Hawzah News Agency – Q: Should zakat ul-fitrah be paid from the usually consumed food or the shar‘ī one?

  A: If they pay wheat, barley, date, rice or the like, it is enough. It is not necessary to be paid from the main daily food item of the giver.

Q: How much should one pay as zakat ul-fitrah?

  A: One should give a deserving needy person one sā` (3 kg.) of food (wheat, barely, date, rice, currant, corn, or the like) or its value as zakat ul-fitrah for themselves and each individual who are dependent on them.

Q: When should one put zakat ul-fitrah aside?

  A: One may put zakat ul-fitrah aside when the moon of the month of Shawwāl is sighted. For a person who offers Eid ul-Fitr prayer, it is an obligatory caution to pay or put aside zakat ul-fitrah before Eid prayer. However, if one does not offer the prayer, they may delay fitrah payment until ‘noon’.

Q: If one puts some amount aside as zakat ul-fitrah, can they use it and then put another amount in its place?

  A: No, they should pay the same amount they put aside as zakat ul-fitrah.

Q: Is it allowed to pay zakat ul-fitrah to the needy person before the month of Ramadan?

  A: No, that is invalid. However, one may give him the amount as a loan and on Eid day consider it as zakat ul-fitrah.

Q: May we pay zakat ul-fitrah at another city?

  A: Unless there is a deserving person in one's city, they may send their zakat ul-fitrah to another city.

Q: If at another city or country, there are people more deserving and needy, are we allowed to pay zakat ul-fitrah some days before Eid so that we can send it to them? What is the ruling if we phone somebody there to pay them with the intention to pay him the same amount any time we meet him?

  A: There is no problem in giving the power of attorney to somebody to pay zakat ul-fitrah on your behalf with no difference between what is mentioned in the question. However, it is a must to pay zakat ul-fitrah at its specific time.

Q: We forgot to pay zakat ul-fitrah. What should we do?

  A: If you did not pay zakat ul-fitrah, you will not be exempted from paying it. In such a case, you should put it aside and pay it without intending being adā’ or qaḍā’.

Q: What is the ruling of zakat ul-fitrah of a guest who comes to our home at the night before Eid ul-Fitr?

  A: Paying his zakat ul-fitrah is not the duty of the host.

Q: If the guest pays his own zakat ul-fitrah, does that release the host from this obligation?

  A: In a case that guest is considered the host's dependent, if they pays their own zakat ul-fitrah on the behalf of the host and by his permission, the host is released from paying it.

Q: Is a person, who is financially needy, required to pay zakat ul-fitrah?

  A: If one is needy, they are not required to pay zakat ul-fitrah. However, if they have 3 kg. of wheat or the like or its value, it is mustaḥabb that they pay it as zakat ul-fitrah. Anyhow, if one has family members who are dependent on him, it is mustaḥabb that he pays zakat ul-fitrah to one of them, the latter pays it to another one and so on. It is also mustaḥabb that the last person pays zakat ul-fitrah to a person who is not among the family members.

Q: If a woman helps her husband to provide for their family's living, who should pay their zakat ul-fitrah?

  A: If the wife is dependent on her husband, the husband should pay his and her zakat ul-fitrah provided that he affords it. Anyhow, if the wife is neither dependent on her husband nor on any other person, she should pay her zakat ul-fitrah herself.

Q: What is the duty of one's wife and children if he does not pay zakat ul-fitrah?

  A: They have no duty. They are not required to pay zakat ul-fitrah.

Source: https://www.leader.ir/en/book/32/Practical-Laws-of-Islam