whereas Abū Bakr al-Abharī and some of al-Shāfiʿī’s followers held that he should adopt prohibition. On this basis, he should not make zakat obligatory upon either of them. There is a third opinion on the matter: the jurist may choose between prohibition and permissibility. On this basis, he should make zakat obligatory upon whichever of them he chooses.
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If, however, he sells the slave before sunset on the last day of Ramadan, there is no disagreement that zakat for him is due from the buyer. Likewise, if he sells him after sunset on the day of Eid al-Fitr, there is no disagreement that zakat for him is due from the seller.
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The same four opinions also concern the cutoff for zakat to become obligatory in respect of someone not previously subject to it, such as a Christian who embraces Islam or a newborn child. I have also seen a fifth opinion on this matter, attributed to Ibn al-Mājishūn in al-Thamāniya: the cutoff is when the sun passes its zenith on the day of Eid al-Fitr, since the Eid prayer may be delayed until that time. The statement in the book that zakat is recommended, rather than obligatory, for a Christian who embraces Islam on the day of Eid al-Fitr accords with Ibn al-Mawwāz’s position mentioned above concerning taking differing opinions into account. Ashhab holds that zakat is not obligatory upon him unless he embraces Islam before dawn on the last day of Ramadan. Thus, there are six opinions concerning the Christian.
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Scholars hold six opinions concerning the foodstuffs from which zakat al-fitr may be paid, while agreeing that it may be paid in barley and dates.
The first is Ibn al-Qāsim’s opinion, which he also transmitted from Mālik: it is to be paid in the locality’s predominant staple, drawn from nine foodstuffs—wheat, barley, huskless barley, rice, sorghum, millet, dates, curds and raisins. If a person and his dependants subsist on one of these foodstuffs other than the locality’s predominant staple, he must pay it in the locality’s predominant staple, whether