Praise be to Allaah, the Assembler of the multitudes again and again, the Eliminator of nations and armies, the One Who will gather mankind together against a Day about which there is no doubt, for Allaah never fails in His promise. I testify that Muhammad is Allaah’s servant and Messenger, who is favored by Allaah above all mankind.May Allaah bless him, his family, his Companions and those who follow them on the proper path until the Resurrection Day! O people! Fear Allaah, and give thanks to Him on account of the great favours He has endowed upon you,including the completion of fasting and voluntary night prayers,which are the greatest of all favours! Ask Allaah to accept your deeds and to overlook your mistakes,for He is the Most Generous of all those who show generosity and the Most Benevolent of those who show benevolence. Question: Is the time for paying zakaat al-fitr from after the prayer until the end of that day? Answer: Praise be to Allaah. The time for paying zakaat al-fitr does not begin after the Eid prayer, rather it starts after sunset on the last day of Ramadaan, which is the first night of the month of Shawwaal, and it ends with the Eid prayer. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) commanded that it should be paid before the prayer. Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever pays it before the prayer, it is accepted zakaah (i.e., zakaat al-fitr), and whoever pays it after the prayer, it is ordinary charity.” Narrated by Abu Dawood, 2/262-263, no. 1609; Ibn Maajah, 1/585, no. 1827; al-Daaraqutni, 2/138; al-Haakim, 1/409. It is permissible to pay it one or two days before that, because of the report narrated by Ibn ‘Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him) who said: “The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) enjoined sadaqat al-fitr in Ramadaan.” According to another report, they used to pay it one or two days before the end of Ramadaan. Whoever delays it after its time has sinned, and he has to repent for delaying and give it to the poor. And Allaah is the Source of strength. Standing Committee for Academic Research and Issuing Fatwas, fatwa no. 2896 Question: Is the hadeeth “The fast of Ramadaan will not be taken up [to Allaah] until zakaat al-fitr is paid” saheeh? If the fasting Muslim is in need and does not possess the threshold (nisaab) of zakaah, is he obliged to pay zakaat al-fitr because of the soundness of this hadeeth or other saheeh shar’i evidence that is proven in the Sunnah?. Answer: Praise be to Allaah. Sadaqat al-fitr is obligatory upon every Muslim who is self-supporting, if he has one saa’ or more than he needs of food for himself and his family on the day and night of Eid. The basis for that is the report narrated from Ibn ‘Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him) who said: “The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) enjoined zakaat al-fitr, a saa’ of dates, or a saa’ of barley, upon all the Muslims, slave and free, male and female, young and old, and he commanded that it be paid before the people went out to pray.” Agreed upon; this version was narrated by al-Bukhaari. And Abu Sa’eed al-Khudri narrated: “We used to pay zakaat al-fitr when the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was alive, a saa’ of food or a saa’ of dates or a saa’ of barley or a saa’ of raisins or a saa’ of dried yoghurt.” Agreed upon. It is acceptable to give a saa’ of the local staple food such as rice etc. What is meant by a saa’ here is the saa’ of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), which is four times the amount that may be held in the two hands of a man of average build. If a person does not pay zakaat al-fitr, he is sinning, and he has to make it up. With regard to the hadeeth mentioned, we do not know whether it is saheeh or not. We ask Allaah to give us strength and to make our words and deeds righteous. And Allaah is the Source if strength. Standing Committee for Academic Research and Issuing Fatwas, 9/364 . With the very best of good wishes, Musa Amadu Pembo Glasgow, Scotland UK. [log in to unmask] Da’wah is to convey the message with wisdom and with good words. We should give the noble and positive message of Islam. We should try to emphasize more commonalities and explain the difference without getting into theological arguments and without claiming the superiority of one position over the other. There is a great interest among the people to know about Islam and we should do our best to give the right message. May Allah,Subhana Wa Ta'Ala,guide us all to His Sirat Al-Mustaqim (Righteous Path).May He protect us from the evils of this life and the hereafter.May Allah,Subhana Wa Ta'Ala,grant us entrance to paradise . We ask Allaah the Most High, the All-Powerful, to teach us that which will benefit us, and to benefit us by that which we learn. May Allaah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala grant blessings and peace to our Prophet Muhammad and his family and companions..Amen. _________________________________________________________________ Help STOP SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~