499 – Al-Tirmidhī records from Ibn ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with him): “Whoever acquires wealth, no zakāt is due on it until a full year has elapsed.” The preponderant view is that the report is mawqūf, i.e., it stops with Ibn ʿUmar (1).

Degree of the ḥadīth
The report is weak when traced back to the Prophet.
In al-Talkhīṣ Ibn Ḥajar states: Al-Tirmidhī, al-Dāraqutnī (2/92) and al-Bayhaqī all transmitted it from Ibn ʿUmar. Al-Tirmidhī judged the mawqūf version sound, and the same ruling was given by al-Bayhaqī, Ibn al-Jawzī, and others, whereas al-Suyūṭī graded it weak in al-Jāmiʿ al-Ṣaghīr.

Points derived from the ḥadīth

1. Zakāt does not become obligatory until a complete year (ḥawl) has passed over the wealth. The ḥawl comprises twelve lunar months; this is one of the conditions for the obligation of zakāt.
2. Al-Bayhaqī said: Reliance for stipulating the ḥawl rests on authentic reports from Abū Bakr, ʿUmar, ʿUthmān, Ibn ʿUmar, and others.
   Ibn Taymiyyah said: The ḥawl is a condition for zakāt on cash holdings and livestock, for the Prophet ﷺ used to dispatch his collectors every year, and the Caliphs continued that practice after him, having learned it from his Sunnah.
   Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr said: This is the position of a large body of jurists, early and later, because profit is not fully realized before the year is complete, and because zakāt is a recurring duty on wealth; therefore a fixed interval is necessary so that successive obligations in close succession do not consume the capital. The purpose of zakāt is mutual assistance, not impoverishment of the owner.