Q 8: What are the conditions of the livestock jointly owned by more than one Mukallaf (a person meeting the conditions to be held legally accountable for their actions)?

A: The conditions by which the mixed wealth of many persons become one property are as follows: 1- The two partners should belong to the category of people subject to the obligation of Zakah (obligatory charity). In other words, if either of them does not belong to those who are supposed to pay Zakah, i.e., a Kafir (non-Muslim), then the mixture becomes invalid. 2- The mixed livestock should reach the Nisab (the minimum amount on which Zakah is due); otherwise, no Zakah is due. (Part No. 8; Page No. 14)  3- The mixture should last for a complete Hawl (one lunar year calculated from the time a property reaches the minimum amount upon which Zakah is due). The Ijma` (consensus of scholars) is that the mixture is not to have any effect before the completion of one Hawl. 4- The mixed livestock should share the same resting-place, barn, drinking fountain, milking place, and one bull with which all of them should be copulated, as well as pasture, both in terms of time and location.The evidence for the validity of these conditions upon which the mixture is based is inherent in the saying of the Prophet (peace be upon him): Those which are in separate flocks are not to be brought together and those which are in one flock are not to be separated for fear of Sadaqah (voluntary charity). Regarding that which belongs to two partners, they can make claims for restitution from each other with equity. (Related by Al-Bukhari, Al-Tirmidhy, Abu Dawud, and Ibn Majah, and Al-Tirmidhy said: "Hadith Hasan (a Hadith whose chain of narration contains a narrator with weak exactitude, but is free from eccentricity or blemish).")