جمعه: 1403/01/10
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Some Rules Regarding Zakat Al-Fitrah

 

 

SOME RULES REGARDING ZAKAT AL-FITRAH

 

  • One who is adult[1], sane and conscious at the time of Maghrib (sunset), on the eve of Eid Al-Fitr, and is neither poor nor a slave of another person, then he must pay Zakat Al-Fitrah for himself and on behalf of all those who are dependent on him. Each person has to pay one Saa’, which is approximately three kilograms of wheat or barley or dates or raisins or rice or corn or the likes of them to a needy and deserving person. It is sufficient to pay the sum of money equivalent to their amount. As per precaution, it is also obligatory on someone who is unconscious at the Maghrib time.
     

  • One who does not have enough money to meet his own expenses or the expenses of his family, and neither has a source of income through which he can manage the expenses of his family, is termed as poor, and it is not obligatory on him to pay Zakat Al-Fitrah.
     

  • One must pay Fitrah on behalf of those who have eaten food at Maghrib of the eve of Eid Al-Fitr in his house, irrespective of big or small, Muslim or non-Muslim, paying whose expenses is incumbent on him or not, in his own city or any other city.
     

  • If he makes another person who is dependent on him and lives in some other city, his agent to pay Fitrah for himself from his wealth, and if he is satisfied that the other person will pay the Fitrah, then it is not obligatory on him to pay Fitrah for that person.
     

  • The Fitrah of such a guest is obligatory on a person who has arrived with the consent of the host before Maghrib time of Eid’s eve, if it is said that: he has provided the guest food that evening; even if that guest is not someone who is dependent on the host.
     

  • The Fitrah of such a guest who has arrived without the consent of the hosts before the Maghrib time of Eid’s eve and has stayed for a while, is obligatory as per precaution. Similar is the case of one whose expenses are borne forcefully by him.
     

  • It is not obligatory upon the host to pay the Fitrah of a guest who has arrived after the Maghrib time of Eid’s eve, even if he was invited before Maghrib and he ate Iftar with them.
     

  • If a person is insane on the eve of Eid Al-Fitr, Zakat Al-Fitrah is not obligatory on him.
     

  • If before Maghrib or coinciding with it, a boy becomes adult, an insane person becomes sane, a poor becomes rich, and then if he meets the conditions of Zakat Al-Fitrah’s incumbency, he must pay Fitrah.
     

  • If Zakat Al-Fitrah is not obligatory on a person until Maghrib of Eid Al-Fitr’s Eve, but he realises the conditions of Fitrah’s obligation before the Zuhr time on the Eid day, then it is recommended for him to pay Zakat Al-Fitrah.
     

  • Fitrah is not obligatory on a nonbeliever who becomes Muslim after the Maghrib of Eid’s eve; but a Muslim who was not Shia becomes Shia after the moon has been sighted must pay Zakat Al-Fitrah
     

  • A person who possess only one Saa’ (3 kilograms approx.) of wheat or the likes of it, it is recommended for him to pay Zakat Al-Fitrah, and if he has family members on behalf of whom he wishes to pay Fitrah, then with the intention of Fitrah, he can give one Saa’ to one of his family members, who will also give it to the other member with the same intention, and likewise until it reaches the last member, and it is better that the last person gives the commodity he has purchased from that amount to someone who is not one of them; if one of them is minor, his guardian will receive on his behalf and as per recommended precaution, he must not give the thing he has received on behalf of the minor to anyone else.
     

  • If a child is born after the Maghrib time of Eid’s eve, or someone becomes dependent on him after the Maghrib time, then it is not obligatory to pay Fitrah on their behalf. However, it is recommended to pay Fitrah on behalf of those who are become dependent on him after Maghrib until the Dhuhr time of the Eid day.
     

  • If an individual’s dependency is shifted from one person to another before Maghrib or near it, then his Fitrah is obligatory on the person whose responsibility he has become newly. For instance, if his daughter goes to her husband’s house before Maghrib, then his husband must pay Fitrah on her behalf.
     

  • It is not obligatory on such a person to pay Fitrah whose Fitrah must be paid by someone else.
     

  • If the Fitrah of a person is obligatory on someone else but he doesn’t pay his Fitrah, even then its payment will not become obligatory on him. But if a rich person is dependent on a poor, then in such a case, as per obligatory precaution, the rich must give his own Fitrah.
     

  • If a person’s Fitrah is obligatory on someone else but he pays his Fitrah himself, then the obligation will not cease from the person upon who the payment was obligatory.
     

  • A women whose husband does not pay her expenses and she is dependent on someone else, her Fitrah is obligatory on that person. And if she is not dependant on anyone else, then she must pay Zakat Al-Fitrah if she is not poor.
     

  • One who is not Sayyid cannot give Fitrah to a Sayyid; even if a Sayyid is dependent on him, he cannot give the Fitrah on his behalf to another Sayyid.
     

  • The Fitrah of an infant who is suckling milk from his mother or nursemaid, must be obligatorily paid by the one who is bearing the expenses of his mother or the nursemaid. But if the mother or nursemaid meets her expenses from the money of the infant, the Fitrah of such an infant is not obligatory on anyone.
     

  • Even if a person is meeting the expenses of his family from an illegal or Haram source of income, he must pay their Fitrah from a legal or Halal source.
     

  • If a person hires someone with the condition that he will bear his expenses, then he must pay Fitrah on his behalf as well. But if the condition is that he will bear a part of his expenses or gives him an amount of money for his expenses, then it is not obligatory for him to pay Fitrah on his behalf.
     

  • If a person dies after the Maghrib time of Eid’s eve, then his Fitrah and the Fitrah of his family members must be paid from his wealth, but if he dies before Maghrib, then it is not obligatory to pay his Fitrah and of his family members from his wealth.          

     

 


[1] Adult – A person who has reached the age of puberty.

Friday / 29 March / 2024