08:45 PM
Wednesday, April 3, 2024
Written by Ali Shibl:
In its latest fatwa, the Egyptian Fatwa House resolved the renewed controversy every year about the ruling on paying Zakat al-Fitr in money, as some believe that it is not permissible to pay Zakat al-Fitr except as food, following the Sunnah of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace.
The house’s fatwa stated that it is permissible to pay Zakat al-Fitr in cash based on considered jurisprudential opinions, and that it was prescribed to meet the need of the poor and spare him from asking on the occasion of Eid, and that paying money is closer to benefiting the poor and paying his need, as he can buy with it what he needs immediately.
The Fatwa published the text of the following fatwa:
Dated: 4/1/2024 AD, registered under No. 296 of 2024 AD, including: A questioner asked, saying: I heard on one of the programs that Zakat al-Fitr can produce money, and my friend was with me, so he objected to that and said: It must produce grains, as stated in the hadiths. On the authority of the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, is what he said true? Did any of the jurists allow it to be given as money? Or do all jurists believe that it is not permissible to give it as money? Please advise me and May Allah reward you …
Answer:
Zakat al-Fitr: It is a fixed amount of money that a Muslim must pay under specific conditions. Young or old, male or female, the Prophet, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him and his family, estimated it as a saa’ of dates, barley, or the local staple food, which is 2,040 kilograms according to the doctrine of the majority, for every Muslim person; As in the hadith of Abdullah bin Omar, may God be pleased with them both: “The Messenger of God, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him and his family, obligated Zakat al-Fitr, one Saa’ of dates, or one Saa’ of barley, on every free man or woman. No one, male or female, from among the Muslims.” Agreed upon. In another narration by Imam Al-Bukhari: “On the slave and the free, the male and the female, the young and the old among the Muslims.”
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The wisdom behind its legitimacy is: purifying the fasting person, showing him kindness, making up for the loss of the reward for fasting, being kind to the poor, keeping them from having to ask questions on the occasion of Eid, redressing their thoughts, and bringing joy to them, on a day in which Muslims are happy. As in the hadith of Abdullah bin Abbas, may God be pleased with them both, he said: “The Messenger of God, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him and his family, enjoined Zakat al-Fitr as a purification of the fasting person from idle talk and obscenity, and as food for the poor.” Narrated by Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah, and others. Yahaqi in “Al-Sunan” and Al-Hakim in “Al-Mustadrak” and authenticated it.
On the authority of Ibn Omar, may God be pleased with them both, that the Messenger of God, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him and his family, said regarding Zakat al-Fitr: “Enrich them with the need for tawaf on this day,” narrated by Al-Daraqutni in “Al-Sunan,” and in a narration: “Enough with tawaf on this day,” narrated by Ibn Wahb in his “Jami’” And Ibn Zangwayh in “Al-Amwal,” and Al-Bayhaqi in “Al-Sunan Al-Kubra.”
The basic principle of Zakat al-Fitr is that it should be paid from the food of the people of the country, such as wheat, dates, barley, and similar types of grains and dates that are eaten. Because it was reported from him, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him and his family, in the previous hadith that he “obligated zakat al-fitr, a saa’ of dates, or a saa’ of barley, on every Muslim free man or slave, male or female,” agreed upon, and other hadiths in the chapter.
However, the Hanafi jurists permitted giving it in money, as it was prescribed to meet the need of the poor and spare him from asking on the occasion of Eid. Giving money is closer to benefiting the poor and paying for his need, as he buys with it immediately what he needs, and the types mentioned in the hadiths are not for limitation, but rather for facilitation; Because they used to pledge allegiance to that during the era of the Messenger of God, may God bless him and his family and grant them peace.
Shams al-Imam al-Sarkhasi said in “Al-Mabsut” (3) 107 108, ed. Dar Al-Maarifa): If he gives the value of the wheat, it is permissible with us. Because what is considered is the attainment of wealth, and that is achieved with the value just as it is obtained with wheat, and according to Al-Shafi’i, may God Almighty have mercy on him, it is not permissible, and the origin of the disagreement is in zakat, and Abu Bakr Al-A’mash, may God Almighty have mercy on him, used to say: Giving wheat is better than paying the value; Because it is closer to complying with the order and farther from the differences of scholars, so caution was taken in it, and the jurist Abu Jaafar, may God Almighty have mercy on him, used to say: Paying the value is better because it is closer to benefiting the poor, for
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He buys with it immediately what he needs, and the stipulation on wheat and barley was because the sales at that time in the city were made with it, but in our lands the sales are made with money, which is the most precious money, so the payment from it is better.
Al-Allamah Al-Kasani said in “Bada’i’ Al-Sana’i’ fi Tartib Al-Shara’i’ (2/72, ed. Dar Al-Kutub Al-Ilmiyyah): It was narrated on the authority of Abu Yusuf that he said: Flour is more beloved to me than wheat, and dirhams are more beloved to me than flour and wheat, because that is closer to meeting the need of the poor. Eh. Accordingly, a group of the predecessors of the great companions did the work, such as the Commander of the Faithful Omar ibn al-Khattab, his son Abdullah, Ibn Masoud, Ibn Abbas, Muadh ibn Jabal, and others, may God be pleased with them. It is the doctrine of a group of followers, just as it is the opinion of a group of scholars. They are reliable, including: Al-Hasan Al-Basri, from whom it was reported that he said: “There is no harm in giving dirhams in Zakat Al-Fitr,” and Abu Ishaq Al-Subaie, on the authority of Zuhair, who said: I heard Abu Ishaq say: “I caught them giving dirhams in Zakat Al-Fitr for the value of food.” And Omar bin Abdul Aziz, on the authority of Waki’, on the authority of Qurra, said: We received the letter of Omar bin Abdul Aziz regarding Zakat al-Fitr: half a saa’ for every person, or its value is half a dirham.
These traces were narrated by Imam Abu Bakr bin Abi Shaybah in “Al-Musannaf” (2) 398, ed. Maktabah al-Rushd), which is also the doctrine of al-Thawri, and Ishaq bin Rahawayh and Abu Thawr said it, except that they necessarily restricted it, as Imam al-Nawawi mentioned in al-Majmu’ Sharh al-Muhadhdhab (112/6) ed. Dar al-Fikr).
Sheikh Taqi al-Din Ibn Taymiyyah al-Hanbali also permitted it for the need and the prevailing interest, as he says in Majmoo’ al-Fatawa “about paying the value in zakat, expiation, and the like (25) 8283, ed. King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Noble Qur’an):[WhatismostapparentinthisisthatpayingthevalueforsomethingotherthanAneedoravalidinterestisforbiddenfromitAsforextractingthevalueforneedinterestorjusticethereisnothingwrongwithit[والأظهرفيهذاأنإخراجالقيمةلغيرحاجةولامصلحةراجحةممنوعمنهوأماإخراجالقيمةللحاجةأوالمصلحةأوالعدلفلابأسبهاهـ
Also, the statement that paying the value in Zakat al-Fitr is sufficient is a narration narrated on the authority of Imam Ahmad and stated by Imam al-Mardawi in “Al-Insaaf” (182/3, ed. Dar Ihya’ al-Turath al-Arabi).
The interest in this time dictates that it is permissible to pay the value because it is easier for the one who pays zakat on behalf of himself and his dependents, and is more beneficial for the poor, as it entails the enrichment stipulated in his saying, may God bless him and grant him peace: “Enrich them from begging on this day.” Concerning the preponderance of paying Zakat al-Fitr with money, the scholar Al-Hafiz Ahmad bin Al-Siddiq Al-Ghumari, may God Almighty have mercy on him, wrote his excellent book, “The Realization of Hopes in Paying Zakat al-Fitr with money,” and he elaborated on the narrated evidence and its reasonableness in a sufficient and satisfactory manner. Based on that, and in the context of the question: it is permissible according to Sharia law to pay Zakat al-Fitr in money, and there is nothing wrong with that. This is what we see as more consistent with the purposes of Sharia law and more attached to the interests of creation. It is the doctrine of the Hanafi school of thought, and it is the doctrine of a group of the Salaf who are senior companions, and it is the doctrine of a group of the Successors and Al-Hasan Al-Basri. Ishaq Al-Subaie, Omar bin Abdul Aziz, and other reliable scholars.
only God knows
Prof. Dr. Shawqi Ibrahim Allam
Mufti of the Arab Republic of Egypt 4/2/2024
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