Zakah on Gold Held for Trade

The questioner : A questioner says: Most women do not know about the gold on which zakah is due, because they sell and buy it, and exchange it, so the gold generally does not remain for a year, and the lunar year does not complete over it. What is the ruling in this case?

The Shaykh : If this is trade goods, meaning a woman trades in gold, selling it and buying with it, and as long as she has not sold it, she adorns herself with it, then there is zakah on the trade goods, even if she is selling and buying in it, and she considers the first lunar year. This is the case with all trade goods; they do not have a specific lunar year. For example, if I bought this land in Muharram, and my zakah becomes due in Muharram, and it remained with me, and I sold it in Dhul-Hijjah, and bought another piece of land, and Muharram came, do I pay zakah on the other land, or do I say that the year has not completed?
The answer is: I pay zakah on the other land, even if I did not own it except one month before the lunar year completed, because the lunar year is not a condition for trade goods. They are all exchanged, and they are like one single commodity. So, regarding this woman who has gold that she sells and buys with, and also wears it, we say that it is not required for the last item to reach the completion of the lunar year. Rather, what is the criterion?
The criterion is the first lunar year. So, if this woman’s zakah becomes due in Ramadan, and she is selling and buying gold, and in Sha'ban she bought new gold, we say: when Ramadan comes, pay the zakah, even if only how much remains? Even if only one month remains, she pays zakah. Yes.