he was able to apportion it and deliver it to its rightful recipients or to the public authority, he incurs no liability.

If a person on whom zakat is due fails to pay it at its appointed time, neglects it, then later sets it aside and it is lost before he hands it over to those entitled to it, he must replace it. By delaying, the obligation became attached to his personal liability, and whatever rests upon one’s liability is not cancelled by the loss of one’s wealth, even if all of it were to perish apart from what had been separated for zakat. Once the full lunar year has elapsed, he remains obliged to carry it through if he has already brought it out and set it apart.

It is preferable that no one remove the zakat of his wealth from the poor of his own locality; that is our chosen opinion. However, if reliable news reaches him of acute need in another area that exceeds the need of his own town, there is no objection to transferring the zakat there to relieve that hardship. Likewise, if he were to give it to a needy relative, he would not be blameworthy, God willing.

Whoever pays his zakat in advance of its due date and it is lost before that date arrives has not fulfilled the obligation. In our school it is impermissible to disburse zakat before a full year has passed except for a few days, and Mālik likened the one who does so to someone who prays before the time for prayer has begun. The year might still pass while his wealth has disappeared, in which case the payment would count only as voluntary charity, and his intention at the time of payment would have been merely general charity. Moreover, the recipient who accepted it early may have become self-sufficient by the time the year ends and would no longer be eligible.

As for paying the expiation for an oath before actually breaking it, or giving zakat al-fiṭr shortly before the end of Ramadan, there is no harm in that, for transmitted reports confirm its permissibility.