The Fiqh of Zakat al-Fithr
بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following are the rulings of zakat al-fithr . Zakat al-fithr is a required charity on the occasion of ‘Iyd al-Fithr . It is related by Sayyidina ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar ( r.a. ), and his father, Sayyidina ‘Umar ibn al-Khaththab ( r.a. ), that the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) obligated zakat al-fithr in Ramadhan a sa’ of dates or a sa’ of barley upon every free person and slave, man or woman, from the Muslims. This was recorded by Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Isma’il al- Bukhari ( r.a. ) and Imam ‘Asakir ad-Din Abu al-Husayn Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj ( r.a. ). The one who must pay zakat al-fithr gives one of the following: half a sa’ of wheat or similar food grains; a full sa’ of dates, barley, raisins or similar food grains; or the equivalent monetary value of either. It is actually better to pay the monetary value when the goods are widely available. If they are not widely available, it is better to pay in the form of goods rather t