of Ramadan, he is said only to have broken the fast of that particular day. There is no disagreement that zakat is not due in respect of anyone who dies before sunset on the last day of Ramadan, nor that it is obligatory in respect of anyone who dies after dawn on the day of Eid al-Fitr. As for someone who dies after sunset on the last day of Ramadan but before dawn on the day of Eid al-Fitr, there are two opinions on whether zakat is obligatory, as we have mentioned.

Section

There are four opinions concerning the latest point at which liability for it may shift from the person upon whom it was incumbent—for example, when a slave is sold or emancipated, a woman marries or is divorced, a son reaches puberty or becomes financially independent, or one’s parents become impoverished.

The first is that liability may shift in all these cases until sunset on the day of Eid al-Fitr. This accords with one of Mālik’s two opinions in al-Mudawwana: that zakat for a slave sold on the day of Eid al-Fitr is due from the buyer. The second is that liability may shift in all these cases until sunrise on the day of Eid al-Fitr. This opinion was related by ʿAbd al-Wahhāb. The third is that liability may shift in all these cases until dawn on the day of Eid al-Fitr. The fourth is that liability may shift in all these cases until sunset on the last day of Ramadan.

Muhammad ibn al-Mawwāz and, in one of his two opinions, Ashhab preferred the third view: that liability may shift until dawn on the day of Eid al-Fitr. He adopted this view while also taking the other opinions into account, holding that if a slave is sold between dawn and sunset on the day of Eid al-Fitr, zakat is obligatory upon the seller and recommended for the buyer. If the slave is sold between sunset on the last day of Ramadan and dawn on the day of Eid al-Fitr, zakat is obligatory upon the buyer and recommended for the seller. The same applies to all the other cases we have mentioned in which liability for zakat shifts.

Ashhab applied all these opinions as a precaution, since none appeared to him stronger than the others. He therefore held that, if a slave is sold between sunset on the last day of Ramadan and sunset on the day of Eid al-Fitr, zakat is obligatory upon both seller and buyer. According to his position, the same applies to all the other cases we have mentioned in which liability for zakat shifts.

This opinion of Ashhab accords with the position of Abū al-Faraj al-Mālikī and those who followed his approach: when a jurist exercising independent judgment finds that the evidence for prohibition conflicts with the evidence for permissibility, and neither appears to him stronger than the other, he adopts permissibility,