Are eighty heads of sheep, purchased for consumption, honoring guests, selling their offspring, and buying fodder with their price, considered trade goods? If so, how is their zakat paid: Is zakat paid on the capital with which they were purchased, or is it paid on their market price at the time zakat becomes due, and is it permissible to appraise them oneself, or is it necessary to seek assistance from an appraiser?
If sheep are not pasturing and are fed most of the year, the preponderant opinion is that zakat is not obligatory on them, based on the hadith of Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) in Sahih Al-Bukhari: "Regarding the zakat on pasturing sheep, if they are forty to one hundred and twenty sheep, then one sheep." And the intention to sell the offspring for the purpose of feeding them does not make them trade goods. According to those who hold the view that zakat is due on fed sheep, then one sheep is due if they reach forty and a year has passed, then two sheep up to two hundred and one, then three sheep, then one sheep for every hundred sheep.
Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026
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