah be pleased with him) who said: “There is no zakāh on working cattle.” It was related by Abū Dāwūd and al-Dāraqutnī, and the stronger opinion is that it is mawqūf as well (1).
Degree of authenticity:
Ibn al-Qaṭṭān declared the ḥadīth sound, saying: “Everyone who transmits it is a trustworthy, well-known narrator.” The report is transmitted through the chain of Abū Isḥāq, from al-Ḥārith al-Aʿwar and ʿĀṣim ibn Ḍamrah, on the authority of ʿAlī, both marfūʿ (traced back to the Prophet) and mawqūf (halted at the Companion) with the wording: “There is nothing due on working cattle.”
Al-Bayhaqī said: “Al-Nufaylī narrated it from Zuhayr while uncertain whether it was marfūʿ or mawqūf.”
Al-Ḥāfiẓ said in al-Takhliṣ: “Al-Dāraqutnī transmitted it from Ibn ʿAbbās, but in its chain is Suwār ibn Muṣʿab, who is discarded, reporting from Layth ibn Abī Sulaym, who is weak. Ibn Mājah likewise related it from Ibn ʿAbbās, and in its chain is al-Ṣaqr ibn Ḥabīb, who is weak.”
Al-Bayhaqī also reported it from Jābir in mawqūf form and judged its isnād weak.
Lexical notes:
Working cattle: the plural of ʿāmilah; animals employed for ploughing, treading grain, drawing water, hauling heavy loads, and the like.
Points derived from the ḥadīth:
- It was previously explained that zakāh is built upon fairness between rich and poor. On this just basis, it is due only on assets that are themselves productive, whereas items set aside for personal or operational use carry no zakāh liability.
- Among the assets intended for use are the working cattle employed in ploughing or irrigating crops; these