Q. Could you please let me know which is the best day in Ramadan to pay out one’s zakah?
C. Fazeela
A. There is no such a thing as the best day for the payment of zakah. Zakah is a duty which falls due on the same day every year, and it is a different day for everyone. A person becomes a zakah payer on the day he or she owns the equivalent of the threshold of zakah, which is 85 grams of gold. A person should mark that day, and every year he should calculate what he owns and if it remains over the threshold of zakah, he should pay zakah at the suitable rate, which is normally 2.5 percent.
Most people prefer to pay out their zakah in Ramadan, because good actions done in this blessed month are rewarded more generously by God.
This is perfectly acceptable. You can choose to pay out your zakah in Ramadan. In this case you pay it in advance, which is perfectly acceptable. However, you should not delay the payment of your zakah beyond its due date without good reason.
If you are supporting a family or a person throughout the year, you may set your zakah liability, or a portion of it, aside, and pay the beneficiary regular installments. However, putting it aside is important, so that it is marked out as no longer belonging to you, but to its beneficiaries.
Prayer Positions and Movements
Q. In my home country people are taught not to raise their hands during prayer, while I have come across several Hadiths which suggest that this is a Sunnah. Could you please explain? Similarly, women are taught to put their arms on the ground when they prostrate themselves in prayer, while this is a posture the Prophet (peace be upon him) disapproved of. Please comment.
N. Malik
A. In your country the Hanafi school of Fiqh is followed, and it disapproves of raising the hands during prayer. Other schools recommend it on the basis of certain authentic Hadiths. The discrepancy results from the fact that the Hanafi scholars were not aware of these Hadiths. Now that people can be more aware of Hadiths, they should follow them, as the founders of these schools strongly urged, saying: “If you come across an authentic Hadith, then implement it because I uphold the view it states.”
Women pray in the same way as men, except that they should keep their bodies closer. This does not mean that they put their arms on the floor, but rather they should be kept close to their main bodies.