In the name of Allaah the Beneficent, the Merciful.
While everything about zakatul fitr is quite clear as transmitted from Our Noble Prophet (SAW), it’s just plain disturbing that some Muslims are still needlessly casting doubts about whether it should be given in the form of food or money.
Expenditures of Zakah (Alms)
(60. As-Sadaqat (i.e., Zakah) are only for the Fuqara’, and Al-Masakin and those employed to collect (the funds); and to attract the hearts of those who have been inclined (towards Islam), and to free the captives; and for those in debt; and for Allah’s cause, and for Ibn As-Sabil; a duty imposed by Allah. And Allah is All-Knower, All-Wise.)
After Allah mentioned the protest that the ignorant hypocrites mentioned to the Prophet about the distribution of alms. He stated that it is He who divided the alms, explained its rulings and decided on its division; He did not delegate this decision to anyone else. Allah mentioned the expenditures of Zakah in this Ayah, starting with the Fuqara’ (the poor) because they have more need than the other categories since their need is pressing and precarious. It was reported that Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid, Al-Hasan Al-Basri, Ibn Zayd and several others said that the Faqir is a graceful person who does not ask anyone for anything, while the Miskin is the one who follows after people, begging. Qatadah said, “The Faqir is the ill person, while the Miskin is physically fit.” We will now mention the Hadiths about each of these eight categories
Credit: Tafsir Ibn Kathir
Zakaatul fitr is obligatory upon every Muslim — male or female, young or old, free person or slave — except for those who are too poor to afford it. The reason for its legislation is to purify our fasting from misdeeds such as foul/vain speech and to feed the poor. And for it to be accepted as zakatul fitr, it must be given before the ‘eid prayer.
NOW, TO THE REAL ISSUE:
SHOULD ZAKATUL FITR BE GIVEN WITH FOOD OR MONEY?
I’ll start by citing ahaadeeth from Saheeh Bukhaari.
HADEETH 1
Narrated Abu Sa’eed Al-Khudree: We used to give one sa’a of FOODSTUFF (ta’aam), or one sa’a of barley, or one sa’a of dates, or one sa’a of cottage cheese, or one sa’a of resins (dried grapes) as zakatul fitr. (Sahih Bukhari, Vol. 2, hadeeth no. 582)
HADEETH 2
Narrated Abu Sa’eed Al-Khudree: In the lifetime of the Prophet (SAW), we used to give one sa’a of FOODSTUFF, or one sa’a of dates, or one sa’a of barley, or one sa’a of dried grapes as zakatul fitr…. (Sahih Bukhari, Vol. 2, hadeeth no. 584)
HADEETH 3
Narrated Abu Sa’eed Al-Khudree: In the lifetime of Allaah’s Messenger (SAW), we used to give one sa’a of FOODSTUFF, as sadaqaatul fitr to the poor. Our food used to be barley, raisins, cottage cheese, or dates. (Sahih Bukhari, Vol. 2, hadeeth no. 586)
Now, looking at the ahaadeeth cited above, we’d notice that every option mentioned was some food item. In fact, in all 3 ahaadeeth, which came through different chains of transmission, there is the mention of the general term “FOODSTUFF” (ta’aam — as used in the ahaadeeth).
With this we can deduce 2 things:
1. That only food was given as zakaatul fitr during the time of the prophet, and there’s NO evidence that money was used as a substitute during that time, despite that there are a good number of companions who were wealthy and there were several companions who were very much needy of money.
2. That the argument by some people who state that the Prophet restricted “zakaatable” foods to only 4 food items is quite baseless. This argument is usually presented by those who favour money over what the Prophet sanctioned. They say, “If you say we cannot use money, then that means we cannot use rice, beans, etc. since they were also not mentioned in the hadeeth.” But the hadeeth already mentioned the general term “FOODSTUFF”, which renders the argument baseless.
Secondly, there’s no way the Prophet would have mentioned foods like rice and beans because those were not known foods in their location at that time. And we should note that His emphasis on certain food items in some other ahaadeeth only indicated that he preferred those foods to others, just as he preferred reciting some surahs during each salaah. And looking at the third hadeeth above, the narrator even stated, “Our food used to be…”, which means “The most commonly consumed foods among them at that time were…” Never did He (SAW) in those hadeeths restrict zakatul fitr to those foods He mentioned.
Furthermore, even in the absence of certain foods, the companions used other foods — AND NOT MONEY. Read the following hadeeth:
Narrated Nafi’: Ibn Umar said, “The Prophet made incumbent on every male or female, free man or slave, the payment of one sa’a of dates or barley as sadaqatul fitr. Then the people substituted half sa’a of wheat for that. Ibn Umar used to give dates. Once there was a scarcity of dates in Medinah, Ibn Umar gave barley….” (Sahih Bukhari, Vol. 2, hadeeth no. 587).
Look at the last statement in that hadeeth. When dates were scarce, he didn’t use money — which I’m sure was not scarce. He gave another food item instead.
Furthermore, look at the statement just before that. The companions, for whatever reason, gave half sa’a of wheat (NOT MONEY) in place of the specific foods mentioned by the Prophet. So, again, the argument that we cannot use rice and beans because the Prophet didn’t expressly mention them holds no water. It’s proven here that the companions did resort to other food items popular among them at the time — and not money.
NOW LET US CLEAR SOME OTHER MISCONCEPTIONS
1. “Money is better because people are more in need of it now.”
No, people have always been in need of money for ages. Even in the time of the Prophet, a significant fraction of His companions were very poor. On the other hand, a good number of companions were wealthy, too. But this didn’t prompt the Prophet to sanction giving money as zakatul fitr.
2. “There’s now relative ease and abundance, so money is better and easier. After all, the Prophet always chose the easier of two good options.”
Money was no option during the time of the Prophet, so he couldn’t have chosen it. Relative ease and abundance? In our Nigeria of today? That’s a trumped-up assumption!
3. “If you give poor people rice, how do you expect them to cook it? And if you give them garri, do you expect them to take that on eid morning?”
But you give poor people raw meat during eid-ul adha without bothering over how they’ll cook it or what they’ll take with it. Why not give money in place of the meat? See, there’s no rule that says it’s the food you give them that they MUST eat on the day of eid. And besides, if you’re concerned about that, why not give them money as separate sadaqah rather than mix things up?
4. “But Abu Haneefah and other scholars permitted giving money for zakatul fitr.”
What when the Prophet and His companions didn’t permit such? Why cherry-pick Abu Haneefah? Why not go with the 3 other madhhabi imams who didn’t approve of it? Imam Shaafi’ee stated that touching a woman even without any desire (such as handshaking your wife) nullifies ablution, but his statement was rejected because evidence from the sunnah indicates otherwise. So, the statement of anyone can be wrong. Only the Prophet’s words and approvals can’t be questioned or doubted.
5. “But is there not a hadeeth that says a scholar would still be rewarded even if he makes a mistake in his fatwa?”
Yes, the scholar would be rewarded because he worked very hard and based on deep knowledge to arrive at that ruling. His reward is for effort and knowledge. The hadeeth didn’t grant approval for anyone to follow erroneous positions after the errors in them have been made clear or after they’ve been proven to contradict what has been established in the Qur’an and sunnah.
When we read multiple different opinions from different scholars, the proper thing to do is to dig deeper into each scholar’s evidence and go with whose statement is closest in conformity to the Qur’an and sunnah.
6. “Isn’t this a doubtful issue?”
This isn’t a doubtful issue. The pieces of evidence are clear. But even if you think it’s doubtful — to you — do what the Prophet enjoined us to do when faced with doubtful situations. Leave the doubtful matter for that which is not doubtful. So, let’s assume the “doubt” here is on whether money can be given or not. But there’s no controversy over whether food should be given or not, right? So, why not stick with food and be absolutely sure of what you’ve done?
7. “But why are you clinging hard to the texts on this issue? Do fatwas not change according to time and place?”
There are issues whose fatwas change according to time and place, but this isn’t one of them. What exactly has changed? That money was available then and now? Or that food was available then and now? Or has Islam changed between then and now?
And if I don’t cling to the textual evidence from the Prophet himself, what else should I cling to? Remember, the Prophet is the only person one would follow blindly and still get everything right with Allaah.
“Verily in the Messenger of Allaah is an excellent example for whoever hopes in Allaah and the Last Day and remembers Allaah often”. (Quran 33 v 21)
Finally, let’s remember that Allaah doesn’t mix things up. For the obligatory zakah on wealth, it’s clearly stated that it should be done with the money. For zakatul fitr, it’s also clear that it should be done with food. If Allaah wanted us to give money, that would have been clearly sanctioned from the time of the Prophet (SAW).
And Allaah knows best!
