Can I Delay Zakatul Fitr, If the Eligible Person is Far?

Answered by our Shaykh, the ‘Allāmah, the Trustworthy Advisor, Abu ‘Abdirrahman Yahya bin ‘Ali Al-Hajūri – may Allāh preserve him – on the 19th, Sha’bān, 1422H

Question:

If I give sadaqatul-fitr, but the one I want to give it to, his place is far, so is it allowed to delay it until after eid?

Answer:

It is incumbent to give to the poor ones present before going to the eid prayer, and giving sadaqat to a poor family close by from one’s relatives, is sadaqah and connecting ties of kinship. So if there is not found in that place one who is eligible for sadaqatul-fitr, sadaqatul-fitr is for the needy, so it is possible for him to advance it by a day or two, upon what is correct that it is accepted before two days or three and he goes with this sadaqah to whom is eligible for it, and if Allāh decrees that it is for him (the needy) and he is absent, and he did not come except in that time before its coming then he is to reserve it in a separate place until it can be within grasp of its owner; if the one giving sadaqah lives or dies it is given from his wealth so it is in an enclosure and not under his personal dealings, because it has become the right of that needy person, so there is no harm, some of the people of knowledge said this.

Translated by : Abu ‘Abdillah ‘Omar bin Yahya Al-‘Akawi

Original Fatwa:
الكنز الثمين في الإجابة على أسئلة طلبة العلم والزائرين (3
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Under: كتاب الزكاة

Entitled: حكم تأخير صدقة الفطر إلى بعد العيد إذا كان من يستحقها بعيدًا