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Zakāt al-fiṭra or Zakāt al-fiṭr is an obligatory act in jurisprudence which means to give charity to the needy, by a certain amount and method of calculation, on the day of Eid al-Fitr. The obligatory amount of zakat al-fitra upon each person –based on the usual main food- is one sa' (around 3 Kg.) of either wheat, barley, date, or raisin, or its equal in cash.

Giving zakat al-fitra is obligatory upon the heads of households who are not poor themselves. The time for it is before the Eid Prayer or zuhr prayer in Eid al-Fitr. The distribution categories of zakat al-fitra are the same as those of zakat. According to the narrations, paying zakat al-fitra completes fasting, secures its acceptance, saves the person from death in the following year, and complements zakat.

Imam al-Sadiq (a) was asked about the exegesis of this verse, "Felicitous is he who pays zakat"; he replied, "it means the one who pays zakat al-fitra". Then they asked about the exegesis of the following verse, "and [the one who] celebrates the Name of his Lord, and prays." The Imam replied: "it means the person who goes to the desert (outdoors) then prays (the eid prayer)."

Imam al-Sadiq (a) said, "(one) of the complements of fasting (or the sign of fasting's completion), is paying zakat, (that is, zakat al-fitra) like the way sending salutation to the Prophet (s) is the complement of prayer; for whoever fasts but does not pay zakat, there's no fasting for him if abandons it willfully; and whoever abandons salutation to the Prophet (s), there's no prayer for him. Almighty God has placed zakat before prayer and said: 'Felicitous is he who pays zakat, and celebrates the Name of his Lord, then prays'."...

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Other featured articles: Al-'Abbas (a) – Imam Ja'far b. Muhammad al-Sadiq (a) – Al-Sayyida Zaynab (a)

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