Rules about Business Losses
Al-Kāfi|Volume 3|Book 5|Chapter 16
9ـ عِدَّةٌ مِنْ أَصْحَابِنَا عَنْ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ عَنْ عَلِيِّ بْنِ الْحَكَمِ عَنْ إِسْمَاعِيلَ بْنِ عَبْدِ الْخَالِقِ قَالَ سَأَلَهُ سَعِيدٌ الأعْرَجُ وَأَنَا أَسْمَعُ فَقَالَ إِنَّا نَكْبِسُ الزَّيْتَ وَالسَّمْنَ نَطْلُبُ بِهِ التِّجَارَةَ فَرُبَّمَا مَكَثَ عِنْدَنَا السَّنَةَ وَالسَّنَتَيْنِ هَلْ عَلَيْهِ زَكَاةٌ قَالَ فَقَالَ إِنْ كُنْتَ تَرْبَحُ فِيهِ شَيْئاً أَوْ تَجِدُ رَأْسَ مَالِكَ فَعَلَيْكَ زَكَاتُهُ وَإِنْ كُنْتَ إِنَّمَا تَرَبَّصُ بِهِ لأَنَّكَ لاَ تَجِدُ إِلاَّ وَضِيعَةً فَلَيْسَ عَلَيْكَ زَكَاتُهُ حَتَّى يَصِيرَ ذَهَباً أَوْ فِضَّةً فَإِذَا صَارَ ذَهَباً أَوْ فِضَّةً فَزَكِّهِ لِلسَّنَةِ الَّتِي اتَّجَرْتَ فِيهَا.
9. A number of our people have narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from Ali ibn al-Hakam from ’Isma‘il ibn ‘Abd al-Khaliq who has said the following: “Once Sa‘id al-’A‘raj asked him (the Imam) عليه السلام, when I was listening, ‘We stock oil and ghee for business and it remains with us for one year or two years. Is there Zakat on it? He (the Imam) said, ‘If you make profit or find your capital, you must pay Zakat, but if you are just waiting because you do not find other asset, then Zakat is not due on it until it is sold for gold or silver. When it becomes gold or silver, then pay Zakat of the year in which you did business.’”
- Mirʾāt al-ʿUqūl fī Sharḥ Akhbār Āl al-Rasūl (16/54)
- Ṣaḥīḥ al-Kāfī