Is it Valid if One Intends to Give Zakat Covering Previous Years and Advance Years?
Hanafi Fiqh
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
Is the following a valid intention for dispensing zakat:
I intend to pay this money as Zakat that would cover anything owed in Zakat from previous years, and anything excess of that, I intend as advance Zakat payment towards upcoming years in the order that they become due.
If it is not, how do I rectify previous years in which I made this intention?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.
I pray you are in good faith and health.
Generally, one has to specify and intend the Zakat money by separating it from the charity (sadaqa) each year. However, if one intends each year to cover previous years and advance years if extra, then it is valid also, as long as one ensures each year’s Zakat liability is fulfilled; if not, one adds extra. [Ibn ‘Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]
Read the links below to gain a deeper understanding of the issue.
Related:
- Can You Provide Full Conditions for Advance Zakat Payment?
- Zakat: A Comprehensive SeekersGuidance Reader
- Is It Permissible to Give Zakat in Advance?
- SeekersGuidance Zakat Calculator
Why not begin your search for knowledge by signing up for a course on SeekersGuidance?
I pray this helps with your question.
Wassalam,
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally trained scholar who has studied in the UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey. He started his early education in the UK. He went on to complete the hifz of the Quran in India, then enrolled in an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied the secular and ‘Aalimiyya sciences. He then traveled to Karachi, Pakistan. He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for several years. He has taught hifz of the Quran, Tajwid, Fiqh, and many other Islamic sciences to children and adults onsite and online extensively in the UK and Ireland. He taught at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK, where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences. He currently resides in the UK with his wife. His interest is a love of books and gardening.
