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There is disagreement over the maintenance of a slave whose services have been granted to someone else. One view places it upon the beneficiary, and another upon the owner. A third holds that, if the services are granted for a short period, maintenance falls upon the owner; if they are granted for a lengthy period or for life, it falls upon the beneficiary entitled to those services. It is also said that the disagreement concerns only a lengthy grant of services, whereas there is no disagreement that maintenance during a short grant falls upon the slave’s owner. Sahnūn held this position. The former account—that there are three opinions on the question—is more correct.

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It is recommended for anyone obliged to pay zakat al-fitr to pay it on the day of Eid al-Fitr before setting out for the prayer ground. If he pays it one, two, or three days beforehand, it suffices, subject to the disagreement concerning payment of zakat shortly before the completion of the year.

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There are two opinions concerning the point at which zakat al-fitr becomes obligatory upon those subject to it. The first is that it becomes obligatory at sunset on the last day of Ramadan. This is Ashhab’s narration from Mālik—may Allah Most High have mercy on him. The second is that it does not become obligatory until after dawn on the day of Eid al-Fitr. This is Ibn al-Qāsim’s narration from Mālik—may Allah Most High have mercy on him.

This disagreement stems from their differing interpretations of the established report that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ “prescribed zakat al-fitr at the end of Ramadan upon every Muslim, free or enslaved, male or female.” According to Ashhab’s narration from Mālik, the ending of the fast of Ramadan is understood to mean the cessation of fasting upon the completion of Ramadan, on the first night of Shawwāl. According to Ibn al-Qāsim’s narration from him, it means not fasting, as opposed to observing a fast, and this applies only after dawn. The latter is the more evident view, because breaking the fast after sunset on the last day of Ramadan is like breaking it after sunset on any other day. Thus, only someone who breaks the fast after dawn in Shawwāl is said to have ended the fast of Ramadan. As for someone who breaks his fast after sunset on the last day