Chapter: Zakāt al-Fiṭr

Zakāt al-Fiṭr is due from every Muslim who possesses, over and above the food he and his dependants require and the provisions he needs for the day and night of the festival, the amount that is to be paid. A debt does not exempt him unless the creditor is actually demanding payment.

He must remit it on his own behalf and on behalf of everyone he maintains, even a person whose living costs he voluntarily covered during Ramaḍān. If he cannot afford to pay for all of them, he begins with himself, then his wife, then his slaves, then his mother, his father, his child, and thereafter the next closest in the order of inheritance.

For a slave jointly owned by partners, a single sāʿ is required of them collectively.

It is recommended (1) to give it on behalf of a fetus, and it is not obligatory for a recalcitrant wife.

If the person for whom someone else is responsible pays his own Zakāt al-Fiṭr, it is valid.

The obligation arises at sunset on the eve of Fiṭr; whoever embraces Islam, acquires a slave or a wife, or has a child born after that time is not liable for Zakāt al-Fiṭr, whereas liability exists for whatever occurs before it (2).

It may be paid only up to two days before the festival; paying it on the day of Eid before the prayer is best. Paying it afterward is disliked (3); whoever postpones it beyond that sins and must make it up.

(4) The amount due is one sāʿ of wheat, barley, dates, raisins, or dried curd (5). If these are not available