Chapter on Ruling of Trade Goods in Zakat

And from him, from several of our companions, from Ahmad ibn Muhammad, from Ali ibn al-Hakam, from Ismail ibn Abd al-Khaliq, who said: Said al-Araj asked Imam عليه السلام while I was present, listening, and he said: “We press oil and clarified butter (al-samn) with us, seeking trade through it, and it may remain with us for a year or two years. Is there zakat upon it?” He (narrator) said, so Imam عليه السلام said: “If you profit anything in it, or you find your capital, then zakat is due upon you in it. But if you are only waiting with it because you find nothing except a loss, then there is no zakat upon you until it becomes gold or silver. Then when it becomes gold or silver, give zakat on it for the year in which you trade with it.”