Quick Answer
Zakat al-Fitr is a fixed amount of staple food per person: total food = people x kilograms per sa' x the rate fraction, where the Hanafi half-sa' concession applies to wheat, wheat flour and raisins. A sa' is a measure of volume rather than weight, which is why the sourced figures run from 1.625 kg to 3.25 kg per person and why a household of six owes anywhere between 9.75 kg and 19.5 kg.
How to Use the Zakat al-Fitr Calculator
Zakat al-Fitr is a fixed amount of food per person, not a percentage of your wealth, so the calculator needs four things and no financial details at all.
- Enter how many people you are paying for.
Count yourself and everyone whose provision is your responsibility — normally your spouse, your children and any dependants living with you. The tool multiplies one person’s share by this number.
- Choose your rate basis.
This is the position you follow: Hanafi as derived by Egypt’s Dar al-Ifta, Shafi’i / Hanbali, or the rounded figure most charities quote. The three give different weights, and the calculator shows all three side by side rather than picking one for you.
- Choose the staple food you are giving.
Wheat, wheat flour, raisins, barley, dates or rice. On the Hanafi basis this decides whether you owe half a sa’ or a whole one; on the other two bases the amount is one sa’ whatever the food.
- Add your local price per kilogram — optional.
Use the shop price of the food you are actually giving. The calculator asserts no price of its own, because staple prices differ by country and by year. Leave it blank if you are giving food rather than its value.
The large card gives the weight of food to hand over. The cash figure appears underneath it only once you enter a price, and it is labelled with the position that permits paying in money — see below for why it is deliberately the second answer and not the first.
Zakat al-Fitr Formula: One Sa’ Per Person
Every position agrees on the shape of the calculation. They disagree only on what a sa’ weighs.
Total food = people × (kilograms per sa’ × rate fraction)
The rate fraction is 1 for a full sa’ and 0.5 where the Hanafi half-sa’ concession applies. Cash equivalent, where it is permitted, is simply total food × your local price per kilogram.
That is the whole model. There is no wealth threshold, no nisab test and no 2.5% anywhere in it — those belong to annual Zakat, which is a different obligation calculated a different way.
Why Every Source Gives a Different Kilogram Figure
This is the part charity calculators almost never explain, and it is the reason the numbers you find online never agree.
A sa’ is a measure of volume, not weight. It is four mudd — and a mudd is classically described as what two moderate, open handfuls will hold. Dar al-Ifta defines it that way, and IslamQA describes a sa’ as “four times the amount scooped up with two hands”. Masarat puts it as what can be held with fully extended hands four times over. Three independent authorities, one definition, and not a gram in sight.
Kilograms only enter when a scholar converts that volume by assuming a particular grain. Different grains have different bulk densities, different scholars picked different reference foods, and so the same sa’ comes out as anything from 2.175 kg to 3.25 kg. None of them is a rounding error and none of them is wrong — they are conversions of a volume, and the volume is the measure.
Dar al-Ifta is the one source that shows its arithmetic, which is why the calculator defaults to it:
| Step | Value | Working |
|---|---|---|
| One dirham | 3.125 g | Three and one eighth grams |
| One mann (one mudd) | 812.5 g | 260 dirhams × 3.125 g |
| One sa’ | 3,250 g = 3.25 kg | 4 mudd × 812.5 g |
| Half a sa’ | 1,625 g = 1.625 kg | 3,250 g ÷ 2 |
Read the chain the other way and it closes exactly: 812.5 ÷ 3.125 = 260 dirhams to the mann, and 4 × 812.5 = 3,250 g to the sa’. Full working is on Dar al-Ifta’s fatwa on calculating half a sa’ in grams.
Zakat al-Fitr Rates by Madhhab: 1.625 kg to 3.25 kg
These are the four figures the calculator works from. Each is quoted here from the authority that publishes it, and the tool labels every one with its school in the results panel.
| Position | Foods | Rate | Per person |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hanafi — Dar al-Ifta | Wheat, wheat flour, raisins | Half a sa’ | 1.625 kg |
| Hanafi — Dar al-Ifta | Dates, barley | One sa’ | 3.25 kg |
| Shafi’i / Hanbali — Masarat | Any staple | One sa’ | 2.175 kg |
| Common approximation — IslamQA | Any staple | One sa’ | ≈ 3 kg |
The half-sa’ concession is specific and short. Dar al-Ifta applies it to wheat, wheat flour, a wheat-and-barley flour mix, and raisins; dates and barley take a full sa’. Rice is not in the classical list at all, so the calculator measures it as a full sa’ on the Hanafi basis, and IslamQA lists rice among the acceptable staples at one sa’.
Even within one school the conversions differ: Dar al-Ifta puts the Hanafi sa’ at 3.25 kg while Masarat rounds it to 3 kg. That is not a contradiction to resolve — it is two conversions of the same volume, which is exactly the point.
The Widest Gap Is Inside One Madhhab, Not Between Two
Line the figures up and something counter-intuitive falls out. The biggest disagreement on this page is not Hanafi against Shafi’i. It is Hanafi against Hanafi.
| Comparison | Ratio | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| Hanafi full sa’ (3.25 kg) vs Hanafi half sa’ (1.625 kg) | exactly 2.00× | 100% |
| Hanafi full sa’ (3.25 kg) vs Shafi’i / Hanbali (2.175 kg) | 1.49× | 49.4% |
| Shafi’i / Hanbali (2.175 kg) vs Hanafi half sa’ (1.625 kg) | 1.34× | 33.8% |
| Approximation (3 kg) vs Shafi’i / Hanbali (2.175 kg) | 1.38× | 37.9% |
The 2.00× is exact because it is not an estimate at all — it is literally half a sa’ against a whole one, from one school and one fatwa, decided entirely by whether you hand over wheat or dates. Switching your staple food moves your obligation twice as far as switching your madhhab does.
The rounded figure is worth a second look too. “About 3 kg” reads like a safe middle, but the mean of the three sourced sa’ weights is 2.81 kg, so 3 kg sits above the range’s centre: 37.9% heavier than the Shafi’i and Hanbali measure and only 7.7% short of the largest figure anyone publishes. Quoting it is generous rather than neutral.
Worked Examples: Fitrana for a Household of Six
Six people, one price, and nothing changed but the position followed. These are the numbers the calculator returns.
| Position | Staple | Per person | Total for six | At 2.00 per kg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hanafi — half a sa’ | Wheat flour | 1.625 kg | 9.75 kg | 19.50 |
| Shafi’i / Hanbali | Any staple | 2.175 kg | 13.05 kg | 26.10 |
| Common approximation | Any staple | 3 kg | 18 kg | 36.00 |
| Hanafi — one sa’ | Dates | 3.25 kg | 19.5 kg | 39.00 |
Highest over lowest is 1.85× for a household giving wheat and 1.49× for one giving dates. In money, at the same 2.00 per kilogram, the same six people pay 19.50 or 39.00 depending only on which staple they hand over — and because the cash figure is just weight times price, it moves in exactly the same proportion the weight does.
Smaller households scale linearly, since the amount is per head: four people on the Hanafi half-sa’ owe 6.5 kg, five owe 8.125 kg, and one person owes 1.625 kg.
Paying Fitrana in Cash or in Food
This is the one question where a calculator can quietly take a side, and most do — by printing a money figure and nothing else.
The majority of scholars hold that Zakat al-Fitr must be given as food, not money — IslamQA states plainly that “it is not permissible to pay the value of zakat al-Fitr in money, according to the majority of scholars.” The Hanafi school does permit paying the value. This calculator leads with the weight of food for that reason, and shows cash only as a clearly labelled secondary figure.
So the tool’s primary output is a weight, always. The cash card stays hidden until you enter a price, and when it appears it names the Hanafi position rather than presenting money as the default answer. If you follow a school that requires food, the cash line is simply information about what that food costs you — not an alternative payment.
When Zakat al-Fitr Must Be Paid
The calculator works out the amount, not the deadline, but the timing is what decides whether the payment counts as Zakat al-Fitr at all.
- The obligation begins near the end of Ramadan.
IslamQA places it from the evening of the 28th of Ramadan, which is why most households buy the staple in the last few days rather than on the morning itself.
- It must reach the recipient before the Eid prayer.
The Prophet’s instruction is quoted directly: whoever gives it before the prayer, it is accepted zakah, and whoever gives it after the prayer, it is a kind of charity.
- After the Eid prayer it is no longer Zakat al-Fitr.
A late payment still counts as ordinary charity and is still owed, but it has missed the obligation it was meant to discharge. Give it early rather than late.
Zakat al-Fitr vs Annual Zakat: Two Different Obligations
They share a name and almost nothing else. Confusing them is the most common reason people either pay twice or skip one entirely.
| Zakat al-Fitr (Fitrana) | Annual Zakat | |
|---|---|---|
| Basis | A fixed amount of food per person | 2.5% of qualifying wealth |
| Who owes it | Every person, including children and dependants | Only those whose wealth exceeds nisab |
| Threshold | None | Nisab — 87.48 g of gold or 612.36 g of silver |
| Timing | Before the Eid al-Fitr prayer | After a full lunar year (hawl) on the wealth |
| Depends on | Household size and staple food | Cash, gold, silver, investments, business assets, debts |
A household of six with no savings at all still owes Zakat al-Fitr for six people, because there is no threshold to fall below. The same household may owe no annual Zakat whatsoever. To work out the other obligation, use the Zakat calculator, which applies the 2.5% rate against the gold and silver nisab thresholds.
Zakat al-Fitr Calculator: FAQ
Between 1.625 kg and 3.25 kg of staple food per person, depending on the position you follow and the food you give. There is no single correct kilogram figure, because a sa’ is a volume and each authority converts it using a different reference grain.
Dar al-Ifta applies a half-sa’ concession to wheat, wheat flour and raisins only. Dates and barley take a full sa’, so the amount doubles from 1.625 kg to 3.25 kg per person on the same basis. No other rate basis in the calculator varies by food.
The Hanafi school permits paying the value in money; the majority of scholars hold that it must be given as food. The calculator shows the weight first and the cash equivalent second, labelled with the Hanafi position, so the choice stays yours.
9.75 kg on the Hanafi half-sa’ rate for wheat flour, 13.05 kg on the Shafi’i and Hanbali rate, 18 kg on the rounded 3 kg approximation, or 19.5 kg for dates on the Hanafi full sa’. Highest over lowest is 1.85× for wheat.
A full sa’. Rice is not in the classical list the half-sa’ concession applies to, which covers wheat, wheat flour and raisins, so the calculator treats it as one sa’ on the Hanafi basis and on every other basis too.
Yes — it is owed per head for everyone whose provision is your responsibility, which normally means your spouse, your children and any dependants living with you. Enter that total in the people field; there is no wealth test to pass first.
It must reach the recipient before the Eid al-Fitr prayer. Given after the prayer it counts as ordinary charity rather than Zakat al-Fitr, so it is normally paid in the last days of Ramadan.
Because it is the roundest figure in the sourced range, not because it is the average. The mean of the three sa’ weights is 2.81 kg, so 3 kg sits above centre — 37.9% heavier than the Shafi’i and Hanbali measure and only 7.7% below the largest figure published.
No. Zakat al-Fitr is a fixed per-person amount with no wealth threshold; annual Zakat is 2.5% of qualifying wealth above the nisab of 87.48 g of gold or 612.36 g of silver. Many households owe both, and some owe only the first.
