Giving Zakat al-Fitr.

The Shaykh : And among that, meaning among what is prescribed upon the completion of this blessed month, is giving Zakat al-Fitr. Giving Zakat al-Fitr is an obligation, based on the statement of Abdullah ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with him and his father): . The discussion regarding Zakat al-Fitr relates to matters:
The first matter is regarding its type, the second is regarding its amount, the third is regarding its time, and the fourth is regarding its ruling.
As for its ruling, you have learned that it is, yes? It is obligatory. What is the evidence?
The student: ...

The Shaykh : Rest. All right. The hadith of Abdullah ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) said: So it is obligatory. And the obligatory, as we all know, its doer is rewarded and its leaver deserves punishment, because whoever does it is rewarded and whoever leaves it deserves punishment, so either Allah forgives him or He punishes him.
The second is regarding its type: From what is it given? Is it given from dirhams? Is it given from clothes? Is it given from vessels? Is it given from mattresses? Is it given from currency? Is it given from food? The answer: What? The last one. It is given from food, based on the statement of Ibn Umar: And in Sahih al-Bukhari from Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) he said: How many types is this? Dates, barley, raisins, and dried cheese. How many kinds? Four. And wheat was not mentioned because wheat in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) was scarce, and people did not eat it except that one from that one, as they say, so the common food was these four types. So do not give Zakat al-Fitr except from what? Complete it. Except from food. What is the staple food of people in our time now? Rice. Rice is the staple food of people. And based on this, you give a sa' of rice, or a sa' of wheat, or a sa' of dates. As for raisins, dried cheese, and barley, they have become in our time today not a staple food for people, neither in the desert nor in the city.
So if a person gives from other than food and says, "I want to give it in dirhams," we say to him: It is not valid, it is not valid, because your Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) made it obligatory as a sa' of food, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: meaning it is returned to its owner. And this hadith is established in the two Sahihs, and it is the measure of apparent deeds, just as the hadith of 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) is the measure of hidden deeds. And with the announcement of this, the delivery of the competition ends, because I answered a question from it. All right, so it is not valid from other than food, even if people beautify it, and even if they say that dirhams are more beneficial for the poor, and that the poor person takes the food and sells it for less than half the value, and perhaps the poor person takes it and throws it to the chickens, we say: We are not responsible for the action of the poor person; we are responsible for the action we were commanded to do. And we were commanded to give it as a sa' of what? Of food, of food. And when a person does the action in the manner commanded, then what results after that from the actions of others is not upon him, and he is not responsible for it.
The third is its amount. Its amount: How much? A sa' of food. And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) did not make it obligatory less than that or more. Why? Because a sa' of food generally suffices for a medium-sized family on the day of the festival. And this is the purpose of Zakat al-Fitr: that the poor are fed on the day of the festival so that they share in the joy of the festival with the rich. And for this reason, it came in the hadith: Enrich them, meaning the pronoun "them" refers to whom? The poor. Enrich them from asking on this day, and a sa' of food suffices a medium-sized family on that day. All right. So the amount is a sa' of food, and what is meant by the sa', brother?
The student: ... .

The Shaykh : A sa' of what? A sa' of each country according to its custom, or a specific sa'?
The student: ... .

The Shaykh : What is it?
The student: ... .

The Shaykh : Rest. What is meant by it is the sa' of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). And the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) mentioned that the sa' of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) weighs two kilograms and forty grams of good wheat. Of good wheat, and the meaning of that is that you take a vessel that holds two kilograms and forty grams of good wheat, fill it with this wheat, and then make it a measure for the sa's. But if a person gives three kilograms of rice, we hope that that will be sufficient, even though the measure differs according to the heavy and the light, but three kilograms, if Allah wills, a person who gives it will have been cautious.
What remains for us is the time of giving Zakat al-Fitr. The best thing in giving it is between the Fajr prayer and the festival prayer on the day of the festival, based on the statement of Ibn Umar: . And Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) said: . So when is the best time to give it? Between the Fajr prayer and the festival prayer on the day of the festival. So you give it to the poor person at that time. And based on this, you say to the poor person: "O so-and-so, I will pay you Zakat al-Fitr on the morning of the festival, so be prepared for that, so that when I come to give you Zakat al-Fitr, I find you prepared, because the time may be tight. And therefore, meaning in order for Zakat al-Fitr to be paid on the morning of the festival, between the Fajr prayer and the festival prayer.