Zakat al-Fitr

Zakat al-Fitr (Arabic: زكاة الفطر: آداب، وأحكام، وشروط، ودرجات، ومسائل في ضوء الكتاب والسنة, lit. 'Zakat al-Fitr: Etiquettes, Rulings, Conditions, Degrees, and Issues in Light of the Quran and Sunnah') is a jurisprudential treatise by the Saudi scholar Saeed bin Ali bin Wahf al-Qahtani (d. 1440 AH / 2018 CE), examining the legal rulings, conditions, and etiquettes governing the obligatory charity disbursed at the conclusion of Ramadan Zakat al-Fitr.

Composition and Purpose

The treatise is numbered as the forty-fifth work in al-Qahtani's series of scholarly booklets (Rasa'il Saeed bin Ali bin Wahf al-Qahtani) Zakat al-Fitr. Al-Qahtani completed its writing after the noon prayer on Saturday, 28 Rabi' al-Awwal 1426 AH, in Riyadh Zakat al-Fitr. He composed it as a concise guide detailing the legal obligation, conditions, wisdoms, amounts, timing, and recipients of Zakat al-Fitr in light of textual evidence from the Quran and the Sunnah, drawing extensively on the legal preferences (tarjihat) of his teacher, Abd al-Aziz ibn Baz Zakat al-Fitr+1.

Structure and Content

The work is organized sequentially into thematic chapters covering the following topics:

• Definition and Legal Basis: The author outlines the linguistic and technical definitions of Zakat al-Fitr, defining it as an established charity of a specific measure obligatory upon breaking the fast of Ramadan to purify the fasting person and feed the poor Zakat al-Fitr+1. Its obligation is derived from general Quranic verses, explicit prophetic traditions, and scholarly consensus (ijma'), as cited by Ibn al-Mundhir Zakat al-Fitr+1.
• Conditions of Obligation and Wisdom: Three conditions are identified: Islam, sufficient wealth (possessing one sa' of food beyond one's and one's dependents' basic needs on the day and night of Eid), and entering the time of obligation at sunset on the final day of Ramadan Zakat al-Fitr+1. The wisdoms behind it include purifying the fasting person from idle talk and obscenity, providing food for the needy on Eid, showing mutual solidarity, showing gratitude for completing the fast, and purifying the physical body Zakat al-Fitr+1.
• Persons Liable and Dependents: It is obligatory upon every Muslim—free or enslaved, male or female, young or old—and the head of the household is obligated to pay it on behalf of himself and those whose financial maintenance (nafaqah) he bears Zakat al-Fitr+1. It is also recommended to pay it on behalf of an unborn child (al-haml), following the practice of Uthman ibn Affan Zakat al-Fitr.
• Timing and Degrees of Payment: The author delineates four stages regarding the time of payment: the permissibility of paying one to two (or three) days prior to Eid; the commencement of the obligation at sunset on the eve of Eid; the recommended time, which is on the morning of Eid prior to the Eid prayer; and the impermissibility of delaying it past the Eid prayer without a valid excuse, in which case it must be made up as a debt Zakat al-Fitr+1.
• Measure and Types of Food: The mandatory amount is one prophetic sa' (four double-handfuls, or amdad) of the local staple food (such as dates, barley, raisins, cottage cheese, wheat, or rice) Zakat al-Fitr+1. The author evaluates the historical view of Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan regarding paying half a sa' of Levantine wheat, citing Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, Al-Nawawi, and Ibn Baz to affirm that a full sa' is required for all food types Zakat al-Fitr+1. In modern weight, the prophetic sa' is approximated at nearly three kilograms (or 480 mithqals) Zakat al-Fitr.
• Recipients and Location: Al-Qahtani favors the position held by Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn al-Qayyim that Zakat al-Fitr is designated exclusively for the poor and destitute (al-fuqara' wa-l-masakin), rather than all eight general zakat categories Zakat al-Fitr+1. It should ideally be distributed in the locality of the payer, though transferring it to another location is permissible when warranted Zakat al-Fitr.
• General Wealth Zakat Rulings: The final section provides supplementary rulings concerning property zakat (zakat al-amwal), addressing immediate disbursement, the apostasy of denying its obligation, the ruler's enforcement against those who withhold it out of stinginess, paying on behalf of minors and the incapacitated, the intention (niyyah), recommended supplications upon giving and receiving, and the permissibility of advancing zakat for up to two years Zakat al-Fitr+1.