How should i discharge my Zakaat?

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuhu.

Your question is not clear. You state that you have ‘removed’ Zakat for each month in advance. This could mean you merely removed your monthly Zakat, but you did not actually discharge the Zakat.

Zakat is an annual obligation. It is fulfilled once every lunar year for those who possess the Nisab (the threshold of wealth set by Shariah for Zakat to become obligatory).

It is permissible to give out Zakat monthly; however, it becomes compulsory, with the passing of the year. For this reason, the total Zakatable wealth at the end of the year will be considered.

We don’t understand the calculation method that you have presented, however, even if one does separate his Zakat money in advance, then at the end of the year, one will still have to calculate his total assets (including the separated money as it remains in his ownership). This total will then be used to calculate Zakat (2.5% of this total will be given). If the money that was separated is 2.5% of this total on the date of Zakat, that is fine, otherwise the difference should be made up/deducted.[i]

Example: Abdullah’s Zakat date is on the 10^th of Ramadan. On the 10^th of every month prior to this, he has been separating 2.5% of his monthly income to make things easy on the actual day of Zakat etc. The money is still in his ownership. Over the previous months, he has gathered R1000 on the side for Zakat.

It is now the 10^th of Ramadan (Abdullah’s official Zakat date). Although Abdullah has put money to a side every month, just looking at 2.5% of this month’s income and adding it to the rest will not suffice. Abdullah will have to look at his total wealth on this date, including the R1000, to see how much Zakat he must give.

There will be three possibilities; either he will have to make no changes to the Zakat money he has already taken out, or he will have to add more, or decrease. All three scenarios are presented below:

Scenario A (No Changes): Abdullah has been separating money for Zakat monthly. He has separated R1000 for his Zakat. His official annual Zakat day has come, and he now calculates his total wealth, including the R1000. Abdullah finds that he has R40,000 in total. No changes will have to be made. This is because his total wealth on Zakat day is R40,000 and 2.5% of that is R1000.

Scenario B (Addition): Abdullah has been separating money for Zakat monthly. He has separated R1000 for his Zakat. His official annual Zakat day has come, and he now calculates his total wealth, including the R1000. Abdullah finds that he has R50,000 in total. He will have to add to R250 to the R1000 he has already kept on the side. This is because his total wealth on Zakat day is R50,000 and 2.5% of that is R1250.  

Scenario C (Subtraction): Abdullah has been separating money for Zakat monthly. He has separated R1000 for his Zakat. His official annual Zakat day has come, and he now calculates his total wealth, including the R1000. Abdullah finds that he has R20,000 in total. He will now subtract R500 from the R1000 he has separated for Zakat. This is because his total wealth on Zakat day is R20,000 and 2.5% of that is R500.

And Allah Ta ‘āla Knows Best

Bayazeed

Student – Darul Iftaa

UK

Checked and approved by,

Mufti Ebrahim Desai

14-07-1441 | 08-03-2020

[i] مختصر القدوري - كتاب الزكاة – (192-194)

الزكاة واجبة على الحر المسلم البالغ العاقل إذا ملك نصابا كاملا ملكا تاما، وحال عليه الحول، وليس على صبي ولا مجنون ولا مكاتب زكاة. ومن كان عليه دين محيط بماله، فلا زكاة عليه، وان كان ماله أكثر من الدين زكى الفاضل إذا بلغ نصابا.

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وشرط وجوبها العقل والبلوغ والإسلام والحرّيّة، وملك نصابٍ حوليٍّ فارغٍ عن الدّين وحاجته الأصليّة نامٍ، ولو تقديرًا

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وأما المستفاد في أثناء الحول فيضم إلى مجانسه ويزكي بتمام الحول الأصلي

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(قوله: ولو عجل ذو نصاب) قيد بكونه ذا نصاب؛ لأنه لو ملك أقل منه فعجل خمسة عن مائتين ثم تم الحول على مائتين لا يجوز، وفيه شرطان آخران: ألا ينقطع النصاب في أثناء الحول، فلو عجل خمسة من مائتين ثم هلك ما في يده إلا درهما ثم استفاد فتم الحول على مائتين جاز ما عجل، بخلاف ما لو هلك الكل. وأن يكون النصاب كاملا في آخر الحول؛ فلو عجل شاة من أربعين وحال الحول وعنده تسعة وثلاثون، فإن كان دفعها للفقير وقعت نفلا