The Creed of Compassion-Islamic Teachings & Answering Doctrinal Misconceptions

Issue No. 1704- A sayyid cannot receive zakāt of fiṭrah from a non-sayyid.

Issue No. 1705- The fiṭrah of a child who is breastfed by its mother or a wet nurse is due on the one who bears the expenses of the mother or the wet nurse. However, if the mother or the nurse meets her expenses from the property of the child itself, payment of fiṭrah for the child is not obligatory on any person.

Issue No. 1706- The person who meets the expenses of his family members by haram money, must pay their fiṭrah out of halal property.

Issue No. 1707- If a person employs someone and agrees to meet his expenses (i.e., a servant), he should pay his fiṭrah. However, this does not apply to the labourers whose expenses are met by their employer as a part of their wages; thus, it will not be obligatory on him (employer) to pay their fiṭrah. Similarly, in guest houses and the like, where it is common for the staffers to have their meals there, and in fact, the food that they eat is considered to be part of their wages, it is obligatory on them to pay their fiṭrah themselves and the employer would be under no obligation.

Issue No. 1708- The expenses of soldiers in the barracks or in the battlefields are the government’s obligation, however, it is not obligatory on the government to pay their fiṭrah, and if they bear the conditions, they should pay their own fiṭrah.

Issue No. 1709- If a person dies after sunset of the eve of Eid al-Fitr his fiṭrah as well as that of the ones whose maintenance is obligatory on him, should be paid out of his property. In case however, he dies before sunset, the payment of his fiṭrah is not obligatory; and in case the conditions of the obligatory payment of fiṭrah apply to the members of his family, they themselves should pay their own fiṭrah.

Issue No. 1710- As an obligatory precaution, zakāt of fiṭrah should be paid to the poor and the destitute, provided that they are twelve Shi‘a Muslims. One can also give fiṭrah to needy Shi‘a children, either by spending fiṭrah on them or by making it their property through their legal guardian.

Issue No. 1711- It is not necessary for the poor person receiving fiṭrah to be just. However, the obligatory precaution is that fiṭrah must not be given to one who drinks wine or a person who commits major sins openly. Also, fiṭrah should not be given to a person who spends it on sinful acts.

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.