Is it permissible to pay zakat al-fitr in money?
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Question:
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, is it permissible to pay zakat al-fitr from money, because some people issue a ruling to that effect? I mean, in cash.
Answer:
What do you mean? No, it is not permissible to pay it in cash, even if some scholars have issued a ruling to that effect. This is ijtihad (independent legal reasoning), and when ijtihad contradicts an explicit text, it is not acted upon. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) explicitly specified food; he specified food of various types and set the amount at a sa' (a dry measure of about 3 kg). Money existed in his time (peace and blessings be upon him), yet he turned away from money to food. We do not contradict the explicit text because so-and-so said this or wrote that. No, it is not permissible, and the obligation is not discharged by this. Yes.
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, is it permissible to pay zakat al-fitr from money, because some people issue a ruling to that effect? I mean, in cash.
Answer:
What do you mean? No, it is not permissible to pay it in cash, even if some scholars have issued a ruling to that effect. This is ijtihad (independent legal reasoning), and when ijtihad contradicts an explicit text, it is not acted upon. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) explicitly specified food; he specified food of various types and set the amount at a sa' (a dry measure of about 3 kg). Money existed in his time (peace and blessings be upon him), yet he turned away from money to food. We do not contradict the explicit text because so-and-so said this or wrote that. No, it is not permissible, and the obligation is not discharged by this. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، [702 -2802] هل يجوز إخراج زكاة الفطر نقودا؟ - الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.