Paying Zakah before prescribed time

10-4-2004 | IslamWeb

Question:

Is it permissible to give Zakah before the prescribed time?

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Answer:

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the World; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions.

Muslim jurists differ in paying Zakah before completing a lunar year. The preponderant opinion is that doing so is permissible without any reprehensibility according to the majority of Muslim scholars; particularly if there is any benefit such as being needy people in immediate necessity or Muslim Ummah is in dire need to face calamities etc,. The evidence for paying Zakah before completing a lunar year is the Hadith reported by Imam Nasa'i from Ali (Radiya Allahu Anhu) that " al-Abbas (Radiya Allahu Anhu) asked the permission from the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) to pay his Zakah before completing the year. The Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) permitted him" . [Imam al-Hakim graded its chain as sound and Imam Al-Zahabi agreed with him].
The Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) said to Umar (Radiya Allahu Anhu): "Last year, we received the Zakah of this year from al-Abbas" . [al-Tirmizi].
Allah knows best.