the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "There is no Zakat on wealth until a year passes over it" (3). If this is established, then Zakat is obligatory on it every year. This is the opinion of al-Thawri, al-Shafi'i, Ishaq, Abu Ubayd, and the jurists (ashab al-ra'y). Malik said: He does not pay its Zakat except for one year, unless it is a mudabbar slave (a slave promised freedom upon the owner's death); because in the second year the wealth was not, in either of its two endpoints, currency ('ayn), therefore Zakat was not obligatory on it, just as in the first year if it was not currency at its beginning. Our evidence is that it is wealth upon which Zakat is obligatory in the first year, [it did not decrease below the minimum threshold (nisab), and its nature did not change, so its Zakat became obligatory in the second year] (4), just as if it had decreased at its beginning. We do not concede that if its beginning was not currency, Zakat is not obligatory on it. And if he buys a trade good with a personal item (qunya) (5), its Zakat year begins from the time he bought it.

Section: He shall pay the Zakat from the value of the trade goods, not from the goods themselves. This is one of the two opinions of al-Shafi'i. He said in the other (6): He is given the choice between paying from their value or paying from the goods themselves. This is the opinion of Abu Hanifa, because it is wealth upon which Zakat is obligatory, so it is permissible to pay it from its essence, like other types of wealth. Our evidence is that the minimum threshold (nisab) is considered based on value, so the Zakat from it is like the currency in other types of wealth. We do not concede that Zakat is obligatory on the wealth itself, but rather it is obligatory on its value.

Section: Trade goods do not become intended for trade unless two conditions are met: that he acquires them through his own act, such as buying, marriage, khul' (divorce initiated by the wife), accepting a gift, a bequest, war booty, or acquiring permissible unowned items; because that for which the ruling of Zakat does not apply upon entering his possession does not apply through mere intention, like grazing livestock (7). There is no difference whether he acquires it with consideration or without consideration. Abu al-Khattab and Ibn