Issue No. 1713- When the price of a superior kind of commodity is double that of its ordinary kind, it is not sufficient to give half a ṣā‘ of the superior quality as fiṭrah. It is not also sufficient if half a ṣā‘ is given as the price of fiṭrah.
Issue No. 1714- One cannot give fiṭrah, half a ṣā‘ of one commodity (e.g., wheat) and half a ṣā‘ of another commodity (e.g., barley), unless the mixture of the two is the common food of the people of that place.
Issue No. 1715- It is recommended that when giving zakāt of fiṭrah one prefers his indigent relatives, and then the indigent neighbours, and it is also recommended to give preference to indigent learned persons over others.
Issue No. 1716- If a person gives fiṭrah to a person under the impression that he is poor and it transpires later that he was not poor and if the property, which he gave him, has not perished, he should take it back from him, and give it to a person who is entitled to receive fiṭrah. If he does not take it back from him, he should give fiṭrah out of his own property. In case, it has perished and the person who took the fiṭrah knew that what he had taken was fiṭrah he should give its substitute, and if he did not know, it is not obligatory on him to give substitute. In case however, the person who gave fiṭrah did not fail in investigating the situation of the poor person, he will not be under any obligation either.
Issue No. 1717- One cannot give fiṭrah to a person who claims to be poor, unless he is sure that he is poor, or at least, can gather from his appearance that he is poor, or if one knows that previously he was poor and that it has not been proved that he is no longer poor.
Issue No. 1718- One should give zakāt of fiṭrah with the intention of proximity to Allah (swt), i.e., complying with the orders of the Almighty Allah, and should have the intention of fiṭrah while giving it.
Issue No. 1719- One should not give zakāt of fiṭrah before the month of Ramadan, and if he does, he should give it again on the day of Eid al-Fitr. Similarly, the obligatory precaution is that he should not give it during the month of Ramadan either. However, if one lends a poor person before Ramadan, and adjusts the loan against fiṭrah, when payment of fiṭrah becomes obligatory, there is no harm in it.
Issue No. 1720- In giving zakāt of fiṭrah, the criterion is not one’s personal food, rather, it is the food which is common in that area or town. Therefore, one who always has rice may give wheat as fiṭrah.
Issue No. 1721- In zakāt of fiṭrah one can give money instead of the commodity. For example, he can calculate and find out how much three kilos of wheat cost and give its value to an indigent person as fiṭrah. However, it should be noted that the criterion is the retail price in the free market not the wholesale price or the official price. In other words, one should pay the amount that if the poor person wants to buy the same commodity from the market with the money which is given to him, he should be able to buy it.
Issue No. 1722- Wheat or any other thing given as fiṭrah, should not be mixed with dust or the like. In case however, the quantity of the thing mixed with it is so small that it may be ignored, there is no problem in it.
Issue No. 1723- Zakāt of fiṭrah cannot be given from a defective commodity. However, if that commodity is reckoned to be the food of the majority of people in that area, there is no problem in it.
Issue No. 1724- If a person has to pay the fiṭrah of a number of persons, it is not necessary for him to pay all from the same commodity. For example, he can give wheat for some of them and barley for others.
