The minimum number of sheep for zakat is forty sheep; nothing is required for less than that. From forty to one hundred and twenty, one sheep is required. From one hundred and twenty-one to two hundred, two sheep are required. From two hundred and one to three hundred and ninety-nine, three sheep are required. From four hundred to four hundred and ninety-nine, four sheep are required, and so on. It was narrated from Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, that: "Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, wrote this letter to him when he sent him to Bahrain: In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. This is the obligatory charity that the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, imposed on the Muslims, which Allah commanded His Messenger. So whoever is asked for it from the Muslims in its due form, let him give it, and whoever is asked for more than that, let him not give... In the charity of sheep, for every forty sheep, there is one sheep due until one hundred and twenty. If it exceeds one hundred and twenty to two hundred, then two sheep are due. If it exceeds two hundred to three hundred, then three sheep are due. If it exceeds three hundred, then for every additional hundred, one sheep is due..." This is in Sahih al-Bukhari 2: 573. And from Ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with them, in the continuation of the previous book of the Messenger of Allah: "And for every forty sheep, there is one sheep due until one hundred and twenty. If it exceeds that, then two sheep are due until two hundred. If it exceeds that, then three sheep are due until three hundred. If it exceeds three hundred, then for every additional hundred, one sheep is due, and there is nothing due until it reaches four hundred..." This is in Sunan al-Tirmidhi 3: 17, which he graded as good, and in Al-Mustadrak 1: 549, and in Sunan Abi Dawood 2: 98.