Do some Bedouins living in areas far from cities, when the festival of 'Id al-Fitr arrives and they have no food to give, slaughter some sheep and distribute them?
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The questioner : Some Bedouins live in areas far from cities, and when the festival of 'Id al-Fitr arrives, they have no food to give.
Do they slaughter livestock for zakat al-fitr and distribute it to the poor?
The Shaykh : This is not valid, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) made it obligatory as a sa' of food.
Do they measure out meat? What do you say? Is meat measured or weighed?
The students: It is weighed.
The Shaykh : It is weighed, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) made it obligatory as a sa' of food.
Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) said:Sahih Muslim 984b.
And Abu Sa'id (may Allah be pleased with him) said:.
For this reason, the stronger position among the opinions of the scholars is that zakat al-fitr is not valid from money, nor from clothes, nor from mattresses.
If a person gives the value of zakat al-fitr in money, we say it is not valid for you, and it was an error.
And there is no consideration for the opinion of any scholar who said that zakat al-fitr is valid from money. Why?
Because as long as we have an explicit text from the Prophet (may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him), no one's opinion is valid after it, and there is no juristic preference for the minds to invalidate the Shari'ah.
And Allah (Mighty and Majestic) will not ask us on the Day of Resurrection about the opinion of so-and-so and so-and-so, but He will ask us about the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), as He the Exalted said:[Al-Qasas 28:65].
So imagine yourself standing before Allah on the Day of Resurrection, and He has made it obligatory upon you through the tongue of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) to pay zakat al-fitr from food. Can you, if you are asked on the Day of Resurrection: What did you answer the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding the obligation of this charity?
Can you defend yourself and say, "By Allah, this is the madhhab of so-and-so, and this is the opinion of so-and-so"?
The answer is: No, and even if you said that, it would not benefit you.
So the correct view, without doubt, is that zakat al-fitr is not valid except from food, and any food that serves as the staple food of the land is valid.
If you look at the opinions of the scholars on this issue, you will find that they are two extremes and a middle:
One extreme says: Give it from food, and give it from money.
And another extreme says: Do not give it from money, and do not give it from food, except from five specific types, which are wheat, dates, barley, raisins, and dried yogurt.
Do not give it from rice, do not give it from corn, do not give it from sorghum, and do not give it from anything else ever, except from these five.
And these two opinions are opposed to each other.
The middle opinion says: Give it from whatever people eat, and do not give it from what people do not eat.
So give it from wheat, dates, rice, sorghum, and corn, if you are in a place where people eat corn, and the like of that—wheat is the wheat—until if we suppose we are in a land where the people eat meat, then we give it from meat.
Based on this, it becomes clear that what the questioner mentioned about the Bedouins giving meat instead of zakat al-fitr is not valid as zakat al-fitr.
Do they slaughter livestock for zakat al-fitr and distribute it to the poor?
The Shaykh : This is not valid, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) made it obligatory as a sa' of food.
Do they measure out meat? What do you say? Is meat measured or weighed?
The students: It is weighed.
The Shaykh : It is weighed, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) made it obligatory as a sa' of food.
Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) said:
the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) prescribed Zakat-ul-Fitr one sa' of dates or one sa' of barley
فرض رسول الله – صلى الله عليه وسلم – زكاة الفطر صاعاً من تمر أو صاعاً من شعيرAnd Abu Sa'id (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
We used to give it in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) as a sa' of food, and our food was dates, barley, raisins, and dried yogurt.
كنا نخرجها في زمن النبي – صلى الله عليه وسلم – صاعاً من طعام، وكان طعامنا التمر والشعير والزبيب والأقطFor this reason, the stronger position among the opinions of the scholars is that zakat al-fitr is not valid from money, nor from clothes, nor from mattresses.
If a person gives the value of zakat al-fitr in money, we say it is not valid for you, and it was an error.
And there is no consideration for the opinion of any scholar who said that zakat al-fitr is valid from money. Why?
Because as long as we have an explicit text from the Prophet (may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him), no one's opinion is valid after it, and there is no juristic preference for the minds to invalidate the Shari'ah.
And Allah (Mighty and Majestic) will not ask us on the Day of Resurrection about the opinion of so-and-so and so-and-so, but He will ask us about the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), as He the Exalted said:
And [mention] the Day He will call them and say, "What did you answer the messengers?"
وَيَوْمَ يُنَادِيهِمْ فَيَقُولُ مَاذَا أَجَبْتُمُ الْمُرْسَلِينَSo imagine yourself standing before Allah on the Day of Resurrection, and He has made it obligatory upon you through the tongue of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) to pay zakat al-fitr from food. Can you, if you are asked on the Day of Resurrection: What did you answer the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding the obligation of this charity?
Can you defend yourself and say, "By Allah, this is the madhhab of so-and-so, and this is the opinion of so-and-so"?
The answer is: No, and even if you said that, it would not benefit you.
So the correct view, without doubt, is that zakat al-fitr is not valid except from food, and any food that serves as the staple food of the land is valid.
If you look at the opinions of the scholars on this issue, you will find that they are two extremes and a middle:
One extreme says: Give it from food, and give it from money.
And another extreme says: Do not give it from money, and do not give it from food, except from five specific types, which are wheat, dates, barley, raisins, and dried yogurt.
Do not give it from rice, do not give it from corn, do not give it from sorghum, and do not give it from anything else ever, except from these five.
And these two opinions are opposed to each other.
The middle opinion says: Give it from whatever people eat, and do not give it from what people do not eat.
So give it from wheat, dates, rice, sorghum, and corn, if you are in a place where people eat corn, and the like of that—wheat is the wheat—until if we suppose we are in a land where the people eat meat, then we give it from meat.
Based on this, it becomes clear that what the questioner mentioned about the Bedouins giving meat instead of zakat al-fitr is not valid as zakat al-fitr.