BY: Hana Saada
ALGIERS- In a statement made public, the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Wakfs specified that Zakat Al-Fitr “Alms” was set at 120 AD per head, the equivalent of a bushel “Saâ” (a measure of 2kg) of Algerian food, to be handed over as of the 15th day of Ramadan.
To this end, the Department of Youcef Belmahdi instructed the Imams of the mosques to proceed, in collaboration with the committees of the mosques across the national territory, to the collection of the Zakat, to be redistributed to the needy, one or two days before Aïd El-Fitr.
Zakat El-Fitr is compulsory for all Muslims. Every self-supporting Muslim, whether well-off or poor, should fulfill the Zakat.
Eid al-Fitr, (Arabic: “Festival of Breaking Fast”) also spelled ʿĪd al-Fiṭr, also called al-ʿĪd al-Ṣaghīr, first of two main festivals of Islam. Eid al-Fitr marks the end of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of fasting, and is celebrated during the first three days of Shawwāl, the 10th month of the Islamic calendar (though the Muslim use of a lunar calendar means that it may fall in any season of the year). As in Islam’s other holy festival, Eid al-Adha, it is distinguished by the performance of communal prayer (ṣalāt) at daybreak on its first day. Eid al-Fitr is a time of official receptions and private visits, when friends greet one another, presents are given, new clothes are worn, and the graves of relatives are visited.
