Chapter: Zakat al-Fitr

According to the soundest view, the obligation for zakat al-fitr begins with the first night of ʿId. Hence it must be paid for anyone who dies after sunset, but not for one who is born afterward. It is recommended to discharge it before the ʿId prayer, and it is prohibited to delay it beyond that day.

No zakat al-fitr is required of a non-Muslim, except—on the stronger opinion—regarding his Muslim slave or Muslim relative. It is not due from a slave himself, while there is a divergent view concerning a mukātab (a slave in a manumission contract). A person who is partly free must pay in proportion to his free share.

It is not obligatory upon the indigent: whoever has nothing left beyond his own sustenance and that of those he supports for the night and day of ʿId is deemed indigent. According to the stronger opinion, the surplus must also exceed what is needed for a dwelling and a servant essential to him.

Whoever must pay zakat al-fitr for himself must also pay it for everyone whose maintenance he is bound to provide. A Muslim, however, is not required to pay it for a slave, relative, or wife who is a non-Muslim; nor is a slave required to pay it for his wife, nor a son for his father’s wife—though there is an alternative opinion regarding the son.

If the husband is impoverished or is himself a slave, the preponderant view is that a free wife must pay her own zakat al-fitr, and the same applies to the master of a slave-girl.