Expediting the Zakaah

প্রশ্ন · Question

As-Salaamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakaatuhu,
Does the ‘entering of the time’, if such an expression is correct to say,
conform to the word ‘time’ in respect to the Hukm of the Zakaah.
The question: If the Zakaah upon wealth is extracted before the
passing of the Hawl (year), then is that which has been taken out
with the intention of its being Zakaah actually Zakaah or is it
considered to be Sadaqah whilst the obligation of the Zakaah does
not fall except after the passing of a Hawl (year) upon the wealth?
And is the case of the Zakaah like that of the Salaah, Siyaam (fasting)
and the Hajj in respect to being tied to a known time in which it is not
permitted in other than it. And so if t he obligation of the Zakaah is
tied to a time, which is the Hawl (year), then is it obligatory to adhere
to the year whilst it is not permissible for us to extract the Zakaah
before that due to what is built upon it in terms of having an increase

in wealth? Jazaakallahu Khairan and the answer is a necessary matter
for me.

উত্তর · Answer

Wa Alaikum us-Salaam Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakaatuhu,
Firstly: The subject of expediting the Zakaah... I present the
following:
1) The passing of the Hawl (year) is the Shart (condition) in respect to
the Sabab (cause) of the Zakaah “An -Nisaab”. If the condition is met
where the year has passed over the Sabab “An -Nisaab” without its
decreasing (below the Nisaab i.e. amount that Zakaah is obligatory
upon), then the Zakaah has become obligatory... However, if the
Zakaah is extracted before its obligation then this extraction is
permissible due to Shar’iyah Adillah (evidences) that have been
mentioned. These include:
Al-Baihaqi recorded in his Sunan Al-Kubraa from ‘Ali:
«ذِنَ لَهُ
َ
نْ تَحِلَّ فَأ
َ
لَ رَسُولَ اللهِ (ص) ف ِي تَعْجِيلِ صَدَقَتِهِ قَبْلَ أ
َ
نَّ الْعَبَّاسَ رَض ِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ سَأ
َ
أ
ف ِي ذَلِكَ »
“Al-‘Abbaas (ra) asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ about expediting
his Sadaqah before a Hawl (year) passes and he ﷺ gave permission
for him to do that”... And Ad -Daaruqutni in his Sunan related from
Hujr Al-‘Adawiy from ‘Ali who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to
‘Umar:
«خَذْنَا مِنَ الْعَبَّاسِ زَكَاةَ الْعَامِ عَامِ الَْْوَّلِ
َ
إِنَّا قَدْ أ »
“Verily, we have taken from Al-‘Abbaas the Zakaah of the year on the
first year”.
Based upon this, the expediting of the Zakaah before its obligation is
a permissible matter and that which the one expediting the Zakaah

has extracted is considered to relieve the Fard and it is not
considered as a recommended act of Sadaqah.
2 – The meaning of expediting the Zakaah is that the person gives the
Zakaah before the end of the Hawl (passing of a year). So if he was to
reach the amount of the Nisaab in Muharram of this year then the
end of his Hawl (year) would be Muharram of the following year and
at that time the Zakaah would be obligatory. However, it is permitted
to expedite that Zakaah which is obligatory at the end of that year
(Hawl) by paying in Ramadan of that year for example, which would
be before its appointed time by fou r months. In respect to the
manner in which this is undertaken then there is a difference in
opinion amongst the Fuqahaa (jurists) and I will now present two of
these opinions:
Ibn Qudaamah in Al-Mughni says that it is permissible to advance the
Zakaah before the passing of the Hawl (year) upon the Nisaab and he
responded to those who say that it is not permissible by saying: (We
have what At-Tirmidhi related from ‘Ali: From the Prophet ﷺ that he
said to ‘Umar:
«خَذْنَا زَكَاةَ الْعَبَّاسِ عَامَ الَْْوَّلِ لِلْعَامِ. وَف ِي لَفْظٍ قَ
َ
نَّهُ قَالَ لِعُمَرَ: إنَّا قَدْ أ
َ
عَنْ النَّنِْير : أ الَ: إنَّا كُنَّا
وَّلَ
َ
تَعَجَّلْنَا صَدَقَةَ الْعَبَّاسِ لِعَامِنَا هَذَا عَامَ أ »
“Verily, we have taken from Al -‘Abbaas the Zakaah of the first year
for the year” and in another version: “Verily we have made the
Sadaqah of Al -‘Abbaas for this year of ours a first year”. Sa’eed
related it from ‘Ataa’, Ibn Abi Mulaikah and Al -Hasan Bin Muslim
from the Prophet ﷺ as a Mursal narration). However, he viewed the
expediting to only be for the wealth of the Nisaab when he said: (And
if he has possessed the Nisaab, then advanced his Zakaah and the
Zakaah of that which he has derived benefit from (or acquired), what
has been produced from him, or been profitable in, is partitioned
from the Nisaab without increase). And he adds: ‘And Abu Haneefah
said that it counts for him because it is line with what he was the

possessor of...’. As you see the scholars of the Hanbali Fiqh viewed
the (permissibility of) expediting the Zakaah upon wealth in one’s
possession if it was greater than the Nisaab whilst they did not
permit expediting for the increase that resulted from this wealth or
from it like the profit for example or something like that within the
remaining period until the end of the Hawl (year)... As for Abu
Haneefah, then he permitted expediting the Zakaah for all of that.
And I do not wish to adopt an opinion from either of them and it is
for you to pursue any opinion from these two that you are confident
in. Consequently, if you possessed the Nisaab for example in
Muharram of this year and wanted to expedite the (payment of)
Zakaah in Ramadan instead of waiting until the end of the year in the
Muharram of the following year, then you can do the following:
- Either expedite the Zakaah of the wealth that you have available to
you in Ramadan if it was greater than the Nisaab and then at the end
of the Hawl (passing of the year) in Muharram you count the wealth
that you have as a result of the wealth that you advanced its Zakaah
in Ramadan like the profit resulting from it for example or something
like that.
You would then give the increase upon the wealth that you had given
as Zakaah in Ramadan as Zakaah (at that time). So for example, if the
wealth that you had advanced its Zakaah in Ramadan was 10,000 and
then at the end of the year in Muharram there was a profit resulting
from the wealth that you had given Zakaah for of 5,000 which means
that the wealth you have at the end of the Hawl (passing of the year)
is 15,000 then you would give Zakaah of the 5,000 more because you
had expedited the 10,000.
- Or you would count the wealth that you have available to you in
Ramadan and estimate the wealth that would result from it from
profit for example until the end of the Hawl (passing of the year upon
the Nisaab) in Muharram and then pay the Zakaah for that sum

amount i.e. the wealth that you have available at that time in
Ramadan in addition to the estimated amount that will result from it
by the end of the Hawl (passing of the year) in Muharram. You would
expedite the payment of the Zakaah for all of that. So for example it
could be 18,000. If in this case if the sum of wealth that you have
meaning “The original amount and the profit” at the end of the year
in Muharram was greater than the wealth that you had given Zakaah
for, where it is 20,000 for example, the n in such a case it is obligatory
to pay the Zakaah of the increase of the 2,000.
And I ask Allah ﷻ to accept your Zakaah and for it to be good for you
and an intercessor of the day where no wealth or children can avail
except for the one who has come to Allah with a sound heart (Qalb
Saleem).
Secondly: The subject of the time of the Zakaah and the Salaah:
The time in respect to the Salaah is a Sabab (cause) and the Sabab
obliges from its existence presence and from its non -presence it
obliges absence. Consequently, the ruling (Hukm) revolves with it in
presence and absence.
Therefore, it is not valid to pray before the entering of the time or
after the time has been exited from. So for example in respect to the
Zhuhr prayer the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said as was recorded by At -
Tabaraani in Al -Kabeer from Khabbaab who said: The Messenger of
Allah ﷺ said: «إِذَا زَالَتِ الشَّمْسُ فَصَل وا » “If the sun moves passed the
Zawaal (highest position of the sun) then pray” and Al -Bayhaqi also
recorded it. And he ﷺ said in the Hadeeth about the times of the
Salaah in respect to the Zhuhr prayer as recorded by Muslim from
Abdullah Ibn Amr:
«ِ الْعَصُْْ
وَقْتُ الظ هْرِ إِذَا زَالَتِ الشَّمْسُ وَكَانَ ظِلُّ الرَّجُلِ كَطُولِهِ، مَا لَمْ يَحْصْ ُ »
“The time of Zhuhr is when the sun passes the Zawaal and the
shadow of the man is like his height as long as ‘Asr has not come”.

These are Asbaab (causes) and so the Salaah is not valid in other than
when the Sabab is present. And as we said previously the Salaah of
Zhohr is not valid before the Zawaal and not after the time for it has
been exited from.
As for the Hawl (passing of a year) in respect to the Zakaah then it is
not a Sabab but rather it is the Shart (condition) in relation to the
Sabab. For that reason, the non -occurrence of the Shart differs from
the non-occurrence of the Sabab and particularly when there is a text
that permits the advancing of the payment of the Zakaah before the
end of the Hawl. As for the Nisaab in respect to the Zakaah then this
is the Sabab. For that reason, before the possession of the Nisaab no
Zakaah has been obliged and it is only Sadaqah. This is the difference
in regards to the subject of the Hawl in respect to the Zakaah and the
subject of the time of the Salaah. And in this there is enough In
Shaa’a Allah.
Your Brother,
Abu Yasin
7th Dhul Hijjah 1437 AH
Corresponding to 09/09/2016 CE