Egypt’s Dar al-Iftaa has determined the minimum sum for zakat ul-fitr for the year 1437 AH/2016 CE as 8 LE for every person. Dr. Shawqi Allam, the Grand Mufti of Egypt, said that this amount is equal to the value of 2.5 kg of grain.

Egypt’s Dar al-Iftaa follows the opinion of Imam Abu Hanifa maintaining the permissibility of giving out the cash value of zakat ul-fitr to enable zakat recipients meet their needs.

It is necessary, Dr. Allam said, to pay zakat ul-fitr before the ‘Eid prayer otherwise it would be counted as voluntary charity and to give it out to the categories of zakat recipients outlined in the Quran.