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Hence it is permissible to pay one’s zakah in advance for only two lunar years, limiting the allowance to what is explicitly reported; paying more than two years ahead is not permitted.
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The scholars are unanimous that it may not be advanced unless the nisab has first been completed, for the nisab is the legal cause of obligation and may not be preceded.
Shaykh al-Islam said: According to the majority of scholars—including the imams Abu Hanifah, al-Shafiʿi, and Ahmad—it is lawful to pay zakah before its obligation actually falls once its cause is present. Thus the zakah on livestock, gold and silver, and trade goods may be advanced once the nisab is owned, and the zakah on titheable produce (maʿsharāt) may be advanced before it is due if the fruit has appeared before showing signs of ripeness or the crop has sprouted before its grain hardens.
- Advancing zakah is not recommended unless a genuine benefit exists—for example, the onset of a famine or some pressing need among the Muslims that calls for early disbursement.
Scholarly disagreement:
• The scholars agree unanimously that zakah may not be paid in advance before the nisab is complete, because the cause of obligation is missing and therefore cannot be anticipated.
• The majority—including the three imams—permit paying it once the cause exists through ownership of the nisab; the hadith of al-ʿAbbās is an authentic and explicit proof of this concession.
• The Malikis and Dawud (al-Zahiri) held that it is impermissible to pay it before the completion of the lunar year, whether the nisab is owned or not. Their reasoning is that the passing of the year is one of the two conditions for zakah to become obligatory, so it cannot be anticipated, just as unanimous agreement forbids paying it before acquiring the nisab.
Ibn Rushd said in Bidayat al-Mujtahid: “The basis of the dispute is whether zakah is an act of worship or a financial right owed to the poor. Those who view it as an act of worship do not allow its payment before its time, whereas those who liken it to deferred financial obligations permit paying it before it falls due …”