Does substituting a camel for a sheep in obligatory charity (Sadaqah) suffice?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Zakat
Primary text
Substituting a camel for a sheep in the due offering is not permissible, regardless of whether the value of the camel exceeds the value of the sheep or not. This view is attributed to Malik and Dawud. The evidence supporting the rejection is that what is offered is not explicitly mentioned in the religious texts and is of a different category, analogous to offering a camel for forty sheep. Furthermore, the religious obligation specifies a sheep, so a camel cannot substitute for it, similar to the original category or the sheep used for indemnity. This differs from substituting two Bint Labun camels for animals under seventy-six because they belong to the same species (camels).
Supporting text
Al-Shafi'i and the companions of Ra'y (Hanafi school) hold that the camel suffices for the obligation due for twenty sheep or less. A similar derivation suggests it suffices for the obligation due for twenty-five sheep because if it suffices for twenty-five, it inherently covers twenty, and what suffices for a larger amount must suffice for a lesser amount, as seen with the rule regarding Bint Labun.