The ruling on giving zakah from sugar, and is it permissible to deviate from the categories mentioned in the hadith?
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Question:
May Allah reward you, Honorable Shaykh. This questioner, Sa'ad Muflih from Hafr al-Batin, says in this question: Honorable Shaykh. We know that zakat al-fitr is from the staple food of the land, whether it is a sa' (a dry measure of about 3 kg) of dates, wheat, raisins, dried date syrup, or something else. This is what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) specified. But I ask, Honorable Shaykh, some of these categories—many families do not know them today, such as dried date syrup, which is not a staple food. Likewise, raisins are not eaten alone but are added to food. The question remains: Is it permissible to give zakat al-fitr from sugar, knowing that it has a weight and value, and its value may exceed that of some of the previous categories? This is because in this time, there is hardly a house without sugar, and the poor person may need it and be unable to buy it. Or do we restrict ourselves to the previous categories as I mentioned? Please guide us in light of this question.
Answer:
Sugar is a luxury item and is not a staple food, so it is not permissible to give zakah from it. Zakah is restricted to staple food, which is what people eat in the land. As for the fact that some of these categories have become unknown or unused, such as raisins, which are only placed with food, or dried date syrup, which people do not know, this statement should not be made. Because these are categories that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) specified. So whoever gives from them has given what is obligatory upon him, as explicitly stated by the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). It is only permissible to deviate from them to other staple foods that convey their meaning, such as rice, corn, and the like, especially if these staple foods are the customary ones in some lands, because they are staple foods that people eat. As for sugar and luxury items, it is not permissible to give zakah from them, even if they are expensive. Yes. May Allah bless you.
May Allah reward you, Honorable Shaykh. This questioner, Sa'ad Muflih from Hafr al-Batin, says in this question: Honorable Shaykh. We know that zakat al-fitr is from the staple food of the land, whether it is a sa' (a dry measure of about 3 kg) of dates, wheat, raisins, dried date syrup, or something else. This is what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) specified. But I ask, Honorable Shaykh, some of these categories—many families do not know them today, such as dried date syrup, which is not a staple food. Likewise, raisins are not eaten alone but are added to food. The question remains: Is it permissible to give zakat al-fitr from sugar, knowing that it has a weight and value, and its value may exceed that of some of the previous categories? This is because in this time, there is hardly a house without sugar, and the poor person may need it and be unable to buy it. Or do we restrict ourselves to the previous categories as I mentioned? Please guide us in light of this question.
Answer:
Sugar is a luxury item and is not a staple food, so it is not permissible to give zakah from it. Zakah is restricted to staple food, which is what people eat in the land. As for the fact that some of these categories have become unknown or unused, such as raisins, which are only placed with food, or dried date syrup, which people do not know, this statement should not be made. Because these are categories that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) specified. So whoever gives from them has given what is obligatory upon him, as explicitly stated by the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). It is only permissible to deviate from them to other staple foods that convey their meaning, such as rice, corn, and the like, especially if these staple foods are the customary ones in some lands, because they are staple foods that people eat. As for sugar and luxury items, it is not permissible to give zakah from them, even if they are expensive. Yes. May Allah bless you.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، حكم إخراج الزكاة من السكر، وهل يجوز العدول عن الأصناف المذكورة في الحديث؟ الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.