If before the eleventh month is complete one exchanges the cows, sheep, and camels that he owns with something else, or he exchanges the niṣāb he owns with a niṣāb of the same species – for example, he gives forty sheep and procures another forty sheep in return – then zakat is not obligatory for him as long as this is not done with the intention to escape giving zakat.
However, if it is done with such an intention, then in case both sets of animals confer the same type of benefit – for example, both sets of sheep are milk-giving sheep – then the obligatory precaution is that he must give zakat on them. Ruling 1939.* If a person who must give zakat on cows, sheep, and camels gives it from other wealth that he owns, he must give zakat on the animals every year as long as their number does not fall below the niṣāb.
If he gives the animals themselves as zakat and their number falls below the first niṣāb, then zakat is not obligatory for him. For example, if someone who owns forty sheep gives zakat on them from his other wealth, then as long as the number of sheep does not fall below forty, he must give one sheep every year; and if he gives sheep as zakat, then zakat is not obligatory for him until the number of sheep reaches forty.
ZAKAT ON BUSINESS GOODS The niṣāb for cows العربية فارسی اردو English Azərbaycan Türkçe Français