Chapter on Time of Zakat al-Fitrah

Al-Husayn ibn Said, from Safwan, from al-Is ibn al-Qasim, who said: I (narrator) asked Abu Abdillah عليه السلام, peace be upon him, about ‘(zakat) al-fitrah, when is it due?’ Imam عليه السلام said: “Before the prayer on the day of al-Fitr.” I (narrator) asked: “Then if something of it remains after the prayer?” Imam عليه السلام said: “There is no harm. We give our dependents from it, then it remains, so we distribute it.”

From him, from Ahmad ibn Muhammad, from al-Hasan, from Abu Bakr al-Hadrami, from Abu Abdillah عليه السلام, peace be upon him: (Imam عليه السلام was asked) concerning the saying of Allah سبحانه وتعالى, the Exalted: ‘Successful indeed are those who purify themselves, remember the Name of their Lord عز وجل, and pray.’ (Surah Al-A’la 87:14-15) Imam عليه السلام said: “He goes to the open prayer-ground (al-jabbanah) and prays.”

And from him, from Hammad, from Muawiyah ibn Ammar, from Ibrahim ibn Maymun, who said: Abu Abdillah عليه السلام, peace be upon him, said: Imam عليه السلام said: “The Fitrah, if you give it before you go out to the Eid, then it is Fitrah; and if it is after you go out to the Eid, then it is charity.”

Sa’ad ibn Abdullah, from Ahmad ibn Muhammad, from al-Husayn ibn Said, and Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Najran, and al-Abbas ibn Maruf, from Hammad ibn Isa, from Umar ibn Udhaynah, from Zurarah and Bukayr, the two sons of Ayan, and al-Fudayl ibn Yasar, and Muhammad ibn Muslim, and Burayd ibn Muawiyah, from Abu Ja’far عليه السلام and Abu Abdillah عليه السلام, peace be upon them both, said: Imams عليه السلام said: “It is upon a man to give on behalf of everyone whom he supports, from free person and slave, young and old. He gives on the Day of Fitr, and that is better, and he has leeway to give it from the first day that enters in the month of Ramadan until its end. So if he gives dates, then it is one sa’ for every head; and if he does not give dates, then half a sa’ for every head of wheat or barley. Wheat and barley are the same; whatever wheat suffices for, barley suffices.”

As for what Sa’ad ibn Abdullah narrated from Muhammad ibn al-Husayn ibn Abi al-Khattab, from Dhibyan ibn Hakim, from al-Harith, from Abu Abdillah عليه السلام, peace be upon him, who said: Imam عليه السلام said: “There is no harm in delaying the Fitrah until the crescent of Dhu al-Qadah.”

Ali ibn al-Hasan ibn Faddal, from Yaqub ibn Yazid, from Ibn Abi Umayr, from some of our companions, from Abu Abdillah عليه السلام, peace be upon him: Imam عليه السلام said: “Regarding the Fitrah, when you set it aside while you are seeking the proper place for it, or waiting with it for a man, then there is no harm in it.”

Sa’ad, from Muhammad ibn Isa, from Yunus, from Ishaq ibn Ammar and others, who said: I (narrator) asked Imam عليه السلام about ‘the (zakat of) Fitrah.’ Imam عليه السلام said: “When you set it aside, it does not harm you whenever you give it, before the prayer or after the prayer.”

Sa’ad ibn Abdullah, from Ahmad ibn Muhammad, from al-Abbas ibn Maruf, from Hammad ibn Isa, from Hariz ibn Abdullah, from Zurarah ibn Ayan, from Abu Abdillah عليه السلام, peace be upon him: (Imam عليه السلام was asked) concerning ‘a man who took out his Fitrah and set it aside until he finds people worthy of it.’ Imam عليه السلام said: “If he has taken it out from his liability, then he has become free of responsibility; otherwise, he is liable for it until he delivers it to its owners.”