The Ruling on Giving Clothing and Money in Zakat al-Fitr

The Shaykh : And does clothing suffice in place of food? No. If clothing were to suffice, it would have been specified, just as clothing was specified in the expiation for what? In the expiation for an oath. Allah the Exalted said regarding the expiation for an oath: But in Zakat al-Fitr, only food was mentioned. Does the value suffice, meaning that a person gives dirhams in its place? No, because it was legislated from food. So if someone says: "If we give the poor person food, he sells it for half its value, but if we give him dirhams, he benefits more from them," we say: We are commanded to do a specific thing, and it is obligatory for us to carry out the thing as we were commanded. What were we commanded to do? To give a sa' of food. And once it is discharged from our liability, it becomes the property of the poor person, and he disposes of it as he wishes: he eats it, gives it in charity, pays it as his own Zakat al-Fitr, or sells it. It is not our concern. We say: We hear and obey, and we give the food that we were commanded to give. And once the thing leaves our hands, it is no longer up to us, but up to the one who took it. And when is it given?