Q 1: What is the ruling on what some people say that paying the value of livestock instead of giving livestock as Zakah is permissible? (Part No. 9; Page No. 207

A: The Prophet (peace be upon him) showed, in the long Hadith related by Anas and others, that Zakah paid on livestock is preferable to be taken from them according to the Nisab (the minimum amount on which Zakah is due) given in the Hadith and the letter written by Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) stating that these are the orders for the Zakah that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) made obligatory on every Muslim and which Allah stipulated.The sound opinion is that a Muslim should not pay the value of sheep as Zakah. The obligatory numbers of livestock to be estimated as Zakah from the Nisab of livestock mentioned in the letter of Abu Bakr confirm that the value of the livestock should not be given as Zakah, otherwise those numbers would be purposeless. Allah (Glorified be He) says: And whatsoever the Messenger (Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم) gives you, take it; and whatsoever he forbids you, abstain (from it). The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, "Anyone who does something that we have not ordered (in worship) it will be rejected." However, if a ruler of a Muslim country decides to collect the value of livestock as Zakah for a legitimate reason, it is permissible for the people to give the value of livestock to the Zakah collectors instead.