Calculate the Zakat due on your camels, cattle, or sheep and goats using the classical Nisab tables for livestock (Zakat al-An'am), based on animal type and herd size.
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Zakat on livestock, known as Zakat al-An'am, applies to camels, cattle, and sheep or goats that a Muslim owns for a full lunar year and that graze freely for most of that year — animals described in Fiqh as Sa'imah — rather than being fed and raised in captivity purely for meat or dairy. Unlike Zakat on cash or gold, livestock Zakat is not a flat percentage; it is calculated using detailed Nisab tables that state, for each herd size, exactly which animal or animals are due — a set number of sheep for a small camel herd, a young female camel of a specific age for a mid-sized herd, and so on. These tables come directly from a well-known letter written by the first Caliph, Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, following the Prophet's instructions, and are preserved in Sahih al-Bukhari. As with all Zakat, the herd must reach its Nisab and remain owned for a full lunar year, known as the Hawl, before this Zakat becomes obligatory.
Livestock Zakat, or Zakat al-An'am, is one of the oldest and most detailed categories of Zakat in Islamic jurisprudence, and it works quite differently from the percentage-based Zakat most people are familiar with on cash, savings, or gold.
The first thing to understand is the Sa'imah condition. Livestock Zakat applies specifically to camels, cattle, and sheep or goats that graze freely on natural pasture for most of the year, rather than animals kept in a barn and fed purchased fodder, which many scholars exclude or treat differently. This condition exists because freely grazing herds historically represented accumulated, growing wealth, much like savings held for a full year, and Zakat, an obligatory act of worship rather than a civil tax, is due on wealth that grows, not on working assets used to earn a living.
The second, and most distinctive, feature of livestock Zakat is that it is not a simple percentage of value. Instead, detailed Nisab tables specify exactly which animal, or how many animals, are due once a herd reaches a certain size. A herd of five to nine camels owes a single sheep or goat; a herd of thirty-six to forty-five camels owes one Bint Labun, a two-year-old female camel; a herd of forty to fifty-nine cattle owes one Musinnah, a two-year-old female cow; and forty sheep or goats owe just one sheep in return. These figures are not arbitrary — they were set out directly in a letter the first Caliph, Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, sent to his Zakat collectors on the Prophet's own instructions, and the letter is preserved word for word in Sahih al-Bukhari.
As herds grow larger, the tables continue to scale in a broadly predictable way — for camels, roughly one additional young female camel for every forty extra head, and for sheep and goats, one additional sheep for every extra hundred head above three hundred. But once a herd grows very large, or contains a mix of ages that could be grouped in more than one valid way, working out the exact combination due really does need a scholar or a Zakat authority familiar with the full herd, which is why this calculator points larger herds in that direction rather than guessing.
One more point worth knowing: many contemporary scholars and Zakat authorities accept paying the current cash value of the animal due instead of handing over the animal itself, which makes livestock Zakat far more practical for herders and city-dwelling livestock owners alike. As always, the herd must have been owned for a complete lunar year before any of this becomes obligatory in the first place.
Sa'imah refers to livestock that graze freely on natural pasture for most of the year, rather than being fed purchased fodder in a barn. Many scholars consider this condition essential, because freely grazing herds represent accumulated wealth that grows on its own, similar to savings, while stall-fed animals are often treated as a working business asset instead.
Livestock Zakat follows its own category of rules set out directly in a letter from the first Caliph, Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, based on the Prophet's instructions. Instead of a percentage of value, it specifies exactly which animal, or how many animals, are due once a herd reaches a certain size — a system preserved unchanged in Sahih al-Bukhari.
The classical default is to pay the actual animal specified in the Nisab table. Many contemporary scholars and Zakat authorities also accept paying the current cash value of that animal instead, which is far more practical for owners who do not keep a mixed-age herd on hand.
Beyond the largest bracket shown here, the general rule keeps scaling upward — roughly one additional young camel for every extra 40 camels, or one extra sheep for every extra 100 sheep above 300 — but the exact combination depends on the ages within your specific herd, so a qualified scholar or your local Zakat authority should confirm the precise amount.
Yes. Just like Zakat on cash, gold, or trade assets, livestock Zakat only becomes obligatory once the herd has been owned continuously, above the Nisab, for a full Islamic lunar year.