‘Fitrana’ fixed at Rs320 per person:
Eminent religious scholar and former Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee chairman, Mufti Muneeb-ur-Rehman, has announced that the minimum amount of Sadqa-e-Fitr, an obligatory charitable donation that Muslims must pay during the holy month of Ramadan, is fixed at Rs320 for the current year.
The rate is based on staple food prices, including flour, dates, raisins, cheese, or barley, as per Islamic Shariah.
This act is essential to help the poor and needy people in society, especially during the festive occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr, and is a way for Muslims to give back to their community and earn blessings from Allah Almighty.
Mufti Muneeb has calculated the Fitrana amount based on the market price of 2.25 kilogrammes of flour, which is Rs320 per head.
For those who want to pay Fitrana equal to the price of barley or dates, the minimum amount to pay is Rs 480 and Rs 2,800 per head, respectively.
Similarly, if someone wants to pay Fitrana at the rate of raisin, they should pay Rs6,400 per head for first-class dates and Rs4,800 per person for second-class raisin.
Islamic Shariah
According to Islamic Shariah, a Muslim who has excess food must pay Sadqa-e-Fitr before Eid prayers.
If the person is a breadwinner, he should also pay Sadqa-e-Fitr for his dependents, such as his wife, children, dependent relatives, or servants.
Mufti Muneeb-ur-Rehman also advised people to pay the amount to the poor before Eid-ul-Fitr so that they can also celebrate the festival. Close relatives are the most deserving people for Sadqa-e-Fitr, followed by neighbors and the poor.
Mufti Muneeb-ur-Rehman emphasized that the true spirit of Fitr and Fidya is to provide a two-time meal to a destitute person, so it is better to pay the meal cost of a hotel.
However, those who are wealthier should try to pay more to extend assistance to the poor, especially during this time of skyrocketing inflation.
If someone is unable to keep fast for the whole month of Ramadan, they should pay compensation in the form of the whole month’s Friday worth Rs9,600 in proportion to flour prices, Rs14,400 for barley, Rs84,000 for dates, Rs192,000 for first-class raisins, and Rs144,000 for second-class raisins.
Similarly, the compensation for leaving 30 fasts in wheat would be Rs19,200, in barley Rs28,800, in dates Rs168,000, in first-class raisins Rs384,000, and second-class raisins Rs2,88,000.
The compensation for breaking a fast in wheat would be Rs3,200, in barley Rs4,800, in dates Rs28,000, in first-class raisins Rs64,000, and second-class raisins Rs48,000.
