The Messenger of Allah ﷺ wrote the document concerning zakat but did not send it out to his agents before he passed away. He kept it attached to his sword. Abu Bakr acted upon it until he passed away, then Umar acted upon it until he passed away.It contained the following. For every five camels, one sheep is due. For ten, two sheep. For fifteen, three sheep. For twenty, four sheep. For twenty-five up to thirty-five, a one-year-old female camel (bint makhad). If the number increases by one, then a two-year-old female camel (bint labun) is due, up to forty-five. If it increases by one more, then a three-year-old female camel (hiqqah) is due, up to sixty. If it increases by one more, then a four-year-old female camel (jadhaah) is due, up to seventy-five. If it increases by one more, then two two-year-old female camels are due, up to ninety. If it increases by one more, then two three-year-old female camels are due, up to one hundred and twenty. If the camels exceed that number, then for every fifty there is a hiqqah, and for every forty there is a bint labun.As for sheep, for every forty sheep one sheep is due, up to one hundred and twenty. If the number increases by one, then two sheep are due, up to two hundred. If it exceeds two hundred by one, then three sheep are due, up to three hundred. If the sheep exceed that, then for every one hundred sheep, one sheep is due. Nothing is due until the number reaches one hundred. Separate flocks are not to be combined, nor are combined flocks to be separated, out of fear of zakat. When two partners share livestock, they settle accounts between themselves equally. In zakat, neither an aged animal nor a defective one is to be taken.Zuhri said, "When the zakat collector comes, the sheep are divided into three portions, a third of the poor ones, a third of the best, and a third of the average. The collector takes from the average."Zuhri did not mention cattle.
كتب رسول الله ﷺ كتاب الصدقة فلم يخرجه إلى عماله حتى قبض، فقرنه بسيفه فعمل به أبو بكر حتى قبض، ثم عمل به عمر حتى قبض، فكان فيه: في خمس من الإبل شاة، وفي عشر شاتان، وفي خمس عشرة ثلاث شياء وفي عشرين أربع شياء، وفي خمس وعشرين ابنة مخاض إلى خمس وثلاثين، فإن زادت واحدة ففيها ابنة لبون إلى خمس وأربعين، فإذا زادت واحدة ففيها حقة إلى ستين، فإذا زادت واحدة ففيها جذعة إلى خمس وسبعين، فإذا زادت واحدة ففيها ابنتا لبون إلى تسعين، فإذا زادت واحدة ففيها حمتان إلى عشرين ومائة، فإن كانت الإبل أكثر من ذلك ففي كل خمسين حقة وفي كل أربعين ابنة لبون. وفي الغنم في كل أربعين شاء شاة إلى عشرين ومائة، فإن زادت واحدة فشاتان إلى مائتين، فإن زادت واحدة على المائتين ففيها ثلاث شياء إلى ثلاث مائة، فإن كانت الغنم أكثر من ذلك ففي كل مائة شاة شاة وليس فيها شيء حتى تبلغ المائة، ولا يفرق بين مجتمع ولا يجمع بين متفرق مخافة الصدقة، وما كان من خليطين فإنهما يتراجعان بينهما بالسوية ولا يؤخذ في الصدقة هرمة ولا ذات عيب. قال: وقال الزهري: إذا جاء المصدق قسمت الشاء أثلاثا: ثلنا شرارا، وثلنا خيارا، وثلنا وسطا، فأخذ المصدق من الوسط ولم يذكر الزهري البقر.
Abu Dawud (1568) narrated it, and this is his wording, and Tirmidhi (621) also narrated it, both from the hadith of Abbad bin Awwam, who said, "Sufyan bin Husayn narrated to us, from Zuhri, from Salim, from Ibn Umar," and he related it. Imam Ahmad (4632) also narrated it through this same route, in abridged form. Ibn Khuzayma (2267) narrated it through another route from Sufyan bin Husayn, in abridged form.Tirmidhi said, "The hadith of Ibn Umar is a hasan hadith, and the practice of the majority of jurists is based on this hadith. Yunus bin Yazid and more than one other narrated this hadith from Zuhri, from Salim, but they did not attribute it to the Prophet, rather it was Sufyan bin Husayn who attributed it to him." End of quote.Bayhaqi (4/88) reported from Tirmidhi, in his book Ilal, that he said, "I asked Muhammad bin Ismail Bukhari about this hadith, and he said, 'I hope it is preserved, and Sufyan bin Husayn is truthful.'" End of quote.I say, Sufyan bin Husayn Wasiti is trustworthy in narrations other than those from Zuhri, by their agreement, as Ibn Hajar said in Taqrib, and he is among the narrators of Muslim. Ibn Mulaqqin said in Badr Munir (5/424), "His being alone in narrating it does not harm the hadith, for Sufyan was deemed trustworthy by Ibn Main, Ibn Saad, and Nasai, and Muslim included his narration in the introduction to his Sahih, and Bukhari cited him in a suspended chain, but he is daif regarding narrations from Zuhri. That weakness has been lifted here, however, for he was corroborated. Ibn Adi said, as reported by Bayhaqi (4/88) from him, 'Sulayman bin Kathir agreed with Sufyan bin Husayn on this narration from Salim, from his father.'" He said, "By this, the refutation of what was reported from Ibn Main becomes clear, where he weakened this hadith," and he said, "No one corroborated Sufyan in it." End of quote.And he reported from Hakim his statement, "The hadith of Abdullah bin Mubarak, from Yunus bin Yazid, from Zuhri, is rendered sahih according to the standard of the two Shaykhs, even though it contains a slight break in the chain, for it is a sahih corroborating witness for the hadith of Sufyan bin Husayn." Then he cited it exactly as Daraqutni narrated it. End of quote.I say, he is referring to what was narrated by Abu Dawud (1570), Daraqutni (1986), Hakim (1/393–394), and Bayhaqi (4/90–91), all of them through the route of Abdullah bin Mubarak, from Yunus bin Yazid, from Ibn Shihab, who said, "This is a copy of the letter of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ which he wrote concerning zakat, and it is with the family of Umar bin Khattab." Ibn Shihab said, "Salim bin Abdullah bin Umar read it to me and I memorized it precisely as it was, and this is the copy which Umar bin Abdul-Aziz had copied from Abdullah bin Abdullah bin Umar, and from Salim bin Abdullah bin Umar, when he was appointed governor over Madinah, so he ordered his officials to act upon it, and he wrote about it to Walid bin Abdul-Malik, so Walid ordered his officials to act upon it. Then the caliphs after him continued to order the same, until Hisham ordered it copied for every Muslim official and commanded them to act according to what was in it and not to exceed it."The fact that Zuhri heard this copy from Salim, memorized it, and that Salim had found it as a written copy preserved among the family of Umar bin Khattab, makes this a case of transmission through a found written document, and narrating it in this way is sahih, and its status is that of a hadith attributed to the Prophet. Salim bin Abdullah attributed it to his father in the narration of Sulayman bin Kathir, who said, "Ibn Shihab narrated to us, from Salim bin Abdullah, from his father, from the Prophet ﷺ." Zuhri said, "Salim read to me a letter which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ wrote concerning zakat before his death," and he then related the hadith. Ibn Majah (1798) also narrated it through this route.By this, the statement of Bukhari and Tirmidhi that it is hasan is confirmed to be correct. However, Daraqutni, in his book Ilal (12/291), pointed out the disagreement over it concerning Zuhri, and he favored the narration of Yunus bin Yazid, meaning the written transmission, which is a valid proof. That is why Nawawi said in Majmu (5/382), "The basis for the threshold of zakat on livestock rests on the two hadiths of Anas and Ibn Umar ."