Counting zakat paid in advance when the year is complete

A question about whether wealth already paid as advance zakat is counted with the rest of the wealth when the zakat year is complete, in which Jordan's General Iftaa Department answered that zakat may be paid early once the minimum is reached, and that the advance payment is treated as still in the payer's ownership, so it completes the minimum and is credited to him. ¹

The questioner asked whether money paid in advance as zakat is counted with the zakatable wealth when the zakat year is complete. ¹

The Department answered that zakat may be paid early, before the year is complete and after the wealth reaches the minimum, especially when doing so serves the interest of the poor, relying on the report of Ali, reported by Abu Dawud, that the Prophet allowed al-Abbas to pay his zakat early. ¹ It quoted Shams al-Din al-Ramli in Nihayat al-Muhtaj that advance payment is permitted for wealth subject to a yearly cycle once its year has begun and the minimum exists, and that it counts only if the owner remains liable and the wealth remains until the end of the year, and the recipient is still eligible at that point. ¹ It said that what is paid early before the year is complete is treated as if it were still in the payer's ownership, so if the wealth falls below the minimum at year end but would reach it with the advance amount added, the two must be combined, quoting al-Nawawi in al-Majmu that the advance payment is combined with what the payer holds both in completing the minimum and in counting as zakat. ¹ It concluded that the advance payment is treated as still owned by the payer, so it completes the minimum and what he paid is credited to him. ¹

Jordan's General Iftaa Department published this fatwa on aliftaa.jo as no. 3984, dated 7 July 2025. ¹ The museum records this text as a historical document attributed to the body or scholar that issued it; it issues no ruling of its own.