For the person who shall offer the Eid prayer...

For the person who shall offer the Eid prayer, the obligatory precaution is to pay Zakat al-Fitr before the Eid prayer [5] . But a person who does not perform the Eid prayer for one reason or the other has time for its payment until ‘noon’ of Eid day [6] . Items for Zakat al-Fitr Zakat al-Fitr can be given from wheat, barley, date, rice, or something similar, and it suffices if he gives the food’s monetary value instead.

The obligatory precaution is that food that is not considered a staple in his town must not be given as zakat, even if what he gives is wheat, barley, dates, or raisins [7] . Amount of Zakat al-Fitr For himself as well as on behalf of each dependent, a person should pay one Sa’a (approximately 3 Kgs) of food commonly consumed by people (like wheat, barley, date, currant, rice, corn, etc.) or its equivalent value to a needy person [8] .

That is, for every member of a family, 3 Kg or its equivalent value should be paid. For instance, for a family of 3 members, 9 Kg of food must be paid. Recipients of Zakat al-Fitr Zakat al-Fitr is given to those who can receive Zakat [9] .

There are eight categories of recipients of Zakat al-Fitr: The poor: Those who do not have enough for their basic needs The destitute: Those who become weaker or who are under the hardship of insolvency Zakat collectors Those who need special attention and kind treatment so that their hearts become inclined to Islam Freeing slaves Those unable to pay their debts Spending in the cause of Allah Travellers who run out of money and the handicapped Other Miscellaneous rulings on Zakat al-Fitr Ruling 1: If one puts aside some amounts as zakat al-Fitr, one should use the same for the zakat al-Fitr and he cannot replace it with another amount.

Ruling 2: It is not allowed to pay zakat al-Fitr to the needy person before the month of Ramadan, because it is invalid. However, one may give him the amount as a loan and on Eid day consider it as zakat al-Fitr. Ruling 3: If a deserving person is not found in one’s city, we may send and zakat al-Fitr to another city. Ruling 4: There is no problem in giving the power of attorney to somebody to pay zakat al-Fitr on your behalf in another city.

However, it is a must that he pays zakat al-Fitr at its specific time. Ruling 5: If one forgets to pay zakat al-Fitr at its specific time, he will not be exempted from paying it. In such a case, you should put it aside and pay it without intending to be adā’ or qadā’.