Explaining the conditions for the obligation of zakah: the completion of the lunar year, reaching the minimum threshold, and what is excluded from this.

The Shaykh : For zakah to become obligatory, the completion of the lunar year is a necessary condition. If a person owns one thousand riyals, whether he acquired them through inheritance, a gift, or any other means, but he spends it all before the lunar year is completed, is there zakah on it? No, because the completion of the lunar year is one of the conditions for the obligation of zakah. This is part of Allah’s mercy toward His servants. If Allah had obligated us to pay zakah every month, we would have said, “We hear and obey,” but this would have caused hardship for the person every month. If He had obligated it after five years, it would have been an ease for the owner of the wealth, but it would have caused harm to the recipients of zakah. Or, if you wish, say that it would result in the loss of reward for the owner of the wealth, because zakah is not a burden. Those who consider what they spend as a burden are some of the Bedouins and also some of the hypocrites. Now, the important point is that Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, did not obligate zakah on wealth until the lunar year is completed, except for two things: first, the offspring of grazing livestock, and second, the profit from trade. This does not require the completion of a lunar year. For example, a person has forty sheep, and in half a lunar year, each one gave birth.
Let us change the example. A person has eighty sheep. How many sheep are there? There is no god but Allah. Listen to the answer. One person says there are two sheep, another says there is nothing, and another says there is one sheep in the middle. So, these eighty sheep gave birth to a female lamb each in half a lunar year. How many are there in total? One hundred and sixty. How many are there in one hundred and sixty? Two sheep. Here, we have obligated zakah on the offspring even though they have not reached one year of age, because the offspring of grazing livestock are attached to the original stock. Likewise, the profit from trade does not require the completion of a lunar year. For example, a man bought a piece of land for one hundred thousand riyals, and when the lunar year was completed, its value had increased to five hundred thousand riyals. How much does he pay zakah on? Let me repeat the example: a man bought a piece of land for one hundred thousand riyals. During the lunar year, its value increased until it reached five hundred thousand riyals when the lunar year was completed. Is the zakah due on one hundred thousand or on five hundred thousand?
The student: ... .

The Shaykh : On the amount that has completed the lunar year, because the profit from trade is attached to its original capital. The profit from trade is attached to its original capital.
There is a third matter that we might mention from the perspective of leniency, which is that the completion of the lunar year is not required for it, and that is grains and fruits. For grains, the crop remains for six months, and then does it have zakah or not? It has zakah at the time of harvest, as Allah the Exalted said: This is also something where we might say that the completion of the lunar year is not required, because its original state exists and then ends before the completion of the lunar year. Perhaps we will stop here, and if Allah wills, we will complete it, because the discussion of zakah is very important, and among the most important topics in the studies of zakah is where zakah is distributed. We will speak about it, if Allah wills, on Saturday morning, because there is no lesson on Friday morning. But if Allah wills, on Saturday morning. As for the Maghrib prayer, it will be every night, if Allah wills, but we prefer that the discussion of each topic be done in its proper time. Yes.
Questions? Do not give anyone more than one question.