THE ZAKAT SECTION · 19 – WHAT IS THE AMOUNT OF FITR SADAQA (FITRA)?
It is narrated from Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) that:
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings upon him) made obligatory the Zakat al-Fitr. In a narration read to me by Malik, it states, “Zakat al-Fitr is one sa’ of dates or one sa’ of barley from every Muslim, whether free or slave, male or female.”
[464]
**Explanation:**
This honorable hadith indicates that those who wish to pay Zakat al-Fitr can do so with barley or wheat, paying one *sa’*.
Zakat al-Fitr is obligatory. According to Imam Abu Hanifa, for it to be obligatory, the person must not be in a position to receive Zakat al-Fitr himself and must possess more than two hundred dirhams beyond his needs. According to Malik ibn Anas, Ibn Sirin, Ata, and Zuhri, Zakat al-Fitr is obligatory on every Muslim, rich or poor. According to Ahmad bin Hanbal and Shafi’i, it is obligatory for anyone who possesses enough wealth to give Zakat al-Fitr beyond his daily sustenance. Paying Zakat al-Fitr for young children is obligatory according to the majority of jurists. According to Imam Abu Hanifa, the head of the family pays the Zakat al-Fitr for his children and slave(s) who are non-Muslims (dhimmis). Malik, Shafi’i, Ahmad bin Hanbal, and Hasan al-Basri state that one cannot pay the Zakat al-Fitr of a *dhimmi* slave. According to Shafi’i, Malik, Ahmad bin Hanbal, Jabir ibn Zayd, and Hasan al-Basri, half a *sa’* of wheat is not sufficient; one full *sa’* is required.
According to Imam Abu Hanifa and Sufyan al-Thawri, half a *sa’* of wheat is sufficient.
It is narrated by ‘Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) made obligatory the Zakat al-Fitr as a sa’. The narrator, Malik, mentioned the meaning of the preceding hadith and added in his narration: “It is obligatory on every elderly person and every young person.” And the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered that it be paid before going out for the Eid prayer.
Abu Dawud says: In the narration of Abdullah al-Umari from Nafi’, he said, "on every Muslim." In the transmission of Ubaydullah from Nafi’, there is the restriction “of the Muslims.” The well-known narration from Ubaydullah does not contain the restriction “of the Muslims.”
It is narrated from Abdullah ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with him:
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, ordained the obligatory charity of fitr to every free person and slave, male and female Muslim, as one sa’ of dates or barley. Musa bin Mâil recounts: adding the words "male and female."
Abu Dawud says: Abdullah and Ayyub narrated from Nafi’, and they mentioned the words “male and female” as stated above. [466]
It is narrated from Abdullah bin Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, that he said:
During the time of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, people would give a sa’ (a unit of measure) of fitr sadaqah (obligatory charity of fasting), consisting of barley, dates, smooth barley, and dried raisins.
Naafi said: Abdullah, may Allah be pleased with him, said: “When Umar, may Allah be pleased with him (the Caliph), came to power, wheat became plentiful. Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, ordered that half a sa’ of wheat be given in place of those items.”
Abdullah ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
The people equated the *nâs* to half a bushel of wheat (a bushel being equivalent to one measure of barley, dried raisins, and dates).
Nafi said:
– Abdullah ibn Umar would pay Zakat in dates, and one year there was a scarcity of dates in Medina. That year he paid it in barley.
Abu Sa'id al-Hudri, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated:
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, was among us and we would give out from sustenance for the obligatory charity (zakat) of fitra – one sa’ of wheat, one sa’ of barley, one sa’ of dates, and one sa’ of dried raisins – for every young person and old person, free person and slave. We continued in this manner until Mu'awiya came for Hajj or 'Umrah (to Medina). Then Mu'awiya ascended the pulpit and spoke to the people, and among what he said was:
“I consider two mudd of Sham wheat equivalent to one sa’ of dates.” And the people followed that. Abu Sa'id said: “I will continue to give my zakat in this manner as long as I live.”
Abu Dawud says: A person from Ibn al-Uleyya narrated (that it was) one sa’ of wheat, and it is not preserved [authentic].
Musaddad reported to us, and Ismail reported. In this narration, wheat is not mentioned.
Abu Dawud said: The phrase “half a measure of wheat” which the son of Hisham, Muawiya, mentions in this hadith is an error from the son of Hisham, Muawiya, or from whoever transmitted it from him.
According to the narration of Abu Sa'id al-Hudri, he said: “I never give a sa’ of fitr charity without it being empty.” We used to give, in the time of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, one sa’ of dates, or one sa’ of barley, or one sa’ of wheat, or one sa’ of raisins. This is Yahya's narration. Sufyan added: "(And he would give) from this a sa’.”
Hamid says: The hadith narrators reject this addition. Sufyan abandoned it.