From what is zakat al-fitr paid?

The Shaykh : It is to be paid from food specifically; it is not permissible to pay it from money. This is based on the statement of 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him and his father): And Abu Sa'id al-Khudri said: His saying "a sa' of food" indicates that it must be from food. If a person pays dirhams in place of food, it is not valid. If he pays furniture, it is not valid. If he pays utensils, it is not valid. It must be from food. Some people today think that money is more beneficial for the poor person, because, for example, if you give him the value of what he would buy, and we estimate that a kilo is, for example, three riyals, and you give him three riyals—or even if we estimate that the sa' is three riyals and you give him three riyals—it is more beneficial for him, because if you gave him a sa', he might sell it for less than three riyals. We say that this is not a valid reason and does not justify deviating from the explicit text. The payer must do what he was commanded to do, which is to pay the fitrah from food, whether it is in the interest of the recipient or not. The recipient is a free person who can dispose of it as he sees fit; he can keep this fitrah for himself and use it for his sustenance, he can sell it, and he can pay it on behalf of himself. The important thing is that the payer must do what he was commanded to do, and the recipient disposes of it as he wishes.