Ruling on paying zakah before the lunar year has completed

Question:
Is it permissible to pay the zakah before the lunar year has completed and give it to a female servant who wants to travel, and she is a Muslim?

Answer:
It is permissible to pay the zakah before the lunar year has completed; paying the zakah early is not a problem for the sake of benefit.
As for giving it to the female servant, this is a matter requiring consideration: the servant’s salary, meaning her wage, may be sufficient for her, and she may not be upright; she may be lying in her claims, saying she has children, and she has such and such, and she has such and such. Therefore, it is better to seek out poor women whose poverty and need are known and verified, so that the zakah is given to them, and likewise men who are known to be in need.
As for the female servant, perhaps her salary that she receives is sufficient for her, since she eats and drinks at her master’s house, and her salary is accumulated for her, so perhaps it is sufficient for her. There is risk in giving her the zakah, so she should not be given the zakah, except for a woman known for her uprightness and need, who has many weak children and a small salary. If this is known with certainty, and that she is a Muslim with sound Islam, then she is given it. But this is rare among female servants, because they are not known except by their own words; they come from distant lands and nothing is known about them except what they say.
Therefore, caution should be exercised in this matter. If one wants to give her charity other than zakah, there is no harm; she may be given additional charity other than zakah, and there is no harm. As for the zakah, caution must be taken with it so that it is not given except to one whose Islam, uprightness, and truthfulness regarding his need are known.