Sunan Ibn Majah
Sunan Ibn Majah 1801
حَدَّثَنَا عَلِيُّ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ، حَدَّثَنَا وَكِيعٌ، حَدَّثَنَا شَرِيكٌ، عَنْ عُثْمَانَ الثَّقَفِيِّ، عَنْ أَبِي لَيْلَى الْكِنْدِيِّ، عَنْ سُوَيْدِ بْنِ غَفَلَةَ، قَالَ جَاءَنَا مُصَدِّقُ النَّبِيِّ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ فَأَخَذْتُ بِيَدِهِ وَقَرَأْتُ فِي عَهْدِهِ لاَ يُجْمَعُ بَيْنَ مُتَفَرِّقٍ وَلاَ يُفَرَّقُ بَيْنَ مُجْتَمِعٍ خَشْيَةَ الصَّدَقَةِ . فَأَتَاهُ رَجُلٌ بِنَاقَةٍ عَظِيمَةٍ مُلَمْلَمَةٍ فَأَبَى أَنْ يَأْخُذَهَا فَأَتَاهُ بِأُخْرَى دُونَهَا فَأَخَذَهَا وَقَالَ أَىُّ أَرْضٍ تُقِلُّنِي وَأَىُّ سَمَاءٍ تُظِلُّنِي إِذَا أَتَيْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ وَقَدْ أَخَذْتُ خِيَارَ إِبِلِ رَجُلٍ مُسْلِمٍ .
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Ali ibn Muhammad narrated to us; Waki‘ narrated to us; Sharik narrated to us, from Uthman al-Thaqafi, from Abu Layla al-Kindi, from Suwayd ibn Ghafalah, who said: The zakah collector of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came to us. I took him by the hand and read in his written instructions: ‘Separate herds are not to be combined, nor combined herds separated, for fear of the zakah.’ A man brought him a large, well-built she-camel, but he refused to take it. The man then brought him another one of lesser quality, and he accepted it. He said, ‘What land could carry me, and what sky could shade me, if I came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) having taken the finest camels of a Muslim man?’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The instruction about combining and separating herds is translated closely; the source states its purpose as avoiding the zakah.