The minimum amount of fitrana and roza-i-fidya, or compensation for not fasting, has been fixed at Rs100 per head this year.
Central Ruet-i-Hilal Committee chairman Mufti Muneebur Rehman said that while calculating on wheat the fitrana would be Rs100 per head, on oats Rs240 and on dates and raisins Rs1,600 per head.
Zakat al-fitr, also commonly known as ‘fitrana’, is the compulsory charity paid by every Muslim at the end of Ramadan.
The required quantity of fitrana was described by the Prophet Muhammad as one saa.
What is Fitrana?
Fitrah, fitrana or zakat -ul -fitar are the terms used to define that money which is obligatory to be given to the needy before eid-ul fitar. This money is paid to the poor people so that they can fulfill their needs on the eid day.
Fitranah is different from zakat in a manner of its measuring and its distribution. It is calculated as 2.50 wheat per head in the family. Suppose if there are 7 people in your home, the 2.5 kg wheat per head will become 2.5*7= 17.5 kg. Thus the family will pay the money equivalent to the 17.5 kg raw wheat to the poor.
This is not a huge amount which cannot be paid so it should be paid some days before eid. Many people still pay the standard money against 2.5 kg, but the better way is to pay 2.5 kg equivalent current amount of wheat.
What is the Ruet-e-Hilal Committee?
Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee of Pakistan is the department which announces the sighting of the new moon. The Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee was set up in 1974 under a resolution passed by the National Assembly of Pakistan, and so far no rules and regulations for the functioning of the committee have been drafted in writing.
Its head is Mufti Muneeb-ur-Rehman, assisted by 150 observatories of the Pakistan Meteorological Department.
Since its creation in 1974, the status of the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee has been controversial as it frequently refuses the "Witnesses" (Shahadats) from other muslim sects. Every year at the beginning and at the end of the month of Ramzan, the decisions of new moon sighting by Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee is criticized in Pakistan. Mufti Shahabuddin Popalzai of Qasim Ali Khan Mosque separately announces the new moon of Ramazan and Shawal every year in Peshawar . Pakistani journalists have on many occasions demanded for adopting new mechanism for the sighting of new moon.