Muwatta Malik: Book 17, Hadith 56
Yahya related to me that Malik said, “The best that I have heard about the zakat al-fitr is that a man has to pay for every person that he is responsible for supporting and whom he must support. He has to pay forall his mukatabs, his mudabbars, and his ordinary slaves, whether they are present or absent, as long as they are muslim, and whether or not they are fortrade. However, he does not have to pay zakat on any of them that are not muslim.”
Malik said, concerning a runaway slave, “I think that his master should pay the zakat fo rhim whether or not he knows where he is, if it has not been long since the slave ran away and his master hopes that he is still alive and will return. If it has been a long time since he ran away and his master has despaired of him returning then I do not think that he should pay zakat for him.’
Malik said, “The zakat al-fitr has to be paid by people living in the desert (i.e. nomadic people) just as it has to be paid by people living in villages (i.e. settled people), because the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, made the zakat al-fitr at the end of Ramadan obligatory on every muslim, whether freeman or slave, male or female.”
Muwatta Malik: Book 17, Hadith 56
The above hadith is from the Muwatta Malik collection of hadiths. Imam Malik ibn Anas spent 40 years composing the Muwatta Malik in the 8th century. This highly respected early work assembles fewer than 2,000 hadiths, which are thoughtfully divided into 61 books covering legal and ethical topics.
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For more Hadith in Book 17: Zakat