To Hussam Abu Asab
Question:
Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh, does the ruling of "the entering of the time" apply—if we may use the word "time"—to the ruling of Zakat? The question is: If I pay Zakat on money before the passing of a Hawl (lunar year), is what I paid with the intention of Zakat considered as Zakat, or is it considered Sadaqah (voluntary charity) such that the obligation is not dropped until the Hawl passes over the wealth? Is the state of Zakat like the state of prayer, fasting, and Hajj, which are linked to a known time and are not permissible outside of it? If the obligation of Zakat is linked to a time, which is the Hawl, is it mandatory to adhere to the Hawl, and is it not permissible for us to pay Zakat before that due to the resulting increase in wealth? May Allah reward you with goodness and benefit us with your knowledge. I hope for an answer due to necessity.
Answer:
Wa Alaikum Assalam Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh,
First: The issue of accelerating Zakat... here is the following:
1- The completion of the Hawl (lunar year) is a condition (shart) for the cause (sabab) of Zakat, which is the Nisab (minimum threshold). If the condition is met—meaning a Hawl has passed over the Nisab without it decreasing below the threshold—then Zakat becomes obligatory. However, if Zakat is paid before it becomes obligatory, this payment is permissible according to the established Shariah evidences, including:
Al-Bayhaqi narrated in As-Sunan al-Kubra from Ali:
أَنَّ الْعَبَّاسَ رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ سَأَلَ رَسُولَ اللهِ ﷺ فِي تَعْجِيلِ صَدَقَتِهِ قَبْلَ أَنْ تَحِلَّ فَأَذِنَ لَهُ فِي ذَلِكَ
"That Al-Abbas (ra) asked the Messenger of Allah (saw) about accelerating his Sadaqah (Zakat) before it was due, and he (saw) permitted him to do that."
Ad-Daraqutni narrated in his Sunan from Hujr al-Adawi from Ali, who said: The Messenger of Allah (saw) said to Umar:
إِنَّا قَدْ أَخَذْنَا مِنَ الْعَبَّاسِ زَكَاةَ الْعَامِ عَامِ الْأَوَّلِ
"We have already taken from Al-Abbas the Zakat of the year in the previous year."
Accordingly, accelerating the payment of Zakat before it becomes obligatory is permissible, and what the person pays in advance is considered Zakat that fulfills the obligation, not just a Sadaqah Manduba (recommended charity).
2- The meaning of accelerating Zakat is to pay the Zakat on wealth before the end of the Hawl. If one possesses the Nisab in Muharram of this year, the end of its Hawl is Muharram of the next year, at which point the Zakat becomes obligatory. However, it is permissible to accelerate that Zakat, which is due at the end of the year, by paying it in Ramadan of this year, for example—meaning about four months before its due date. Regarding the method, there is a difference of opinion among the jurists; I will quote two opinions for you:
Ibn Qudamah says in Al-Mughni regarding the permissibility of accelerating Zakat before the passing of the Hawl over the Nisab, responding to those who say it is not permissible: "Our evidence is what At-Tirmidhi narrated from Ali:
عَنْ النَّبِيِّ ﷺ: أَنَّهُ قَالَ لِعُمَرَ: إنَّا قَدْ أَخَذْنَا زَكَاةَ الْعَبَّاسِ عَامَ الْأَوَّلِ لِلْعَامِ. وَفِي لَفْظٍ قَالَ: إنَّا كُنَّا تَعَجَّلْنَا صَدَقَةَ الْعَبَّاسِ لِعَامِنَا هَذَا عَامَ أَوَّلَ
'From the Prophet (saw): that he said to Umar: We have taken the Zakat of Al-Abbas in the previous year for this year.' And in another wording: 'We had accelerated the Sadaqah of Al-Abbas for this year of ours in the previous year.' (Narrated by Said from Ata, Ibn Abi Mulaykah, and Al-Hasan bin Muslim, from the Prophet (saw) as mursal)."
However, he views acceleration only for the wealth of the Nisab, as he says: "If he owns a Nisab and accelerates its Zakat and the Zakat of what he acquires, or what is produced from it, or what he profits from it, it suffices for the Nisab but not for the increase." He adds: "Abu Hanifa said it suffices him, because it is an appendage to what he already owns..." As you can see, the Hanbalis view the acceleration of Zakat as being for the wealth currently in hand if it exceeds the Nisab, but they do not permit acceleration for the increase resulting from this wealth, such as profit, during the remaining period until the end of the Hawl. As for Abu Hanifa, he permits accelerating the Zakat for all of that.
I do not wish to adopt (tabanni) either of these two opinions; you may follow whichever of these two views you are comfortable with. If you possessed the Nisab in Muharram of this year, for example, and you wanted to accelerate the Zakat in Ramadan instead of waiting until the end of the Hawl in Muharram of next year, you can do the following:
Either accelerate the Zakat of the wealth available to you in Ramadan if it is more than the Nisab, and at the end of the Hawl in Muharram, you calculate the wealth you have that resulted from the money whose Zakat you accelerated in Ramadan—such as the profit resulting from it—and you pay Zakat on the increase over the wealth you already Zakat-ed in Ramadan. For example, if the money whose Zakat you accelerated in Ramadan was "10,000" and at the end of the Hawl in Muharram there was a profit resulting from that money of "5,000"—meaning the money with you at the end of the Hawl is "15,000"—then you pay Zakat on the additional "5,000" because you already accelerated the Zakat for the "10,000".
Or you calculate the money available to you in Ramadan and estimate the money that will result from it, such as profit, until the end of the Hawl in Muharram, and you pay Zakat on this total—meaning the Zakat of what is available in Ramadan and the estimated result until the end of the Hawl in Muharram—and accelerate the Zakat for all of that, let's say 18,000. In this case, if the total wealth you have (original wealth and its profit) at the end of the Hawl in Muharram is more than the money you Zakat-ed—let's say 20,000—then you must pay Zakat on the 2,000 increase.
I ask Allah (swt) to accept your Zakat and for it to be a pure intercessor for you on the Day when neither wealth nor children will avail, except him who comes to Allah with a sound heart.
Second: The issue of time for Zakat and Prayer:
Time regarding prayer is a cause (sabab). A cause is that whose presence necessitates the presence (of the ruling) and whose absence necessitates its absence. Therefore, the ruling revolves with it in its presence and absence. Thus, prayer is not valid before the entering of the time nor after its exit. For example, the Messenger (saw) says regarding the Dhuhr prayer, as narrated by At-Tabarani in Al-Mu'jam al-Kabir from Khabbab: The Messenger of Allah (saw) said:
إِذَا زَالَتِ الشَّمْسُ فَصَلُّوا
"When the sun passes its zenith, then pray." (Also narrated by Al-Bayhaqi).
And he (saw) says in the Hadith of prayer times regarding the Dhuhr prayer, narrated by Muslim from Abdullah bin Amr:
وَقْتُ الظُّهْرِ إِذَا زَالَتِ الشَّمْسُ وَكَانَ ظِلُّ الرَّجُلِ كَطُولِهِ، مَا لَمْ يَحْضُرِ الْعَصْرُ
"The time for Dhuhr is when the sun has passed the zenith and a man's shadow is like his length, as long as the time for Asr has not come."
These are causes (asbab), so prayer is not valid without the presence of the cause. As we said before, Dhuhr prayer is not valid before the zenith (zawal) nor after the time exits.
As for the Hawl regarding Zakat, it is not a cause, but rather it is a condition for the cause (shart fi as-sabab). Therefore, the absence of the condition is different from the absence of the cause, especially since there is a text that permits accelerating Zakat before the end of the Hawl. As for the Nisab in Zakat, it is the cause (sabab); therefore, before owning the Nisab, there is no obligatory Zakat, but rather it is Sadaqah. This is the difference regarding the issue of the Hawl in Zakat and the issue of time in prayer. This is sufficient, Allah willing.
Your brother, Ata bin Khalil Abu al-Rashtah
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