Q 4: Our company has surplus sums of Zakah (obligatory charity) that have not fully paid during the year and another Hawl (one lunar year calculated from the time a property reaches the minimum amount upon which Zakah is due) has passed on them. It is to be noted that these amounts are not frozen, but invested with the other funds of the company. How should we deal with this surplus? Should the principal of the surplus money alone be paid as Zakah, or should it be given in Zakah along with its profits? A: Zakah should be paid once it is due. It is impermissible to postpone paying it to its Shar`y (Islamically lawful) recipients, whether for the purpose of increasing it for its recipients or out of negligence because any such delay makes it lose the condition of being paid immediately in addition to making it miss many of its Maslahahs (public interests), such as satisfying the needs of the poor, helping them pay their debts, and other purposes for which Zakah was ordained. With regard to the profits of the amount of Zakah you delayed paying, only 2.5% of the profits must be paid as Zakah. (Part No. 8; Page No. 174