Is it permissible for one who paid zakat al-fitr on the twenty-seventh day, assuming the month would be twenty-nine days, when it turned out to be thirty days?

The questioner : Shaykh, if he paid it on the twenty-seventh day of Ramadan, assuming the month would be short, and then the month turned out to be full, so he paid it three days before the end of the month, is it sufficient?

The Shaykh : And what do you say about this? This is an important question. He says: if he paid it on the twenty-seventh day, assuming the month would be twenty-nine days, but it turned out to be thirty days, then he paid it three days before the festival, yes?

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : No, it is not sufficient. Who told him to pay it? He had a second day and a third day, yes. We say this is voluntary charity, just as if one prayed the midday prayer before its time, thinking that the time had entered, and it turned out that it had not entered. We say he must repeat the prayer, and the first one was voluntary, yes, ... .

The questioner : ... paying zakat three days before the festival, four days, or five days, is it condemned?

The Shaykh : By Allah, my brothers, the issue of relief and paying zakat al-fitr in a country other than your own is a mistake, a great mistake.