The third factor is gratitude for benefits received, for the servant is indebted to Allah for personal and material bounties 2. The second duty with regards to Zakat concerns the time of payment . A good practice is to anticipate the moment when payment is due. Whenever the impulse to good arises from within,the opportunity must be grasped at once as the believers heart lies between the two fingers of the All-Merciful. The devil threatens poverty and bids us to commit atrocious and abominable deeds.
Demonic suggestion follows hard on the heels of angelic inspiration.
One should endeavor to choose one of the most opportune times to pay Zakat, resulting in more closeness to Allah and compounding the value of the Zakat. One such favorable time would be month of Muharram, since it is the first month of the Islamic year and one of the sacred months. Another is Ramadan. The third duty is secrecy, for this is farthest removed from hypocritical display and reputation-seeking. Whenever fame is the donor's objective, his work will be in vain, since the purpose of alms giving is to eliminate miserliness and to weaken the love of wealth.