Book of Zakāt al-Fiṭr
Section One: Determining Its Legal Status
The discussion in this book will proceed through the following sections:
- Determining its ruling;
- Determining upon whom it is obligatory;
- How much is due and from which items;
- When it becomes due;
- Who may lawfully receive it.
Section One
Determining Its Ruling
With regard to Zakāt al-Fiṭr, the majority of jurists hold that it is obligatory. Some later Mālikīs, however, regard it as a Sunnah, and this is also the position of the jurists of Iraq. A third group maintains that it was abrogated by the (regular) Zakāt.
The root of their disagreement lies in the conflicting reports on the matter. It is established from the ḥadīth of ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar that he said:
“The Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—made Zakāt al-Fiṭr obligatory on the people at the end of Ramadan: one ṣāʿ of dates or one ṣāʿ of barley for every Muslim, free or slave, male or female.”
Taken at face value, this ḥadīth indicates obligation according to those who follow the Companion’s understanding of whether a Prophetic command denotes obligation or recommendation when the Prophet’s own wording has not reached us verbatim.
It is also established that the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—said in the well-known ḥadīth of the Bedouin:
After mentioning Zakāt, the Bedouin asked, “Is there anything else required of me?” The Prophet replied, “No—unless you wish to do so voluntarily.”
The majority therefore conclude that Zakāt al-Fiṭr is subsumed under the obligatory Zakāt referred to in this ḥadīth, whereas others hold that it is not. They support their view with the report transmitted from Qays ibn ʿUbādah, who said:
“The Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—used to command us to give it before the revelation of the verses on Zakāt. When the verse on Zakāt was revealed, we were neither ordered nor forbidden to do so, and we have continued to practice it.”