Sayyiduna Ubayy bin Ka'b (may Allah be pleased with him) says: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) sent me to the tribes of Balee, 'Udhrah, and Banu Sa'd bin Hudhaym bin Quda'ah to collect zakat. I collected zakat from these people, and when I reached the last person, who lived closest to Madinah Munawwarah and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), he gathered his animals and brought them to me. I saw that zakat was due on this wealth in the form of a one-year-old she-camel, but when I told him this amount, he said: "This animal neither gives milk nor is it fit for riding. By Allah! The situation is such that before today, neither the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) has come to my wealth nor any of his messengers. Now, I will not give to Allah such an animal as a loan, which neither gives milk nor is fit for riding. However, here is a young, fat, and healthy she-camel; you may take this." I said: "I will not take anything which I have not been commanded to take. The Messenger of Allah is near you; if you wish, you may take the animal you want to give and present it yourself to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). It is up to him whether he accepts it or returns it." He said: "Alright." So he set out with me, bringing the she-camel along. When we reached the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), he said: "O Messenger of Allah! Your representative came to me to collect zakat from my wealth. By Allah! Before this, neither the Messenger of Allah came to my wealth nor any of your messengers. I gathered all my animals and presented them before this representative. He told me that zakat was due on this wealth in the form of a one-year-old she-camel. Since this animal neither gave milk nor was fit for riding, I presented to him a fat, young she-camel so that he would accept it, but he refused to do so. O Messenger of Allah! Now I have brought it myself; please accept it." Upon hearing this, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "What is obligatory upon you is only this (one-year-old she-camel). However, if you wish to give something better out of happiness, we will accept it, and Allah will reward you for it." He said: "O Messenger of Allah! Here is the better she-camel; I have brought it with me. Please accept it." So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered it to be accepted and prayed for blessings in his wealth.

Sayyiduna Suwaid bin Ghaflah رضي الله عنه narrates: The collector of zakat sent by the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم came to us. I went to him, and he said: It is my responsibility that I do not take a suckling animal. (Secondly,) neither should separate herds be gathered together to avoid zakat, nor should a gathered herd be separated. Meanwhile, a man brought a tall, splendid she-camel with a prominent hump, but he refused to accept it.

Sayyiduna Sanabhi (may Allah be pleased with him) says that when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) saw a valuable she-camel among the camels of charity, he became angry and said: "What is this?" He replied: "O Messenger of Allah! I have given two inferior camels of charity in exchange for this one." Upon hearing this, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) remained silent.

Sayyiduna Qarah bin D’amoos Numairi (may Allah be pleased with him) says: I came to Madinah Munawwarah and presented myself in the service of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), at that time many people were sitting around him. I wanted to go near him (peace and blessings be upon him), but did not have enough courage, so I called out (from a little distance): O Messenger of Allah! Pray for forgiveness for the Numairi youth. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: May Allah forgive you. He says that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had sent Sayyiduna Dahiq bin Qais (may Allah be pleased with him) as a representative to collect Zakat, and he brought back a very valuable camel. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: You had gone to collect Zakat from the tribes of Hilal bin ‘Amir and ‘Amir bin Rabi’ah, and you have brought back their most valuable property. He said: O Messenger of Allah! I heard you preparing for a battle, so I collected such camels so that they could be used for your riding and carrying loads. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: By Allah! I prefer those camels which you left behind over these camels; return these and bring Zakat from their lesser camels. Sayyiduna Qarah (may Allah be pleased with him) says: I heard the Muslims used to call those strong, mature camels“Jihadi camels.”

Muslim bin Shu’bah says: Alqamah appointed his father (Shu’bah) as the official over their people, then his father sent him to collect zakat from a part of their people. He reached an elder, who was called Si’r, and he resided in a mountain pass. I said to him: My father has sent me to you so that you may hand over the zakat of your goats to me. He said: Nephew! What kind of animal will you accept as zakat? I said: We will take the best and most excellent animal. Then he said: I was residing in one of these mountain passes when two camel riders came to me and said: We are the representatives of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. He has sent us to you so that you may hand over the zakat of your goats to us. I asked: How much zakat? They said: One goat. I brought out a goat full of milk and fat, but they said: This one is pregnant, and the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, has forbidden us from taking such an animal. I said: Then what kind of goat will you take? They said: Give us an ‘anaaq, or a jadh’ah, or a thaniyyah. When I brought out an ‘anaaq goat, they said: Give us this one. So they took it, placed it on their camel, and left.