Sawm (pasturing livestock, and bidding in sale)

In language sawm means offering goods for sale; a buyer who asks for the goods is said to ask for their sale, and livestock that graze on their own where they will are called saa'ima. ¹ The jurists use the word for pasturing on open land in the chapter on zakat, and for a seller offering goods at a price that a bidder who wants them is asked to beat. ²

Najash is raising the price without intending to buy, or praising the goods falsely to sell them; it differs from bidding in that the najish has no wish for the goods. ² Muzayada, the sale by auction, is a call for goods at which people raise the price until the last bidder takes them; it is lawful. ²

Most jurists (Hanafis, Shafi'is, Hanbalis) make it a condition for zakat on livestock that the animals be pastured on open land, on the letter of Abu Bakr concerning the zakat on pasturing sheep. ² The majority also require that pasturing be for milk and offspring, so animals kept for loading and riding are not zakatable, and that pasturing be most of the year. The Shafi'is distinguish by fodder, and require the owner's own intention: animals that pasture on their own, or are pastured by a usurper, are not zakatable in the preferred view; the Hanbalis do not require intention. ^{2 3} The Malikis hold zakat due on livestock whether pastured or fodder-fed, since the restriction to pasturing is a description of what is usual, not a limit. ³

Bidding before the parties agree on the price is lawful, being a form of auction. After agreement on the price it is disliked by the Hanafis and forbidden by the Malikis, Shafi'is and Hanbalis. ³ The sale is valid for most jurists once its pillars and conditions are complete; for the Hanbalis it is void if it is made during the periods of option (of the session and of stipulation), since the prohibition implies invalidity. ⁴