Delaying paying the sums of Zakah received by charity organizations

May Allaah The Almighty Reward you with the best reward. We are a charity organization. We receive Zakaah of cash and Zakaah of different crops at different times (wheat, cotton, olive, pistachio, sweet potato, and so on). We also distribute them consecutively throughout the year so it is difficult to determine which sum of money was spent and which remained. It is not possible to entirely settle the account (a revolving account). Is this permissible? Is it permissible to always keep a certain sum in the fund for the sake of paying the expenses of sudden major surgical operations needed by the poor (open heart surgeries and the like)?

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad , is His Slave and Messenger.

Whenever Zakah is due upon money, it is obligatory to pay it and deliver it to the poor immediately. It is impermissible to delay this except with the interval of time needed to deliver it to those who deserve it. Ibn Qudaamah said in Al-Mughni: "Delaying paying Zakah to pay it to someone who is more deserving of it among relatives or extremely needy people: if this is a short time, there is no harm. If it is a long time, this is impermissible."

One may distribute it himself or deputize a trusted organization. In the case of giving Zakah to charity organizations, these organizations should distribute it immediately among those who deserve it because it is their right. Allaah The Almighty Says (what means): {And those within whose wealth is a known right - For the petitioner and the deprived.}[Quran 70:24-25] It should not be delayed except as needed. Saving it despite the existence of those who deserve it even if they are in another country is impermissible unless someone who is more needy already exists; then, there is no harm in delaying it to give it to him.

Spending Zakah on surgical operations is impermissible and it does not avail according to the majority of scholars, and saving it for this purpose is all the more so knowing that there is no harm in merely paying Zakah to the poor to undergo surgical operations because it is well-known that the poor are among the recipients of Zakah. However, keeping the money of Zakah for this purpose is contradictory to the Sharee‘ah obligation of paying Zakah to its recipients immediately as mentioned above.

Allaah Knows best.