Calculate the total Zakat al-Fitr due for yourself and your family, either from your local Zakat authority's fixed per-person amount or from the weight and price of a staple food.
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Zakat al-Fitr is a separate, obligatory act of charity due from every Muslim who has food beyond their immediate needs for the day and night of Eid, distinct from the annual, wealth-based Zakat calculated on savings, gold, or trade goods. It is paid once a year, before the Eid al-Fitr prayer that follows the month of Ramadan, and its purpose, as described in a hadith recorded by Ibn Umar in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, is both to purify the fasting person from any shortcomings during Ramadan and to provide food for those in need on the day of celebration. The amount is fixed per person rather than based on wealth, traditionally estimated at roughly two and a half to three kilograms of a staple food such as rice, wheat, dates, or barley, or its equivalent cash value. A household head pays this amount on behalf of every dependent, including children, not only for themselves.
Zakat al-Fitr, sometimes called the charity of breaking the fast, is easy to confuse with the wealth-based Zakat most people calculate once a year on their savings, gold, or business assets, but the two are fundamentally different obligations that happen to share the same name.
The clearest difference is who pays and how much. Regular Zakat is owed only once a person's wealth reaches a Nisab threshold, and the amount owed grows with that wealth. Zakat al-Fitr, by contrast, is a small, fixed amount owed by every single Muslim who has food beyond their own needs for the day and night of Eid — rich or modestly well-off, young or old — and a head of household pays this same fixed amount on behalf of every dependent too, including children and other family members they support. There is no percentage involved at all.
The traditional measure is roughly two and a half to three kilograms of a staple food per person — rice, wheat, dates, or barley are the most commonly cited examples — based on a hadith narrated by Ibn Umar and recorded in both Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, describing how the Prophet Muhammad made this charity obligatory on every Muslim, whether free or enslaved, male or female, young or old. Many contemporary Zakat authorities now announce a fixed cash-equivalent amount each year based on local staple food prices, which is why this calculator offers a choice: enter that published amount directly, or calculate your own estimate from a staple food's weight and current price if no official figure is available where you live.
Timing matters more for this charity than almost any other act of worship in Islam. The preferred and most complete way to pay Zakat al-Fitr is shortly before the Eid al-Fitr prayer, though many scholars recommend paying it a day or two earlier so that Zakat collectors and charities have time to distribute it to families in need before the celebration actually begins. Paying it noticeably late, after the Eid prayer has already been performed, is generally considered a delayed, ordinary charity rather than Zakat al-Fitr itself, which is one more reason many families prefer to calculate and set the amount aside well before the last days of Ramadan arrive.
Whether you already know the fixed amount your local mosque or Zakat authority has announced for this year, or you would rather work it out from the price of rice or wheat in your own market, keeping the calculation simple and paying it early is the most practical way to make sure every member of your household is covered before Eid morning arrives.
Every Muslim who has food beyond their basic needs for the day and night of Eid is required to pay Zakat al-Fitr, regardless of age or wealth. A head of household also pays this fixed amount on behalf of every dependent they support, including children.
The traditional measure is roughly two and a half to three kilograms of a staple food, such as rice, wheat, dates, or barley, per person. Many local Zakat authorities also announce a fixed cash-equivalent amount each year based on current staple food prices, which is why this calculator offers both options.
Yes — while the classical default is food itself, most contemporary scholars and Zakat authorities accept paying its equivalent cash value, since this is generally more practical for both the payer and the person receiving it.
It should ideally be paid before the Eid al-Fitr prayer, and many scholars recommend paying it a day or two earlier so Zakat collectors and charities have time to distribute it to families in need before the celebration begins.
Yes. A parent or guardian pays the same fixed per-person amount on behalf of every dependent they support, including children and other family members who cannot pay it themselves, not only for themselves.