idle chatter,’ for Allah says, “When they hear idle talk, they turn away from it” (al-Qasas 28:55).

• “Rafath”: The verb rafatha–yarfuthu–rafathan means to speak obscenely. Rafath also denotes sexual intercourse, as in the verse, “It has been made lawful for you, on the night of the fast, to have relations (rafath) with your wives” (al-Baqarah 2:187). Regarding Allah’s words, “Let there be no rafath” (al-Baqarah 2:197), some held that it refers to intercourse and all that leads to it, while others said it means lewd or indecent speech.

• “Ṭuʿmah for the poor”: with ḍamma on the ṭāʾ. Ṭuʿmah means provision or sustenance; its plural is ṭuʿam, like ghurfah / ghuraf. In this context it refers to edible food.

• “Whoever discharges it before the prayer”: i.e., before the ʿEid prayer.

• “A charity among the charities”: meaning it no longer counts as Zakāt al-Fiṭr but is merely an unrestricted voluntary charity.

• Points derived from the ḥadith

1 – Zakāt al-Fiṭr is obligatory; this, as noted earlier, is a point of unanimous agreement among the Muslims.

2 – Among the purposes and inner wisdoms of its legislation is that it purifies the fasting person of whatever idle talk he engaged in during his fast and of any rafath he may have committed with his wife or otherwise. Another wisdom is that it offers relief to the poor and needy, feeding them on this day so that no Muslim remains hungry or distressed, unable to share in the community’s joy and celebration.

3 – It must be paid before the ʿEid prayer; delaying it until after the prayer is forbidden.

4 – If one pays it before the prayer, it is valid Zakāt al-Fiṭr and fulfills the obligation. If he postpones it until after the prayer, the act of worship has missed its appointed time, and he incurs the sin of delay; what he gives thereafter is counted only as a voluntary charity.

5 – The phrase “a purification for the fasting person” is used by a small group of scholars as evidence that Zakāt al-Fiṭr is not obligatory for children, whereas the majority obligate it for both young and old, due to the generality