Islamic Fiqh > Zakat > Zakat al-fitr
The alms of breaking the fast: upon whom it is due, the amount of one sa', the nature of foods, the time of payment and recipients.
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Updated on 31 August 2026 at 3:55 AM
The majority of scholars of the early and later generations hold zakat al-fitr to be obligatory, and several even report consensus. The proofs: the hadith of Ibn Umar, « The Messenger of Allah prescribed zakat al-fitr, a sa of dates or a sa of barley, upon the slave and the free man, the male and the female, the young and the old, among the Muslims » (al-Bukhari 1433, Muslim 984), and the hadith of Ibn Abbas: « The Messenger of Allah prescribed zakat al-fitr as a purification of the fasting person from idle and indecent speech, and as food for the poor; whoever pays it before the prayer, it is an accepted zakat; whoever pays it after, it is a charity among charities » (Abu Dawud 1609, Ibn Majah 1827, good hadith). Some later scholars, including a Maliki narration, Dawud and Ibn al-Laban among the Shafiites, hold it a confirmed sunna by reading « prescribed » as « fixed »; an-Nawawi calls this view isolated and plainly mistaken.
Two aims per the hadith of Ibn Abbas: purifying the fast from what marred it of vain speech, and feeding the poor on the day of the feast. Waki ibn al-Jarrah compared it to the prostration of forgetfulness: « The zakat al-fitr of Ramadan is to the prostration of forgetfulness what that prostration is to prayer: it repairs the deficiency of the fast as the prostration repairs that of the prayer » (Nihayat al-Muhtaj). It spreads the joy of Eid to the whole community, poor included, and its amount was deliberately light so the greatest number could take part.
It is due from every free Muslim in comfortable means, by consensus (Ibn al-Mundhir), Islam being stated explicitly in the hadith « among the Muslims ». As for the wife: the majority (Malikis, Shafiites, Hanbalis) place it on the husband even if she is wealthy, since he bears her upkeep, per « pay it for those you support »; Abu Hanifa, Sufyan al-Thawri, Ibn al-Mundhir, Dawud and Ibn Hazm have it paid from her own wealth. Ibn Umar paid for the young and the old, down to his sons. For the slave under a manumission contract, three views exist: on him from his earnings (Hanbalis, one Maliki line), on the master (famous among Malikis), on neither (Hanafis, the reliable Shafii position).
Shafiites, one narration of Malik and the Hanbalis: the obligation arises at sunset of the last night of Ramadan; Hanafis, the other narration of Malik and early al-Shafii: at dawn of the day of Eid. The best payment is before the Eid prayer, per the hadith of Ibn Umar « he ordered that it be paid before the people go out to pray » (al-Bukhari 1438, Muslim 986). Paying one or two days early is admitted by consensus per Ibn Umar: « they used to pay one or two days before the breaking of the fast ». Beyond that: Malikis and Hanbalis refuse more than two days; Shafiites allow the whole of Ramadan; Hanafis any delay, even years. Delay after the prayer: Ibn Taymiyya, Ibn al-Qayyim, Ibn Hazm and al-Shawkani hold it void; the majority maintains it, paying after the day of Eid being sinful and owed as a make-up; Hanafis allow payment at any time.
One measure per person: a sa of the staple food. The sa is four mudd by consensus; in weight, five ratl and a third by the Iraqi ratl for Malikis, Shafiites, Hanbalis and Abu Yusuf, against eight ratl for Abu Hanifa. Abu Yusuf, after measuring in Medina about fifty sa handed down by descendants of the Companions, abandoned his master's view for five ratl and a third. One indication in the hadith of Ibn Umar: « people reckoned its equivalent as half a sa of wheat » (al-Bukhari 1438, Muslim 986). an-Nawawi recalls that the basis remains the measure: one who cannot find the Prophet's sa pays slightly more, and some scholars describe it as four handfuls with both hands.
We used to give, in the time of the Messenger of Allah, a sa of food, or a sa of dates, or a sa of barley, or a sa of raisins.al-Bukhari 1435, Muslim 985
Hanafis and Hanbalis, with a line of the Shafiites, allow choice among the named categories: dates, barley, raisins, wheat, dried food; the word « or » in the hadiths carries the choice. Malikis and Shafiites require the staple of the land or household, per « spare them begging on this day ». Dried curd (aqit) is accepted by the majority, rejected by the Hanafis except as value. The best food: wheat per Hanafis and Shafiites, dates per Malikis and Hanbalis, faithful to Ibn Umar's practice. Exceeding the sa is recommended by the majority and disliked by Malikis when intended to widen the Lawgiver's prescription.
Three views: the Hanafis allow it without restriction, and the chosen position among them even prefers it as it answers the poor's need better; Malikis, Shafiites, Hanbalis and Zahiris refuse it, the Prophet having prescribed the food, and Ahmad said: « I fear it would not count, against the sunna of the Messenger of Allah »; one Hanbali line allows it in case of need, chosen by Ibn Taymiyya. In the early period, Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz wrote to his governor to receive « the dirhams of the zakat of Ramadan at the value of the food », and al-Hasan al-Basri, Ibrahim al-Nakha'i and al-Bukhari followed this line.
Zakat al-fitr is counted per person, on the head of the household for those he supports: the staple food of the country, one sa each, paid before the Eid prayer. The schools differ on permitted advance and on paying money instead; local payment and the poor's real need remain the shared core.