from each category the amount due on it, since animals of the prescribed ages cannot be taken in fractions. Thus, the amount due on both categories may be taken entirely from one category, or it may be taken from both, with agreement in some cases and disagreement in others. Distinguishing the agreed cases from the disputed ones requires detailed explanation and classification.

If only one sheep or goat is due on the two categories, it is taken from whichever is more numerous. If their numbers are equal, the zakat collector may choose either category. There is no disagreement concerning this case. If two or more animals are due on the two categories, there are two principal cases, each divided into two subcases. The first is where the two or more animals are due on one category alone, while the second category constitutes a surplus that does not increase the amount due, whether or not that second category reaches the minimum number liable to zakat. The second principal case is where the two or more animals are due on both categories together, neither being a surplus in relation to the other. Here, either both categories reach the minimum number liable to zakat, or one reaches it while the other does not.

As for the first case, where the two or more animals are due on one category and the second category is a surplus below the minimum number liable to zakat, an example is a flock of 121 sheep and thirty goats. It is agreed that nothing is taken from the goats; the entire obligation is discharged by taking two sheep. Likewise, if there are 201 sheep and thirty goats, the entire obligation is discharged by taking three sheep.

If the second category is a surplus whose number nevertheless reaches the minimum liable to zakat—for example, 121 sheep and forty goats—there is disagreement. According to one view, two sheep are taken and nothing is taken from the goats, because they constitute a surplus. This follows the reasoning of Ibn al-Qāsim’s statement in al-Mudawwana that, for three hundred sheep and ninety goats, three sheep are due and nothing is taken from the goats. On this reasoning, no consideration is given to whether the sheep remaining after the number for which one animal is due are fewer or more numerous than the goats.

According to another view, this must be considered: one sheep and one goat are taken, because one sheep is due on 120 sheep, leaving one sheep, whereas there are forty goats. The second animal is therefore taken from the goats, since they are more numerous. There is a passage in al-Mudawwana whose apparent meaning supports this view, namely: “Consider, then: if a man has sheep and goats, and each category, when considered separately, reaches the number liable to zakat, an animal is taken from each.” His statement is general and does not distinguish a surplus from other cases. It may, however, mean that this applies when the less numerous category is not a surplus in relation to the more numerous, so there would be no inconsistency in