year, he makes a profit of 50,000 riyals. He pays zakah on the 50,000 when the year of the 100,000 is complete.

Another example: A man has 100,000 riyals and, during the course of the year, inherits 50,000 riyals from a relative. He pays zakah on the 50,000 when its own year is complete; it is not combined with the 100,000 for purposes of calculating the year.

If someone were to ask: What is the difference between the two examples?

The answer is that profit is derived from the capital, so it follows it in the calculation of the year, as in the first example. Inheritance, however, constitutes new ownership, so its year is calculated independently, as in the second example.

Thus, whatever is acquired other than through profit—such as wealth inherited by a man, a gift given to him, a woman's acquisition of her bridal gift, and the like—is not combined with the wealth he already possesses for purposes of calculating the year, because it is independent and not derived from it. It is, however, combined with it in completing the minimum taxable amount.

For example, if someone possesses an amount of silver coins below the minimum taxable amount, and during the course of the year a relative dies and he inherits 50,000 from him, the year begins from the time he acquires the 50,000—for both the 50,000 and the silver coins he had previously. The year does not begin for the earlier silver coins from the time he acquired them, while beginning for the 50,000 from the time he acquired it, because the initial silver coins were below the minimum taxable amount and therefore no zakah was due on them. But when the minimum taxable amount was completed through inheriting the 50,000, we combined the first amount with the second, and the year became one, beginning from the time the minimum taxable amount was completed by acquiring the 50,000.

Some people find this problematic and imagine that, once we complete the minimum taxable amount, we calculate from