Majadiliano katika kitabu hiki yamegawanywa katika sehemu. Ya kwanza inahusu kubainisha hukumu ya zakat al-fitr. Ya pili inahusu kubainisha mtu ambaye zakat hiyo ni wajibu kwake. Ya tatu inahusu kiasi kinachotakiwa na katika aina gani za bidhaa. Ya nne inahusu wakati ambao inapaswa kutolewa. Ya tano inahusu mtu anayestahili kupokea hiyo zakat.

The discussion in this book is covered in sections. The first is about the identification of the hukm ofi zakat al-fitr, The second is about the identification of the person on whom it is obligatory. The third relates to the amount that is due and in what kinds of commodities. The fourth is about the time when it is due. The fifth is about the person entitled to receive- it.

Wanachuoni wengi wanashikilia kwamba zakat al-fitr ni wajibu. Baadhi ya wanachuoni wa baadaye wa madhehebu ya Malik walishikilia kwamba ni sunna, na hii ndiyo ilikuwa pia maoni ya wanachuoni wa Iraq. Kundi moja la wanachuoni lilisema kwamba hukmu yake imefutwa na amri ya zakat (ya mali).

The majority of the jurists maintain that zakat al-fitr is an obligation. Some of the later jurists in Malik’s school held that it is a sunna, and this was also the opinion of the jurists of Iraq. One group of jurists said that it stands abrogated by the injunction of zakat (on wealth).

Sababu ya kutofautiana kwao inatokana na mgongano wa Hadith kuhusu suala hili. Hii ni kama Hadith sahihi ya Abdullah ibn Umar, anayesema: "Mtume wa Allah ﷺ alifaradhisha zakat al-fitr kwa watu mwishoni mwa Ramadhani, pishi moja la tende au pishi moja la shayiri kwa kila mtu huru au mtumwa, mwanamume au mwanamke, miongoni mwa Waislamu." Dhahiri ya hili ni kwamba ni wajibu kulingana na maoni ya wale wanaofuata maoni ya Sahaba katika kulifahamu kama wajibu, au linaashiria kuwa ni kupendekeza katika amri ya Mtume ﷺ, kwa kuwa maneno yake halisi hayajatajwa kwetu. Pia imethibitika kwamba Mtume wa Allah ﷺ, katika Hadith maarufu kuhusu Mbedui, alitaja zakat; yule mtu akauliza: "Je, kuna wajibu mwingine juu yangu zaidi ya hili?" Mtume wa Allah ﷺ akajibu: "Hapana! isipokuwa ukitoa kwa hiari." Wengi wamesema kwamba zakat hii imo katika zakat iliyofaradhishwa (yaani, inachukua hukmu ya wajibu), huku wengine wakisema si hivyo. Wamejitegemeza kwa yale yanayopokewa kutoka kwa Qays ibn Sa'd ibn Ubada aliyesema: "Mtume wa Allah ﷺ alikuwa akituamuru tuitoe kabla ya kuteremshwa aya ya zakat. Aya ya zakat ilipoteremshwa, hakutuamuru tuitoe wala hakutukataza kuitoa, nasi bado tunaitoa."

The reason for their disagreement arises from the conflict of the traditions on the issue. This is so as in the authentic tradition of cAbd Allah ibn TJmar, in which he says, “The Messenger of Allah (God’s peace and blessings be upon him) declared zakat al-fitr as prescribed for the people at the end of Ramadan, one wc of dates or one sdl of barley for each freeman or slave, male or female, from among the Muslims”. The apparent implication of this is an obligation in accordance with the opinion of those who follow the opinion of a Companion in comprehending it as an obligation, or it implies a recommenda­ tion in the command of the Prophet (God’s peace and blessings be upon him) as his exact words have not been stated for us. It is also established that the Messenger of Allah (God’s peace and blessings be upon him) in the well- known tradition about the Bedouin mentioned zakdt\ the man asked: “Is there another obligation on me besides this?” The Messenger of Allah (God’s peace and blessings be upon him) replied, “No! unless you pay voluntarily”. The majority maintained that this zakat is included in the prescribed zakat (that is, it takes the same hukm of obligation), while others held that it is not. They argued on the basis of what is related from Qays ibn SaM ibn TJbada that he said, “The Messenger of Allah (God’s peace and blessings be upon him) used to order us to pay it prior to the revelation of the verse of zakat. When the verse of zakat was revealed he did not command us to pay it nor did he prohibit us from doing so, and we still pay it”.