Al-Ahkam al-Sultaniyyah - Al-Qadi Abu Ya’la Ibn al-Farra - (118)

Al-Ahkam al-SultaniyyahAl-Qadi Abu Ya’la Ibn al-Farra

Sheep are combined with goats for purposes of zakat, buffalo with cattle, and Bactrian camels with Arabian camels, because each pair consists of two varieties of the same genus. Camels are not combined with cattle, nor cattle with sheep, because they belong to different genera. The owners of intermingled herds are assessed as a single owner for zakat when the conditions for such intermixture are met.

A person’s livestock holdings are not combined when their locations are separated by a distance at which prayer may be shortened. If he has a single niṣāb distributed between two towns, no zakat is due; but if he has two niṣābs, one in each of two towns, two zakat payments are due.

Zakat on livestock becomes due once they reach a niṣāb, subject to two conditions. First, they must be grazing animals that feed on natural pasture, thereby requiring less maintenance and yielding more milk and offspring. If they are working animals or are fed fodder, no zakat is due on them. Second, a full year must pass over the herd, covering its breeding cycle. Young animals are included in their mothers’ zakat if they are born before the year is complete and the mothers constitute a niṣāb. If the mothers fall below the niṣāb, a new year is counted from the time the niṣāb is again complete. No zakat is due on horses, mules, or donkeys.

If the zakat administrator is one of the agents granted delegated authority, then, in matters disputed by the jurists, he collects according to his own judgment and the Imam’s independent legal reasoning, not according to the views of the owners of the wealth. The Imam is not required to specify for him the amount he is to collect.

If he is one of the agents tasked merely with implementation, then in disputed matters he acts according to the Imam’s independent legal reasoning, not according to the owners of the wealth. Such an agent may not exercise independent legal reasoning; the Imam must specify for him the amount to be collected. He is merely an envoy for receiving the zakat, carrying out the Imam’s legal reasoning.

وبضم الضَّأْنُ إلَى الْمَعْزِ، وَالْجَوَامِيسُ إلَى الْبَقَرِ، وَالْبَخَاتِيُّ إلى العرب لأنهما نوعان من جنس واحد. ولا تضم الْإِبِلُ إلَى الْبَقَرِ وَلَا الْبَقَرُ إلَى الْغَنَمِ، لاختلاف الجنس. والخلطاء في الزكاة يزكون زكاة الواحد إذا اجتمعت فيهم شروط الخلطة. ولا يجمع مال الإنسان من الماشية إذا تفرقت أماكنه بحيث تقصر الصلاة. فإذا كان له نصاب واحد في بلدين لم تجب الزكاة، وإن كان له نصابان في بلدين وجبت زكاتان. وزكاة المواشي تجب إذا بلغت نصابا، بِشَرْطَيْنِ: أَحَدُهُمَا: أَنْ تَكُونَ سَائِمَةً تَرْعَى الْكَلَأَ. فتقل مؤونتها، وَيَتَوَفَّرُ دَرُّهَا وَنَسْلُهَا، فَإِنْ كَانَتْ عَامِلَةً أَوْ معلوفة لم تجب فيها الزكاة. الثاني: أن يحول عليها الحول الذي تستكمل فيه النسل. والسخال فتزلى بزكاة أُمَّهَاتِهَا إذَا وُلِدَتْ قَبْلَ الْحَوْلِ وَكَانَتْ الْأُمَّهَاتُ نصابا. فإن نقصت الأمهات عن النصاب استؤنف بِهَا الْحَوْلُ بَعْدَ اسْتِكْمَالِ النِّصَابِ. وَلَا زَكَاةَ في الخيل والبغال والحمير. وَإِذَا كَانَ وَالِي الصَّدَقَاتِ مِنْ عُمَّالِ التَّفْوِيضِ أخذها - مما اختلف الفقهاء فيه - على رأيه واجتهاده الإمام، ولا على أرباب الأموال، ولا يلزم الإمالم أَنْ يَنُصَّ لَهُ عَلَى قَدْرِ مَا يَأْخُذُهُ. وَإِنْ كَانَ مِنْ عُمَّالِ التَّنْفِيذِ عَمِلَ فِيمَا اُخْتُلِفَ فِيهِ عَلَى اجْتِهَادِ الْإِمَامِ دُونَ أَرْبَابِ الْأَمْوَالِ، وَلَمْ يَجُزْ لِهَذَا الْعَامِلِ أَنْ يَجْتَهِدَ، وَلَزِمَ الْإِمَامَ أَنْ يَنُصَّ لَهُ عَلَى الْقَدْرِ المأخوذ، ويكون رسولا في القبض، منفذا الاجتهاد الإمام.