Nothing in its present state is a place of refuge (5)
I believe the answer is:
oasis
'a place of refuge' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'nothing in its present state' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'nothing' could be 'o' (O resembles 0) and 'o' is located in the answer.
'state' could be 'asis' (I have seen 'current state' mean 'as is' so perhaps 'state' could also mean 'as is') and 'asis' is present in the answer.
No letters remain.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'is' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for oasis that I've seen before include "quiet spot" , "Place of peace" , "Peaceful spot" , "retreat" , "Desert pool" .)