The position of al-Shāfiʿī—may Allah be pleased with him—mentioned by the questioner rests on these two principles. Those who hold that distribution among all the categories is not obligatory, as the majority of scholars maintain, permit zakāt al-fitr to be given to a single recipient, as has been the practice of Muslims, past and present.

Those who adopt the second view hold that zakāt al-fitr is treated like the expiations for breaking an oath, zihār, killing, intercourse during Ramadan, and violations committed during Hajj. Its basis is the person, not wealth. Thus, it is reported in the Sunan collections that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,

“prescribed zakāt al-fitr as purification for the fasting person from idle and obscene speech, and as food for the needy. Whoever gives it before the prayer, it is accepted zakāt; whoever gives it after the prayer, it is ordinary charity.”

Another hadith reports that he said:

“Spare them the need to beg on this day.”

For this reason, Allah prescribed it in the form of food, just as He prescribed food for expiation. According to this view, giving this food fulfils the obligation only when it is given to those entitled to receive food offered in expiation: those who receive it because of their own need. None of it is therefore given to those whose hearts are to be reconciled, or for freeing slaves, or to other such categories. This view has the stronger evidence.

The weakest view is that every Muslim must give