Is it permissible to pay zakat al-fitr in money?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
Our sister asks: Is it permissible to pay the zakat of livestock in money, or is it obligatory to pay it from the livestock? I asked some of the brothers, and one of them said to me: It is permissible to pay it in money, based on the saying of Allah the Exalted: [Surat al-Tawbah: 103]. And is it permissible to pay zakat al-fitr in money? May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
It is obligatory to pay the zakat from the actual wealth, from the camels, cattle, sheep, and food. This is the obligation, this is the original ruling, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) explained. However, if necessity and public benefit call for paying the value, because the one in authority requested the value, there is no harm. Or if the owner did not find the required age of the animal, or if the poor requested it, because it is better for them and he gave them the middle value, there is no harm in that for the sake of the legitimate public benefit. The value should be the middle one, because the original ruling is the middle in camels, cattle, sheep, and food, not the defective or the most expensive and highest, but rather what is in between.
Likewise, if a person sold his fruit, whether dates or grains, he gives the zakat from the price, instead of the food; because the food has been sold and gone, so he gives his zakat from the price. And if he pays it from the dates or the grains, that is better, more complete, and more cautious.
Likewise, zakat al-fitr must be food; it is not sufficient to pay the value. It is obligatory to pay it from food, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) specified a sa' of dates or a sa' of barley. And they used to pay a sa' of dried curds in his time (peace and blessings be upon him), and a sa' of raisins. All of this was paid in his era (peace and blessings be upon him), and a sa' of food from the staple food of the land, meaning like rice and the like.
So it is obligatory to pay the fitrah from the staple food of the land in which the person lives, from rice or dates or wheat, or barley, or corn or otherwise. This is the position of the majority of the scholars. As for the value, no; the opinion that the value should be paid is a weak, weaker position.
The presenter : May Allah reward you with good, and may He do you good.
Our sister asks: Is it permissible to pay the zakat of livestock in money, or is it obligatory to pay it from the livestock? I asked some of the brothers, and one of them said to me: It is permissible to pay it in money, based on the saying of Allah the Exalted:
Take, [O, Muhammad], from their wealth a charity by which you purify them and cause them increase
خُذْ مِنْ أَمْوَالِهِمْ صَدَقَةً تُطَهِّرُهُمْ وَتُزَكِّيهِمْ بِهَاAnswer:
It is obligatory to pay the zakat from the actual wealth, from the camels, cattle, sheep, and food. This is the obligation, this is the original ruling, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) explained. However, if necessity and public benefit call for paying the value, because the one in authority requested the value, there is no harm. Or if the owner did not find the required age of the animal, or if the poor requested it, because it is better for them and he gave them the middle value, there is no harm in that for the sake of the legitimate public benefit. The value should be the middle one, because the original ruling is the middle in camels, cattle, sheep, and food, not the defective or the most expensive and highest, but rather what is in between.
Likewise, if a person sold his fruit, whether dates or grains, he gives the zakat from the price, instead of the food; because the food has been sold and gone, so he gives his zakat from the price. And if he pays it from the dates or the grains, that is better, more complete, and more cautious.
Likewise, zakat al-fitr must be food; it is not sufficient to pay the value. It is obligatory to pay it from food, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) specified a sa' of dates or a sa' of barley. And they used to pay a sa' of dried curds in his time (peace and blessings be upon him), and a sa' of raisins. All of this was paid in his era (peace and blessings be upon him), and a sa' of food from the staple food of the land, meaning like rice and the like.
So it is obligatory to pay the fitrah from the staple food of the land in which the person lives, from rice or dates or wheat, or barley, or corn or otherwise. This is the position of the majority of the scholars. As for the value, no; the opinion that the value should be paid is a weak, weaker position.
The presenter : May Allah reward you with good, and may He do you good.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.