QUESTION: Is it permission to discharge Zakaatul-Fitr in money? – with
mention of evidences.


ANSWER: Zakaatul Fitr is not permissible except (to be paid) from FOOD. And
it is not allowed to discharge its value in money. This is because the
Prophet (sal-Allaahu ‘alayhe wa sallam) made it obligatory ( to be
discharged) from  a saa’ of dates or a saa’ of barley.
Abu Sa’eed Al-Khudree (Radiallahu anhu) said  “We used to discharge it
(       Zakaatul Fitr) in the time of the Prophet (sal Allaahu ‘alayhe wa sallam)
as a saa’ of FOOD…..). (Bukhaaree 2:582) Therefore, it is not lawful for any
to discharge Zakaatul-Fitr from money (dirham) or clothing or household
furnishings. Instead, that which is obligatory is to discharge it in what
Allaah has made obligatory on the tongue of the Prophet ( sal Allaahu
‘alayhe wa sallam). There is no consideration (weight) for the istihsaan
[viewing of something to be good, without basis from the legal sources of
Qur’aan and sunnah] of those of the people who viewed the giving of money as
a good thing. The Law ( Sharee’ah) does not follow ( i.e. it is not
secondary to) the opinion of people. No, it  ( the Law) is  from the One who
is wise, knowing – Allaah (Subhaanahu wa-taa’la) – The Mighty, The Glorious,
The Most Knowing, The Most Wise. So, if that which has been made obligatory
by the tongue of Muhammad ( sal Allaahu ‘alayhe wa sallam) is a saa’ of food
then it is not permissible to bypass ( skip over ) that, no matter what our
intellects make us to view as being good. Instead, it is a must that the
human being question and suspect his intellect and views if it conflicts
with, or contradicts, the Law of Allaah.


Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen


I had to retype the whole fatwa so all error/typos are entirely mine for
that I ask for forgivess.
Sal Barry

Other Questions on Zakaatul-Fitr

1.      The ruling for denying Zakaatul-Fitr
2.      The ruling regarding forgetting to discharge the Zakaatul Fitr
3.      Dispatched Zakaatul-Fitr to my country
4.      Is it permissible to discharge the obligation of Zakaatul-Fitr on the
first day of Ramadhaan? And is it permissible to distribute it in money.
5.      What is the ruling in the case of someone compelled discharge
Zakaatul-Fitr by money? And does it fulfill for him his obligation?
6.      Is it permissible to discharge Zakaatul-Fitr from meat? Some of the
desert dwellers don’t have food to distribute for Zakiaatul-Fitr, so is it
permissible for them to slaughter some of their animals and distribute it to
the poor.


Fatwa-online contains fatwa information and resources provided by kibaar
scholars of the muslim world. Kibaar scholars from my limited understanding
are the cream of the crop among the scholars. Scholars refer/defer to the
kibaar scholar in in Arabic as Kibaar Ulema.


Ask Those Who Know
Shaykh Muhammad Naasir ud-Deen al-Albaanee rahimahullaah
Jami'at Ihyaa Minhaaj al-Sunnah
________________________________________
Question: Some who are seeking knowledge are very hasty in giving rulings in
matters of halaal and haraam, and this is a common noticeable defect. What
is your advice to such people?
Reply: "We have spoken on this issue long before, and we said that Allaah
the Wise has divided the Muslim community into two types of people: the Ahl
adh-Dhikr, and those that depend on the Ahl adh-Dhikr. As Allaah says to the
ordinary people: "Then ask those who possess the Message (Ahl adh-Dhikr) if
you do not know." (Soorah 21:7 and 16:43)
The Ahl adh-Dhikr are, as we all know, are the Ahl al-Qur’aan and the Ahl
al-Hadeeth, those who know the authentic from the unauthentic, the general
from the specific, the abrogating from the abrogated, and other such
principles of Fiqh and Hadeeth.
Hence, it is not allowed for a Muslim to begin giving fatwaas on the basis
of some hadeeth, simply because he came across it in some book, although he
does not know if it is saheeh according to the criteria of the scholars of
hadeeth. On the other hand, he knows that he is not sufficiently well-versed
in knowledge and competence in the Arabic language to explain the meanings
and ideas behind the Kitaab and Sunnah. Therefore, anyone who has not
decided to undertake acquiring knowledge and persevere in it for many years,
until the people of knowledge testify that he can guide the people and
direct them towads good, it is not permissible for him to thank that he is
an alim (scholar) simply because he has read some ahadeeth and memorized
some aayaat. We often hear of some of them who cannot even read the Qur’aan
properly, nor the ahaadeeth of the Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam.
This is why I advise the seekers of knowledge to study two fundamentals: a)
the principles of fiqh and b) the principles of hadeeth.
I have mentioned before that it is not easy for one to deduce the intended
aim of the Lawgiver from any text unless he consults as far as possible, all
the texts of the Qur’an and Sunnah. I will give a clear example: Allaah
says: "Forbidden for you are dead meat, blood…" (5:4). If a beginner who is
studying the Qur’aan and has no knowledge of hadeeth is asked regarding dead
fish, he will immediately bring this aayah as proof to clearly forbid it
since it prohibits dead meat. But were he to look into the ahaadeeth, he
would know that the Prophet, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, excepted two
types of animals, fish and locusts, from this prohibition, so he could rule
accordingly.
Briefly, the student must learn these two fundamental branches of learning
to help to understand the Qur’aan and Sunnah as correctly as possible."
________________________________________






>From: "Ceesay, Soffie" <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Charity at the end of Ramadan-Zakaat al -Fitr.
>Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 06:42:08 -0500
>
>Jazzakallah!  May Allah shower you all with the richest of blessings.  It
>is indeed reassuring to know that there are others in my predicament when
>it comes to issues like this discussion thread and to think that we've been
>doing it wrongly all this time ....  Yes, Allah knows best and may Allah
>continue to guide our actions and intentions.  Saoud's argument does ease
>my mind.
>
>Soffie Ceesay
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: turay, sourie [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
>Sent: Friday, November 12, 2004 5:55 AM
>To: 'jsk'
>Cc: samateh saikou; Amadu sallah; Alim sesay; murtada Sesay; Ansumana
>sillah; Karamba touray; Mam Touray; Jane Warner;
>[log in to unmask]; Sai Njie; [log in to unmask]; Ginny Quick; abdul
>razim rahim; toegondoe sagbah; Musa Gassama; Habib Ghanim; Bashirou
>Jahumpa; Ben Jalloh; mohammed jalloh; baba jallow; Fatou Jallow; Dr. Alhaji
>S. Jeng; Malik Jeng; saloum Jeng; Jabou Joh; malamin johnson; SHEIKH
>KAMARAH; Abu-Hassan Koroma; fatima -D; Ibrahim Abdullah;
>[log in to unmask]; N Allotey; Ousman Bah; Sadu Bah; Abdul Karim Bangura;
>Salieu Barry; Ceesay, Soffie; [log in to unmask]; Muhammed
>Drammah; Aiah Fanday; Alhaji Fye; Momodou Buharry Gassama;
>[log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask]
>Subject: RE: Charity at the end of Ramadan-Zakaat al -Fitr.
>
>
>Ngo Sami,
>
>On occasion like this when our thinking coincides with people like you, it
>bodes well for us. As soon as I read the posting, the first thing that came
>to my mind was, have we been doing it wrong all this time we have been over
>here and it took an a reassuring exchange with Copenhagen to settle my
>mind.
>
>Of course, we all grew up seeing our fathers measuring rice for
>zakat-ul-fitr in what looked at the time a special mug for the purpose.
>That be almost impossible to do over here and the best possible way is by
>giving money as we all do. As Murtada suggests, we give the money not to
>individuals but to the mosque who are free to translate that into whatever
>will satisfy the requirements of the Sunnah!!
>
>You hit it right when you refer to Abu Saoud's distinction between the
>letter and spirit of the haddith!!
>
>I will join you in wishing Brother Musa, Allah's (SWT) richest rewards for
>the hard work that he continues to do for us and may He also reward all of
>us both here and back home with the blessings of Ramadan.
>
>Ramadan Mubarak.
>
>Sourie
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: jsk [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
>Sent: 12 November 2004 10:19
>To: [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask]
>Cc: samateh saikou; Amadu sallah; Alim sesay; murtada Sesay; Ansumana
>sillah; turay, sourie; Karamba touray; Mam Touray; Jane Warner;
>[log in to unmask]; Sai Njie; [log in to unmask]; Ginny Quick; abdul
>razim rahim; toegondoe sagbah; Musa Gassama; Habib Ghanim; Bashirou
>Jahumpa; Ben Jalloh; mohammed jalloh; baba jallow; Fatou Jallow; Dr. Alhaji
>S. Jeng; Malik Jeng; saloum Jeng; Jabou Joh; malamin johnson; SHEIKH
>KAMARAH; Abu-Hassan Koroma; fatima -D; Ibrahim Abdullah;
>[log in to unmask]; N Allotey; Ousman Bah; Sadu Bah; Abdul Karim Bangura;
>Salieu Barry; soffie ceesay; [log in to unmask]; Muhammed
>Drammah; Aiah Fanday; Alhaji Fye; Momodou Buharry Gassama
>Subject: Re: Charity at the end of Ramadan-Zakaat al -Fitr.
>
>
>As-salamu Alaykum Brother Musa:
>
>Ramadan Mubarak. May Allah (SWT) grant you and your family all the
>blessings of Ramadan. Thanks for all the kutbahs you have been sending and
>may Allah (SWT) bless you for transmitting all that valuable information
>and may He give you the strength and resources to continue informing us.
>
>The fact that the question of fulfilling the Zakat al--Fitr obligation via
>cash is addressed by these great Sheiks suggests that there is a tendency
>to make the substitution of cash for food. Certainly in most Masjids in the
>Philadelphia area, this substitution is common and we have, for years,
>adopted the practice of giving cash. May Allah (SWT) have mercy on us if we
>erred and forgive our Imams because, I am sure, they did not deliberately
>or willfully decide to mislead us.
>
>Relying on arguments presented by scholars like Mahmoud Abu-Saud, it is
>virtually impossible to adhere to the letters of the Sunnah of the Prophet
>(SAAS) in issues concerning Zakat. The question of substituting rice for
>the other foods mentioned in the hadith is in itself not strictly following
>the Sunnah. Furthermore, if even we are inclined to give food we have the
>added problem of translating these weights and measures into contemporary
>terms. We will be forced to make approximations. Approximations, strictly
>speaking, do not amount to strict adherence to the Sunnah. If even it were
>possible to reproduce the weights and measures; what criteria could we use
>to claim that a "saa" of rice is equivalent to a "saa" of date, wheat or
>barley? The question in this case has to deal with equivalent ratio. The
>only way out is to claim that a "saa" is a "saa" regardless of the food
>substance. But then, is a "saa' of rice equivalent to a "saa" of banga (a
>close relative of the date)?
>
>My brother, please forgive me for taking this approach to a very serious
>issue. However, I do feel that the ascription of Bida (innovation) should
>be revisited on a case by case issue. Please look at Abu-Saud's work
>"Contemporary Zakat". He does raise some interesting issues covering the
>whole concept of Zakat in a modern society. He makes a sharp distinction
>between the letter of the hadith and the spirit of the hadith.
>
>Ramadan MuBarak
>
>Sami.
>
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