1. Zakat Al-Fitr is obligatory upon every Muslim who has the food or provision to sustain himself and those whom he is obligated to support, enough for the eve and the day of Eid, provided that this exceeds his basic needs.

2. A man is obliged to pay Zakat Al-Fitr for his wife and minor children who have no money of their own. In the case of one who has independent children, one is not obliged for their payment.

3. What is obligatory is the giving of a sâ‘ (four handfuls) of dates, raisins, barley, or other such grain, equal to approximately 2.25 kilograms of wheat.

4. Zakat Al-Fitr must be given before the salah of Eid Al-Fitr. It is forbidden to delay it until after the Eid day. If one, for any reason, is prevented from giving it at that particular time, one must pay it after that time passes.

If there is a need, Zakat Al-Fitr may be given at any time from the beginning of the month of Ramadan — that is, its first day—until the end of the specified time [of Eid day].

5. It is permissible for one to delegate another to give Zakat Al-Fitr on one’s behalf.

6. It is permissible for the institutions that collect Zakat Al-Fitr to exchange it from goods to currency, and vice versa, based on the general interest of the community.

7. It is permissible, in special cases, to transfer Zakat Al-Fitr collections from the people or locality in which it was collected to nearby communities in more need. And it is equally permissible to spend Zakat Al-Fitr in another community, if the giving community has no one in need of it.

8. One must have a[b] clear intention (niyya)[/b] before giving one’s Zakat Al-Fitr. If one delegates, or gives permission, to another to give Zakat Al-Fitr on his behalf, it is considered an explicit intention.

9. The Zakat Al-Fitr payment should be dedicated to the poor and the needy. In some cases, however, it can be given to eligible recipients of Zakât Al-Mâl; namely,

…For the poor and the indigent, and for those who work [to administer it], and for those whose hearts are to be reconciled, and to [free] those in bondage, and for the debt-ridden, and for the cause of Allah, and for the wayfarer. [Surat Al-Tawbah, 9:60].

Can zakat be given out in the form of money?