Is It Valid to Pre-Pay Zakat for an Unborn Child? (Shafi’i)

Answered by Shaykh Shuaib Ally

Question: Assalam alaykum,

My son was born in Ramadan, but I paid zakat for him before he was born. Is the zakat valid?

Answer: Wa alaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,

In the Shafi’i school, it would not be valid to pre-pay Zakat al-Fitr for a child that hasn’t been born yet, but is expected to be born later in Ramadan. This is because one cannot pay Zakat al-Fitr before more than one of its legal causes.
One would need to pay the Zakat al-Fitr again, following the birth of the child in Ramadan.

God knows best.

Shuaib Ally