Is it better to pay zakaah in Ramadaan?

Question

Praise be to Allah.

Firstly: When a full hijri year has passed and zakaah becomes
due, it must be paid, unless it is the zakaah of agricultural crops, which
must be paid on the day of harvesting, because Allaah says (interpretation
of the meaning):

“but pay the due thereof (their Zakaah, according to
Allaah’s Orders, 1/10th or 1/20th) on the day of their harvest”

[al-An’aam 6:141]

Zakaah must be paid as soon as one full hijri year has
passed, because Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Race with one another in hastening towards forgiveness
from your Lord (Allaah), and Paradise the width whereof is as the width of
the heaven and the earth”

[al-Hadeed 57:21]

Ibn Battaal said:

One should hasten to do good, for things change, death could
come at any time, and delaying is not good.

Ibn Hajar said: Someone else added:

It is better in order to free oneself from blame and help
others, more pleasing to the Lord and more likely to erase sin.

Fath al-Baari, 3/299.

Secondly: it is not permissible to delay paying zakaah after
it has become due, unless one has a valid excuse.

Thirdly: it is permissible to pay zakaah before it is due, by
way of hastening it.

Hastening zakaah means paying the zakaah of two years or
less, before it is due.

It was narrated from ‘Ali that the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) asked al-‘Abbaas to pay zakaah two years in
advance.

(Narrated by Abu ‘Ubayd al-Qaasim ibn Sallaam in al-Amwaal,
1885. Al-Albaani said in al-Irwa’ (3/346): it is hasan)

According to another report:

It was narrated from ‘Ali that al-‘Abbaas asked the Messenger
of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) about paying his
zakaah before it was due, and he allowed him to do that. (Narrated by
al-Tirmidhi, 673; Abu Dawood, 1624; Ibn Maajah, 1795; classed as saheeh by
Shaykh Ahmad Shaakir in Tahqeeq al-Musnad, 822).

Fourthly: Giving charity to people is better in Ramadaan
than in any other month.

It was narrated that Ibn ‘Abbaas said: The Messenger of
Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was the most
generous of people, and he was at his most generous during Ramadaan, when
Jibreel met him. Jibreel used to meet with him every night and teach him the
Qur’aan. The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) was the most generous person, even more generous than the strong
uncontrollable wind (in readiness and haste to do charitable deeds).”
(Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 6; Muslim, 2308).

Al-Nawawi said: This hadeeth teaches us a number of things,
including the fact that it is mustahabb to be generous during Ramadaan.

So if a person’s zakaah is due in Ramadan, or it is due after
Ramadaan but he pays it in advance during Ramadaan in order to make the most
of the virtue of paying it in Ramadaan, there is nothing wrong with that.
But if his zakaah is due before Ramadaan (for example, in Rajab), and he
delays it so he can pay it in Ramadaan, this is not permissible, because it
is not permissible to delay zakaah unless one has a valid excuse.

Fifthly: There may be some reasons why paying zakaah at a
time other than Ramadan is preferable to paying it during Ramadaan, such as
if there is a major disaster or famine in some Muslim country, then paying
zakaah at that time is preferable to paying it in Ramadaan. Another example
is if many people pay their zakaah during Ramadaan to meet the needs of the
poor, then the poor have no one to feed them at times other than Ramadaan;
in this case paying it at a time other than Ramadaan is preferable, even if
that leads to delaying zakaah, out of consideration for the needs of the
poor.

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthyameen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:

It is permissible to delay zakaah if that is in the interests
of the poor and will not cause them harm. For example, in our country many
people pay zakaah in Ramadaan and this gives the poor what they need or more
than they need, but then during the winter, if that does not coincide with
Ramadaan, they will be in greater need and there are few people paying
zakaah. In that case it is permissible to delay zakaah because that is in
the interests of those who are entitled to it.

Al-Sharh al-Mumti’, 6/189

And Allaah knows best.