The Ruling on Zakat al-Fitr and Its Wisdom
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The Shaykh:
May Allah greet you and bless you.
The questioner:
You mentioned, Honorable Shaykh, in a previous episode, the importance of addressing the topic of zakat al-fitr due to its significance and the dedication of an episode to it. We would like, first, may Allah reward you for us, for you to speak to us about this great obligation: its ruling and who it is obligatory upon?
The Shaykh:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions. As we mentioned previously, Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, legislated at the end of the month, after the month concludes, great deeds with which the month is concluded and followed.
Among these is zakat al-fitr, and among them is fasting six days of Shawwal. As for zakat al-fitr, it is a charity that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) made obligatory upon every Muslim at the end of the month of Ramadan, whether male or female, free or slave, who has what is in excess of his sustenance and the sustenance of his dependents on the night of the festival and the day of the festival. It is obligatory upon him to pay zakat al-fitr.
The wisdom behind it, as it came in the hadith, is that the day of the festival is a day of joy and happiness after the end of the month. There may not be work for earning a living and seeking sustenance, so the poor are left without means. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, legislated zakat al-fitr for them so that they may eat from it on this day. For this reason, it came in the hadith that he (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Make them rich enough to avoid asking for help on this day." And so that they may share in the joy of the Muslims and devote themselves to their festival, rather than going out to seek sustenance as they did on other days. These matters are the wisdom in legislating zakat al-fitr at the end of the month. Yes.
May Allah greet you and bless you.
The questioner:
You mentioned, Honorable Shaykh, in a previous episode, the importance of addressing the topic of zakat al-fitr due to its significance and the dedication of an episode to it. We would like, first, may Allah reward you for us, for you to speak to us about this great obligation: its ruling and who it is obligatory upon?
The Shaykh:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions. As we mentioned previously, Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, legislated at the end of the month, after the month concludes, great deeds with which the month is concluded and followed.
Among these is zakat al-fitr, and among them is fasting six days of Shawwal. As for zakat al-fitr, it is a charity that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) made obligatory upon every Muslim at the end of the month of Ramadan, whether male or female, free or slave, who has what is in excess of his sustenance and the sustenance of his dependents on the night of the festival and the day of the festival. It is obligatory upon him to pay zakat al-fitr.
The wisdom behind it, as it came in the hadith,
That it is a purification for the fasting person from idle talk and obscenity, and that it is food for the poor,
أنها طهرة للصائم من اللغو والرفث، وأنها طعمة للمساكين،
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، 23 من 27|وقفات مع آيات الصيام|صدقة الفطر|صالح الفوزان|فقه|كبار العلماء — youtube.com (0:43)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.