Paying the value in zakat al-fitr
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
And the other. This is the general ruling.
Answer:
No, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) specified the type from which it is paid and the number of categories. If it were permissible to pay the value, he would have mentioned it along with these categories, saying, "or five dirhams, or a riyal, or half a riyal." Who said that?
He did not mention money along with the categories from which the zakat al-fitr is paid. We do not add to what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said from our own selves. Money existed in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Why did he turn away from it and not mention it, while we add it? This is a correction of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). No, this is not permissible. Yes.
And the other. This is the general ruling.
Answer:
No, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) specified the type from which it is paid and the number of categories. If it were permissible to pay the value, he would have mentioned it along with these categories, saying, "or five dirhams, or a riyal, or half a riyal." Who said that?
He did not mention money along with the categories from which the zakat al-fitr is paid. We do not add to what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said from our own selves. Money existed in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Why did he turn away from it and not mention it, while we add it? This is a correction of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). No, this is not permissible. Yes.
Source
شرح بلوغ المرام من أدلة الأحكام [ صالح الفوزان ]، باب صدقة التطوع — islamhouse.com (16:59)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.