Answered by: Maulana Mohammed Dilwar Hussain
Question:
If someone in the UK is paying sadqat al-fitr for themselves but is donating it abroad, do they take the price from the UK or abroad? The ibarat say makan al-mu’addi. By mu’addi do they mean the person upon whom it is obligatory to make payments or the one who is actually going to hand the cash over in the foreign country? Seems like the former.
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Answer:
The fulfilment of Zakāt Al-Fitr (Sadaqat ul-Fitr) is preferable to be fulfilled locally. However, as there are fewer eligible recipients of it here, it is normally more convenient to send the money abroad to poorer countries where people are generally more in need of financial help. So, both will be permissible. [Al-Mabsoot; volume 2, page 242] [1]
It will be calculated using the local rate and not that of the country in which it will be dispensed. Once it has been calculated using the local currency, its equivalent can be dispensed in any other country.
Only Allāh Ta’ālā knows best.
Written by Maulana Mohammed Dilwar Hussain
Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah
Darul Ifta Birmingham
[1]جاء في الأصل: قلت: أرأيت الرجل يجب عليه صدقة الفطر وهو من أهل خراسان وهو بالكوفة يبعث بها إلى خراسان هل يجزىٔ عنه قال: نعم وقد أساء حيث بعث بها إلى خراسان وهو مقيم بالكوفة، وإنما ينبغي له أن يدفعها حيث تجب عليه، قلت: فإن ضاعت حيث بعث بها ولم تصل إلى من بعث بها إليه هل يجزيه ذلك، قال: لا وعليه صدقة الفطر ثانية يؤديها حيث وجبت عليه لأنها بمنزلة الدين، وقال السرخسي في المبسوط (۳: ۱۰٦): قال: ويؤدي صدقة الفطر عن نفسه حيث هو ويكره له أن يبعث بصدقته إلى موضع آخر۔