Is it not permissible to estimate zakah without calculating it, just as it is not permissible to estimate the hair of a newborn for charity without weighing it?

The questioner : And I want to emphasize this because it is a very important issue: it is not permissible for me to say, "I am convinced that I have paid the zakah in full; I am paying an extra amount without calculating it."

The Shaykh : Yes, you may.

The questioner : I mean, I must calculate it first, and then if there is a surplus, I pay it. But if I know, for example, by estimation that I have five thousand riyals, and at the maximum it comes out to this amount, and then I calculate and pay the surplus, but that is... not permissible.

The Shaykh : Not permissible?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : No, this is permissible here. But what is not permissible is regarding the charity for the newborn; perhaps there is confusion with another issue. You know that when a newborn is born, many rulings apply to him, not just one or two. Among them is that his head hair is shaved, that he is weighed, and that charity is given equal to the weight of his hair in silver. So a person, especially if he is wealthy, might say, in words or by implication, "What do I need... I will pay an extra amount. This hair, no matter how thick it is, because children really differ in this regard. What does it come out to? A dinar? Maybe two dinars? Fifteen? What does it matter to him?" No.
We say: It is not obligatory for you to follow the text by shaving the hair and going to weigh it to know what is obligatory upon you. But if you know what is obligatory upon you and you give an extra amount, then at that time .
As for zakah, we do not have anything that obligates us to perform a calculation, but it is obligatory for us to pay two and a half percent. So if we give multiples of that percentage, between:

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : Why did you not do a calculation? Because this obligation is not upon us, as is the case with the hair of the newborn.

The questioner : The second question is in the example you mentioned specifically, where you said: "He sells, he goes and pays from it, and so on." Now, if he has a building and it remains for a period, does this mean he is given the choice to pay from its value?

The Shaykh : What do you mean by "it remains for a period without being sold"?

The questioner : Yes, for example, he returns... its value and we pay from it?

The Shaykh : Every year, you mean?

The questioner : No, once a year, for example.

The Shaykh : Twice is no problem, but also without a fixed time.

The questioner : Without a fixed time, of course, meaning according to its value, and he pays something from it:

The questioner : ... everything... is disposed of, so consequently... monthly, so this is included in the expenses and is disposed of, so consequently, at the end of the year in which the person designated the time for paying zakah, whatever remains from it is added to the nisab, is that not so?

The Shaykh : That is correct.

The questioner : I mean, I used to, and still do, praise be to Allah, pay it as it comes, but if I adopt this method of saying, "On a specific day of the year, what do I have, regardless..."

The Shaykh : There is no problem, Professor, if you have kept the intention free from any legal stratagem.

The questioner : Ibn 'Abbas, when he paid for two years.

The Shaykh : It was not Ibn 'Abbas, it was his father, al-'Abbas.

The questioner : If in the following year he had more wealth, does he pay zakah on the difference?

The Shaykh : If the greater amount of wealth was not paid zakah on, then everything is according to its own calculation.

The questioner : He pays zakah for two years.

The Shaykh : Understood, understood. He must pay the zakah; everything is according to its own calculation.

The questioner : ... the opposite.

The Shaykh : What is the opposite? Anyway, we said: just now, he might boast.

The questioner : He might boast in the answer:

The questioner : I mean, if my wealth increases...