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Inzaa' (the covering of female animals by males, and its rulings)

الإنزاء

Inzaa' is causing an animal to mount another for breeding; it is said of sheep, beasts and cows in the sense of covering. 1 Covering that does no harm is lawful; covering mares by donkeys is disliked by some jurists, and the Hanafis allow it; the reason for the prohibition is preserving the stock of horses. 12

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Prophetic Era
Region
Global / Diaspora
Review
Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it

Animals and mercy

Definition

Inzaa' is causing an animal to mount another for breeding; the word is used of sheep, beasts and cows. 1 Asb al-fahl (the stallion's fee) is the hire paid for covering, or the covering itself, or its seed. 1

Ruling

  • Covering that does no harm, such as a horse with a mare or a donkey, is lawful. 1
  • Covering mares by donkeys is disliked by some jurists, following the hadith of Ali that "only those who do not know do that"; the reason is that it weakens and reduces the horses. 12
  • The Hanafis allow donkeys to cover mares and the reverse. 2
  • Covering a pledged animal is refused by the Shafi'is if the animal is expected to give birth before the debt falls due. 2

People and things also explored

Anam (livestock: camels, cattle and sheep, and their rulings)· Awqas (the gaps between the prescribed amounts of zakat on camels, cattle and sheep, and whether zakat is due on them)· Hatma' (a sacrificial animal with its front teeth gone: its fitness)· Hawam (creeping things: their sale, eating and killing)· Hirr (the cat: purity, sale, damage and eating)· Ihab (the hide of an animal, its purity and tanning, and the rules on killing or selling animals for their hides)· Insects (hasharat)· Dog (kalb), fiqh rulings

Sources

  1. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.3469
  2. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.3470
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Inzaa' (the covering of female animals by males, and its rulings)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/inzaa/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-23.

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Anam (livestock: camels, cattle and sheep, and their rulings)

Anam is lexically the plural of ni'm, meaning camels, cattle and sheep, and most often camels. For the jurists, the anam are camels, cattle and sheep, so called for the abundance of God's favour in them: growth, birth, milk, wool, hair and general benefit. Zakat is due on livestock once it reaches the nisab, by agreement of the jurists. Only livestock may be offered as hadi, sacrifice or aqiqa, and the best hadi is a camel, then a cow, then a sheep. Livestock may be slaughtered and eaten in the sanctuary and outside it, and during ihram, unlike game; the best method is to slaughter camels by nahr and cattle and sheep by dhabh.