Praise be to Allah The Lord of The Worlds and peace and blessings be upon Prophet Mohammad.
In principle, Zakaat Al-Fitr should be given to its eligible recipients before the sunset of the day of Eid Al-Fitr.Al-Imam An-Nawawi (May Allah have mercy on his soul) said: “There is a consensus amongst the Shafite scholars that it is better to pay it on the night of Eid before going to the Eid prayer. It is also permissible to pay it at any time of the Eid day, but it is impermissible to delay paying it after that, and one who does so is considered sinful and must make up for it. Paying it after the day of Eid is called making up for it; whereas, paying Zakaat (obligatory charity) after its due time while affording it isn`t called so; rather, such a person is considered sinful and obliged to pay it. The difference between the two types of Zakaat lies in the fact that Zakaat Al-Fitr must be paid within a specific time; whereas, Zakaat mustn`t.” {Al-Majjmou 6/84}.
However, if the person entrusted with delivering Zakaat Al-Fitr to its eligible recipients failed to do so before the sunset of the Eid day, then he is considered mistaken and sinful; therefore, he should repent and seek forgiveness since not paying it on its due time means that the person on whom it was due is still required to pay it (a debt) , and the person who failed to deliver it on his behalf is considered sinful before Allah because he didn`t deliver it on time.
If the one on whom Zakaat Al-Fitr was due knew that it wasn`t given to its eligible recipients on due time, then it is permissible for him to ask his authorized representative to pay it from his own pocket. However, the (authorizer) may pay it for a second time and so the first amount will be considered a voluntary charity while the second is regarded a make up for Zakaat Al-Fitr which he should have paid in the first place.
Nonetheless, if the eligible recipient entrusted a person with collecting the Zakaat of Al-Fitr on his behalf and the former did so before the end of the Eid day, then it is valid because the authorized represents the authorizer. The same ruling applies to obligatory charity (Zakaat).
