Where to pay zakaat al-fitr

I am a young man living in Kuwait, but I have taken my daughter to
America for medical treatment and I fasted Ramadaan in America. Do I
have to pay zakaat al-fitrin America or can I delegate my family in
Kuwait to pay it on my behalf? What is the ruling on paying zakaat
al-fitr in cash? Please note that in America they pay it in cash
instead of giving staple food.
Praise be to Allaah.
The scholars (may Allaah be pleased with them) stated that zakaat
al-fitr isconnected to numbers of people, not money, and it is to be
paid in the place where a person is on the night before Eid.
Ibn Qudaamah said in al-Mughni (4/134):
As for zakaat al-fitr, it is tobe paid in the land where the person
from whom it is due is present, whether his wealth is there or not.
End quote.
As for paying zakaat al-fitrin cash, we have explained in the answer
to question no. 22888 that it must be given in the form of food, and
thatpaying it in cash is not acceptable.
So you must try to give it in the form of food. If the poor person
refuses the food and asks for cash, then there is nothing wrong with
your giving it as cash in that case, because of need or necessity.
And Allaah knows best.

There is nothing wrong with treating non-Muslims kindly if they are not fighting us

I am a woman who worksand I want to know whether it is permissible for
me to give water or food to non-Muslims? There is a Jewish boy at my
workplace and when Igo out or go to get water,he asks me to bring him
some water too. Is it permissible for me to do that?
Praise be to Allah.
There is nothing wrong with showing kindness to non-Muslims, so long
as they are not known to be hostile towards Muslims or to be helping
our enemies against us. Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation
of the meaning):
"Allah does not forbid youto deal justly and kindly with those who
fought not against you on account of religion and did not drive you
out of your homes. Verily, Allah loves those who deal withequity.
It is only as regards those who fought against you on account of
religion, and have driven you out of your homes, and helped to drive
you out, that Allah forbids you to befriend them. And whosoever will
befriend them, then such are the Zalimoon (wrong-doers those who
disobey Allah)."
[al-Mumtahanah 60:8-9].
Ibn Katheer (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
That is, He does not forbidyou to treat kindly those disbelievers who
are not fighting you because of your religion, such as the women and
the weak among them.
"deal justly" means to treat them kindly
"and kindly" means fairly.
"Verily, Allah loves those who deal with equity". End quote.
Tafseer Ibn Katheer, 4/446
Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen said in his commentary onSoorat al-Baqarah (2/294):
With regard to non-Muslims, there is nothing wrong with treating them
kindly on condition that they are not among those who arefighting us
because of ourreligion or seeking to drive us from our homes, because
Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
"Allah does not forbid youto deal justly and kindly with those who
fought not against you on account of religion and did not drive you
out of your homes. Verily, Allah loves those who deal withequity."
[al-Mumtahanah 60:8].
The Muslim will be rewarded for treating these people kindly.
Allah,may He be exalted, statedthat one of the attributes of the
righteous, who are the people of Paradise, is (interpretation of the
meaning):
"And they give food, in spite of their love for it (orfor the love of
Him), to Miskin (poor), the orphan, and the captive"
[al-Insaan 76:8]
– and the captive cannot be anything other than a non-Muslim.
Qataadah (may Allah havemercy on him) said:
"And they give food, in spite of their love for it (orfor the love of
Him), to Miskin (poor), the orphan, and the captive"
[al-Insaan 76:8]
– Allah has enjoined kind treatment of captives, and the
captives at that time would have been mushrikeen (polytheists).
See: Tafseer at-Tabari, 10/8364
An-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said in al-Majmoo' (6/237):
If you give charity to an evildoer or to a non-Muslim such as a Jew,a
Christian or a Magian, that is permissible and there will be reward
for that in general terms. The author of al-Bayaan said: as-Saymari
said: The sameapplies with regard to a non-Muslim who is in a state of
war with the Muslims. The evidence for that is the verse in which
Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of themeaning): "And
they give food, in spite of their love for it (or for the love of
Him), to Miskin (poor), the orphan, and the captive" [al-Insaan 76:8],
and it is well known that the captive would be a non-Muslim who was in
a state of war with the Muslims. End quote.
And Allah knows best.

Happy INDIPENDENCE DAY!

The father said: I give my daughter in marriage to So and so, in front of Muslim witnesses, then he changed his mind and recanted his words

A father says that he giveshis daughter in marriage to X in front of
Muslim witnesses, including two males, and gives them permission to
inform friends and family relatives about it. After everybody has been
informed and the boy has given the mehr to the girl,the father changes
his mind.
Is it permissible for the father to stop them from starting to live
together? Are they considered to be married or not?
Praise be to Allah.
The marriage contract is completed with the proposal and acceptance.
The proposal is when the wife's guardian says, "I give So and so to
you in marriage." The acceptanceis when the groom says, "I accept" or
"I accept marriage to So and so." It is not essential for it to bein
these exact words; rather the marriage contract is completed by
whatever phrases indicatemarriage.
Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy onhim) said: The basic
principle is that all contracts are completed by means of whatever
signifies them according to custom, whether it is inthe words
mentioned or otherwise, in the case of the marriage contract andother
contracts. This is thecorrect opinion and it is the view favoured by
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah havemercy on him).
End quote from ash-Sharhal-Mumti', 12/40
And he (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Some of the scholars
stipulated specific phrases in some contracts and said that they must
be used, as in the marriage contract for example, where they said that
it is essential (for the guardian) to say: "I give to you in
marriage…", andfor (the groom) to say, "I accept."
Other scholars say that all contracts are completed by means of
whatever phrases signify them according to custom. This view is the
one that is correct, and this is the view favoured by Shaykh al-Islam
Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy onhim), because transactionsare not
acts of worship in which one should adhere strictly to what has been
narrated; rather they are transactions between people. So whatever
people regard as a sale is a sale, whatever they regard as a pledge
(or mortgage) is a pledge (or mortgage), whatever theyregard as a waqf
(endowment) is a waqf, and whatever they regardas marriage is
marriage.
The correct opinion is thatthere is no specific format for any
contract; rather the contract is completed by means of that which
signifies it, and no one can prove that there is any difference
between sale transactions and other types of transactions. If they
say, for example, that Allah mentioned marriage by using the word
nikaah, we say: likewise, He mentioned sales by using the word bay';
are you saying that it is essential to say, "Bi'tu (I have sold)"?
They will say that this is not essential, as buying and selling are
done by whatever wording signifies that according to custom, witha
proposal and acceptance(after the proposal).
End quote from ash-Sharhal-Mumti', 8/101
If the father of the girl said: "I have given my daughter in marriage
to So and so," and the husband responded in a way that signified
acceptance, then the proposal and acceptance have taken place.
Moreover, there are essential conditions for marriage which must be
met: there should be consent from both spouses, and the
marriagecontract should be done by the woman's guardian issuing his
proposal in thepresence of two witnesses. If these conditions were
met, thenthe marriage has been done and the guardian does not have the
right toretract it or annul it unlessthere is a reason that makes
annulment permissible, such as annulment due to a physical defect (in
one of the spouses) or annulment for going against the conditions.
Our advice is to refer the matter to a scholar whomyou trust, so that
he can listen to the guardian, andthe husband and wife.
We ask Allah to help and guide us and you.
And Allah knows best.