What is meant by its being stable is that one’s ownership of it is complete: the wealth is not liable to be lost. If it is liable to be lost, then no zakah is due on it.

An example they give is rent—the rent of a house—before the full rental term has elapsed. It is not stable, because it is possible for the house to collapse and for the lease to be annulled.

Another example is the share of the muḍārib—with a fatḥah on the rā’, meaning the working partner—in the profit. No zakah is due on it, because the profit serves as a safeguard for the capital. For example, you give someone one hundred thousand to trade with, and he makes a profit of ten thousand. Half belongs to the owner and half to the muḍārib: five thousand each. No zakah is due on the muḍārib’s share, because it is liable to be lost, as it serves as a safeguard for the capital. If the capital is lost, he receives nothing. As for the owner’s share of the profit, zakah is due on it because it follows an established principal. Thus, zakah is due on the capital of the owner of the wealth, as well as on his share of the profit, because his share follows an established principal.

They also give the example of the debt owed under a manumission contract: that is, if a master sells his slave’s freedom for a sum of money, and that sum remains with the slave for a year, no zakah is due on it. This is because the slave may render himself unable to pay, by saying, “I am unable to fulfil the payment.” If he is unable to fulfil it, the amount for which he purchased his freedom is waived, and the debt is therefore not established.

Question: If you acquire wealth that was previously not established, is zakah due on it for the past period?

Answer: No. Rather, a new lunar year begins from the time you acquire it, because it was not established before then.

5—The passing of a lunar year; that is, the completion of a lunar year, because the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: