after it has become obligatory, that payment suffices for him.
105 – They unanimously agree that no zakāt is due on the wealth of a mukātib (a slave bound by a contract of emancipation) until he is set free. Abū Thawr alone held that zakāt is still payable.
106 – They unanimously agree that zakāt al-Fiṭr is obligatory.
107 – They unanimously agree that zakāt al-Fiṭr becomes incumbent upon a person when he is able to pay it on behalf of himself and his minor children who possess no wealth of their own (1).
108 – They unanimously agree that a person must pay zakāt al-Fiṭr for any slave who is currently in his possession (2).
109 – They unanimously agree that no zakāt al-Fiṭr is due from a dhimmī (a non-Muslim under Muslim protection) for his Muslim slave.
110 – They unanimously agree that a woman, before she marries, pays zakāt al-Fiṭr on her own behalf.
111 – They unanimously agree that no zakāt is due on a fetus still in its mother’s womb. Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal stood alone in considering it recommended but not obligatory (3).
(1) This consensus is likewise reported by al-Nawawi in al-Majmuʿ (6/108): “If the child has no property, the father must pay his fitra; the father’s liability is a matter of consensus (ijmaʿ), as transmitted by Ibn al-Mundhir and others. If the child does own property, the fitra is taken from it. This is the view of Abu Hanifa, Ahmad, Ishaq and Abu Thawr, whereas Muhammad (ibn al-Hasan) holds that it remains due from the father’s wealth. As for an orphan who possesses property, in our school his fitra is paid from that property, and this is also the opinion of the majority: Malik, al-Awzai, Abu Hanifa, Abu Yusuf and Ibn al-Mundhir.” Ibn Hubayra (1/265) likewise records the agreement of the four imams that anyone addressed by the obligation of Zakat al-Fitr must discharge it for himself and for his minor children.
Ibn Hazm dissented; in al-Muhalla (4/261) he writes: “For minors, the father or guardian must pay it from their wealth if they have any; if they have no wealth, no Zakat al-Fitr is due on them then or later.” He adds: “The scholars do not differ that the father does not pay it for his adult children, whether they have money or not.” Al-ʿIraqi cites this in Tarh al-Tathrib (4/59) and comments: “Ibn al-Mundhir reported a consensus to the contrary.” Shaykh Ibn ʿUthaymin, in al-Sharh al-Mumtiʿ (6/155-156), considers the stronger view to be that a person is not obliged to pay Zakat al-Fitr on behalf of those he supports, such as a wife or other relatives.
(2) This ruling is corroborated by the hadith of Abu Hurayra recorded by Muslim (982): “There is no obligatory charity on a slave except the charity of Fitr.”
(3) I.e. Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him).