Under an Islamic system of governance and administrative structure, when collecting the obligatory alms (Zakat) for livestock such as sheep, cattle, and camels, the appointed official must personally travel to the owner’s residence or to the exact location where the animals are sheltered and maintained. Under no circumstances should the official summon the owners to come seeking him.
An official appointed by the government to collect Zakat must physically go to where the sheep farm or livestock enclosure is situated to conduct the collection. He must not set up a chair in a location, sit down, and assert his authority by demanding, “Drive all your sheep here and present them before me.” The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) severely condemned such coercive practice of ordering livestock to be driven away from their place.
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) explicitly stated:
لاَ تُؤْخَذُ صَدَقَاتُهُمْ إِلاَّ فِي دُورِهِمْ وَلاَ جَنَبَ
(Narrated by Abu Dawud and Ahmad)
“Their Zakat must not be collected except in their homes—that is, in the very places where they are maintained—and livestock must not be driven away from their places for collection.”
The collector himself must travel toward the location of the wealth; he must not, under the pretext of official authority, order the owner to come to him.
This is because when an official sits comfortably in the shade and commands, “Drive all the sheep in front of me,” it opens the door to oppression, subjection, and fraudulent practices. For example, if a wealthy owner possesses 200 sheep, he might bring only 100 sheep to where the official is seated, tricking him and concealing the rest. If the official settles the account merely by looking at what was brought, it will not result in a just or accurate assessment, while also inflicting unnecessary hardship on those who labor hard.
However, this does not mean that an official should simply accept whatever the owner claims at face value and leave. To prevent all such issues, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) legislated that the collector must personally visit the exact place where the owner raises his livestock. The official must not demand that the livestock be brought to his location, nor should the animals be moved away from their customary housing.
For instance, an owner cannot say, “I have tied a cow at the entrance of my home, come look at it here.” The official must inspect the animals in the place where they are regularly kept. The livestock must not be transferred or relocated to the place where the collector is seated, nor to any alternative place specified by the owner. Since such relocations cause unnecessary hassle and difficulty, the faith clearly specifies: “La Tukhadhu Sadaqatuhum Illa Fi Durihim”—that is, Zakat should not be gathered anywhere other than the designated places where the livestock are kept.
Just as the official must not demand that the animals be dragged to him, he cannot sit in one place and ask the owner to herd all the sheep over by himself. Similarly, regarding the practice known as ‘Janab’, an owner must not prevent the collector from entering the farm by saying, “You need not come inside the farm; I will bring all the sheep to the end of the street, so calculate the account right there.” Neither the official nor the owner has the right to alter or relocate the site of collection.
Thus, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) clarified through multiple means that there must be a transparent and precise procedure in gathering Zakat. This guidance stands as a clear and explicit directive recorded in primary Hadith compilations such as Abu Dawud and Ahmad.