Is it permissible to pay the alms given at the end of Ramadan in cash?

The questioner : Yes, there are some questions regarding the alms given at the end of Ramadan. The first question asks: Is it permissible to pay it in cash, and if it is permissible, what is the evidence?

The Shaykh : We do not see it as permissible to pay money in place of the food that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) made obligatory through the tongue of His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), which was the food known at that time. However, we see that there is no objection to paying food that is the food of the people of the country, on the condition that it is something used as a staple, such as rice, sugar, or the like, which is the staple of the people of that country. As for one who lives in a country where the people still eat and store what was the case in the time of the Messenger (peace be upon him), such as dates, raisins, dried cheese, and the like, we do not see it as permissible to depart from the text unless there is no one to feed with what was mentioned in the text, from the examples I mentioned earlier. In that case, one pays a substitute from what is the staple of the people of that country. As for money, it is not permissible to pay it. Even if some of the independent legal reasoning scholars saw it that way, he is rewarded for that in any case. But the majority of scholars and the legal text which says: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) made the alms given at the end of Ramadan obligatory as a sa' of food," to the end of the hadith, this text must be adhered to literally as much as possible. And if it is not possible to provide that in a certain country, then a substitute from food is paid, not from money. Yes.