Sunan Abi Dawud

When the Prophet (ﷺ) sent him to the Yemen, he ordered him to take a male or a female calf a year old for every thirty cattle and a cow in its third year for every forty, and one dinar for every adult (unbeliever as a poll-tax) or cloths of equivalent value manufactured in the Yemen.

This tradition has also been transmitted by Mu’adh through a different chain of narrators to the same effect.

that the Prophet (ﷺ) sent him to Yemen. He then narrated the tradition something similar. He did not mention in this version cloths made in the Yemen nor did he refer to adult (unbelievers). Abu Dawud said This tradition has been transmitted by Jarir, Ya’la, Ma’mar, Abu ‘Awanahand Yahya bin Sa’id from Al A’mash, from Abu Wa’il, on the authority of Masruq, and from Ya’la and Ma’mar on the authority of Mu’adh to the same effect.

I went myself or someone who accompanied the collector of the Prophet (ﷺ) told me: It was recorded in the document written by the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) not to accept a milking goat or she-camel or a (suckling) baby (as zakat on animals); and those which are in separate flocks are not to be brought together, and those which are in one flock are not to be separated. The collector used to visit the water-hole when the sheep went there and say: Pay the sadaqah (zakat) on your property. The narrator said: A man wanted to give him his high-humped camel (kawma'). The narrator (Hilal) asked: What is kawma', AbuSalih? He said: A camel a high hump. The narrator continued: He (the collector) refused to accept it. He said: I wish you could take the best of my camels. He refused to accept it. He then brought another camel lower in quality than the previous one. He refused to accept it too. He then brought another camel lower in quality than the previous one. He accepted it, saying: I shall take it, but I am afraid the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) might be angry with me, saying to me: You have purposely taken from a man a camel of your choice. Abu Dawud said: This tradition has also been narrated by Hushaim from Hilal bin Khabbab to the same effect. But he said: Those which are in one flock are not to be separated.

Suwaid bin Ghaflah reported The collector of the Prophet (ﷺ) came to us. I caught hold of his hand and read in the document that the goods were not to be combined nor were they to be separated for fear of zakat. There is no mention of milch animals in this tradition.

Nafi' ibn Alqamah appointed my father as charge d'affaires of his tribe, and commanded him to collect sadaqah (zakat) from them. My father sent me to a group of them; so I came to an aged man called Sa'r ibn Disam I said: My father has sent me to you to collect zakat from you. He asked: What kind of animals will you take, my nephew? I replied: We shall select the sheep and examine their udders. He said: My nephew, I shall narrate a tradition to you. I lived on one of these steppes during the time of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) along with my sheep. Two people riding a camel came to me. They said to me: We are messengers of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), sent to you so that you may pay the sadaqah (zakat) on your sheep. I asked: What is due from me for them? They said: One goat. I went to a goat which I knew was full of milk and fat, and I brought it to them. They said: This is a pregnant goat. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) prohibited us to accept a pregnant goat. I asked: What will you take then? They said: A goat in its second year or a goat in its third year. I then went to a goat which had not given birth to any kid, but it was going to do so. I brought it to them. They said: Give it to us. They took it on the camel and went away. Abu Dawud said: Abu 'Asim transmitted this tradition from Zakariyya. He said: Muslim bin Shu'bah is a narrator in the chain of this tradition as reported by the narrator Rawh.

Shafi' means a goat which has a baby in its womb. Abu Dawud said: I read in a document possessed by Abdullah ibn Salim at Hims: Abdullah ibn Mu'awiyah al-Ghadiri reported the Prophet (ﷺ) as saying: He who performs three things will have the taste of the faith. (They are:) One who worships Allah alone and one believes that there is no god but Allah; and one who pays the zakat on his property agreeably every year. One should not give an aged animal, nor one suffering from itch or ailing, and one most condemned, but one should give animals of medium quality, for Allah did not demand from you the best of your animals, nor did He command you to give the animals of worst quality.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) commissioned me as a collector of zakat. I visited a man. When he had collected his property of camels, I found that a she-camel in her second year was due from him. I said to him: Pay a she-camel in her second year, for she is to be paid as sadaqah (zakat) by you. He said: That one is not worthy of milking and riding. Here is another she-camel which is young, grand and fat. So take it. I said to him: I shall not take an animal for which I have not been commanded. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) is here near to you. If you like, go to him, and present to him what you presented to me. Do that; if he accepts it from you, I shall accept it; if he rejects it, I shall reject it. He said: I shall do it. He accompanied me and took with him the she-camel which he had presented to me. We came to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). He said to him: Prophet of Allah, your messenger came to me to collect zakat on my property. By Allah, neither the Messenger of Allah nor his messenger has ever seen my property before. I gathered my property (camels), and he estimated that a she-camel in her second year would be payable by me. But that has neither milk nor is it worth riding. So I presented to him a grand young she-camel for acceptance as zakat. But he has refused to take her. Look, she is here; I have brought her to you, Messenger of Allah. Take her. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: That is what is due from you. If you give voluntarily a better (animal) Allah will give a reward to you for it. We accept her from you. She is here, Messenger of Allah; I have brought her to you. So take her. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) then ordered me to take possession of it, and he prayed for a blessing on his property.

said When the Messenger of Allah(ﷺ) sent Mu’adh to Yemen, he said to him You are going to a people who are people of the book. So call them to bear witness that there is no diety but Allah, and that I am the Messenger of Allah. If they obey you in this respect, tell them that Allah has prescribed five prayers on them every day and night. If they obey you in this regard tell them that Allah has prescribed sadaqah(zakat) on their property and returned it to their poor. If they obey you in this respect, do not take the best of their property. Beware of the curse of the oppressed, for there is no curtain between it and Allah.

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: He who collects more sadaqah than is due is like him who refuses to pay it.

(Ibn Ubayd said in the version of his tradition that his name was not Bashir, but (it was) the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) (who had) named him Bashir) We said: (to the Messenger of Allah): The collectors of sadaqah collect more than is due; can we hide our property to that proportion? He replied: "No."

The aforesaid tradition has also been narrated by Ayyub through a different chain of narrators to the same effect. This version adds We said Messenger of Allah(ﷺ) the collectors of sadaqah collect more than is due from us. Abu Dawud said ‘Abd Al Razzaq narrated this tradition from Ma’mar attributing it to the Prophet(ﷺ).

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: Riders who are objects of dislike to you will come to you, but you must welcome them when they come to you, and give them a free hand regarding what they desire. If they are just, they will receive credit for it, but if they are unjust, they will be held responsible. Please them, for the perfection of your zakat consists in their good pleasure, and let them ask a blessing for you . Abu Dawud said: The name of the narrator Abu al-Ghusn is Thabit bin Qais bin Ghusn.

Jabir bin ‘Abdallah told of some people, meaning nomadic Arabs, who came to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and said Collectors of zakat come to us and act unjustly. He said please those who collect the sadaqah from you. They asked Even if they wrong us, Messenger of Allah? He replied Please those who collect sadaqah from you. The version of ‘Uthman adds “Even if you are wronged”. Abu Kamil said in this version “Jarir said No collector of zakat returned from me since I heard this from the Messenger of Allah(ﷺ), but he was pleased with me.”

My father was one of those Companions who took the oath of allegiance at the hand of the Prophet (ﷺ) beneath the tree. The Prophet (ﷺ) said when the people brought him their sadaqah : O Allah, bless the family of so and so. When my father brought him his sadaqah he said O Allah bless the family of Abu Awfa.

There is to be no collecting of sadaqah (zakat) from a distance, nor must people who own property remove it far away, and their sadaqahs are to be received in their dwelling.

Explaining the meaning of Jalab and janab Muhammad bin Ishaq said The meaning of jalab said is that the zakat of animals should be collected at their places (dwellings), and they (animals) should not be pulled to the collector of zakat. The meaning of janab is that the animals are removed at a distance (from the collector). The owners of the animals should do so. The collector of zakat should not stay at a distance from the places of the people who bring their animals to him. The zakat should be collected in its place.

‘Umar bin Al Khattab gave a horse as alms in the way of Allah. He then found it being sold, and intended to buy it. So he asked the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) about this. He said Do not buy it, and do not take back your sadaqah.

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: No sadaqah is due on a horse or a slave except that given at the breaking of the fast (at the end of Ramadan).

The Messenger of Allah(ﷺ) as saying No sadaqah is due from a Muslim on his slave or his horse.