Khums year (Arabic: السَنَة الخُمْسیة) is a one-year span in which khums or one-fifth of one’s incomes are calculated.
Term
According to the Shiite fiqh (jurisprudence), it is obligatory to calculate and pay one-fifth of one’s extra income as “khums” one year after the first income. This one-year span is called “khums year”. The term, “al-sanat al-khumsiyya” (khums year), does not appear in traditional sources of Shiite jurisprudence, such as Jawahir al-kalam, al-‘Urwat al-wuthqa, and Tahrir al-wasila. The term appears since the second half of the 14th century SH (second half of the 20th century) in Imami sources of jurisprudence, and in particular, in manuals of fatwas, and istifta’at.
Rulings of the Khums Year
The Beginning of the Khums Year
According to Shiite faqihs, the beginning of a khums year is different for different people with different the types of incomes. For people with daily incomes, such as business people and tradesmen, the khums year begins from when they begin their works. For people with monthly incomes, the first salary is the beginning of the khums year, and for farmers, the khums year begins with the first harvest, and then in subsequent years, the same day counts as the first day of the khums year.
Lunar or Solar?
The majority of Shiite jurists did not differentiate between lunar and solar years in the calculation of the khums. They maintain that it is permissible to pay the khums on either calculation. However, some scholars hold that it is an obligatory precaution to calculate one’s khums on the basis of the lunar year.
Other Rulings
A khums year only applies to one’s annual income which is just one case in which khums is obligatory. In other cases, such as booties of wars and mines, the khums year does not apply.
At the end of the khums year, one should pay one-fifth of the possessions (cashes, foods, and consumer products) that remain from his or her yearly expenses.
The majority of Shiite jurists hold that it is permissible to change one’s khums year. However, some of them believe that to shift the beginning of one’s khums year forwards or backwards, one needs the permission of Sharia ruler, and others maintain that it is conditional upon there being no loss for owners of the khums (people who receive the khums).
