Srinagar, Apr 11: Sadaqat-ul- Fitr, also known as Zakat-ul-Fitr, amount has been fixed at Rs 65 per person, Jammu and Kashmir’s Grand Mufti, Nasir-ul lslam announced on Monday.

Grand Mufti said that Sadaqat-ul-Fitr is a duty required of every Muslim and becomes obligatory to pay it before the beginning of Eid prayer and could be given from beginning of the holy month of Ramadan.

He said the main purpose of Zakat al-Fitr is to provide the poor with a means with which they can celebrate the festival Eid al-Fitr along with the rest of the Muslims. Mufti Nasir-ul-Islam urged people to ensure Fitr money reaches poor and destitute before Eid. “It is better to prefer poor and destitute over Darul-Ulooms,” he said.

Quoting Hadith, he said: “Every Muslim is required to pay Zakat-ul-Fitr at the conclusion of the month of Ramadan as a token of thankfulness to Allah for having enabled him or her to observe the obligatory fast. Its purpose is: as a levy on the fasting person. The fasting of the month of fasting person will be hanging between earth and heavens and it will not be raised up to the Divine Presence without paying the Zakat al-Fitr.”

He said that it can be given to a poor and needy but not for the construction purposes of Masjids and any other another structures. “There is no harm for any person who is wealthier and want to pay more than Rs 65 per person as fixed for this year,” he said. kno