Sayyiduna Mu’adh bin Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) says: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) sent me to collect zakat from the people of Yemen and instructed me to collect a one-year-old calf, male or female, for every (30) cows, and a two-year-old for every (40). Those people suggested to me that I should collect zakat according to every forty, Harun (the narrator) says: that is, between forty and fifty, between sixty and seventy, and between eighty and ninety. But I refused to accept their suggestion and said that I would not make any decision on my own until I asked the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). So I came and told the whole matter to the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and he said: For every (30), a one-year-old; for every (40), a two-year-old; for every (60), two one-year-olds; for every (70), one two-year-old and one-year-old; for every (80), two-year-olds; for every (90), three one-year-olds; for every (100), one two-year-old and two one-year-olds; for (110), two-year-olds and one-year-old; and for (120), three two-year-olds or four one-year-olds should be collected. Sayyiduna Mu’adh (may Allah be pleased with him) says: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) also instructed me not to collect zakat on the amounts between these two thresholds. Harun says: This means that I should collect the animal due for the specified amount, whether one-year-old or two-year-old, and for the intermediate amount, which is called Waqas in Arabic, zakat is not obligatory.

Tawoos says: It was presented to Sayyiduna Mu’adh bin Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) the waqs (excess) of cows and honey for zakat, but he said: The Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not give me any command regarding this. Sufyan says: (The amount of cows that is) less than thirty is waqs (excess).

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had it written regarding the zakat of cows that when they reach thirty, then a one-year-old calf, male or female, will be obligatory among them. And when their number reaches forty, then a two-toothed animal will be obligatory among them. When the number increases beyond this, then for every forty cows, a two-toothed animal will be obligatory.