❀ Can the Monetary Value Be Given Instead of Food for Sadaqat al-Fitr? ❀
✿ Ruling on Giving the Price in Place of Food
It is preferable to make the payment using the food items mentioned in the Hadith, as originally prescribed. If those specific items are not available, then any food commonly used as nourishment may be given as Sadaqat al-Fitr.
However, if someone wishes to give the monetary value due to a valid excuse, then some scholars deem this permissible, based on the intended purpose of Sadaqat al-Fitr described in the Hadith. As narrated from Ibn Abbas (رضي الله عنهما):
فَرَضَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ زَكَاةَ الْفِطْرِ طُهْرَةً لِلصَّائِمِ مِنَ اللَّغْوِ وَالرَّفَثِ وَطُعْمَةً لِلْمَسَاكِينِ
“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ made Sadaqat al-Fitr obligatory to purify the fasting person from idle and obscene talk and to feed the poor.”
[Hasan: Irwāʾ al-Ghalīl: 843, Abū Dāwūd: 1609, Ibn Mājah: 1827, Ḥākim: 1/409, Dāraquṭnī: 2/138, Bayhaqī: 4/163]
[Imām Nawawī رحمه الله considered it Hasan in al-Majmūʿ: 6/126]
Since the purpose is to feed the poor, and that goal can also be achieved by giving money, it appears that this method is also valid and correct. Furthermore, there is no Hadith that clearly prohibits giving the monetary value.
✿ Scholarly Opinions on the Issue
➤ Imām Mālik, Imām Shāfiʿī, and Imām Aḥmad (رحمهم الله):
It is not permissible to give money in place of food.
[al-Mughnī: 4/295, Rawḍat al-Nadiyyah: 1/517]
➤ Imām Abū Ḥanīfah (رحمه الله):
It is permissible to give the monetary value instead of food.
[al-Mughnī: 4/295, Rawḍat al-Nadiyyah: 1/517]
➤ Imām Shawkānī (رحمه الله):
Giving the price is permissible if there is a valid excuse.
[as-Sayl al-Jarrār: 2/86]
➤ Imām Ibn Ḥazm (رحمه الله):
Giving the price is not sufficient and does not fulfill the obligation.
[al-Muḥallā bil-Āthār: 4/259]
➤ Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah (رحمه الله):
Sadaqat al-Fitr should be given from daily consumed food.
[Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā: 25/35–36]
✔ Summary
① Best practice is to give Sadaqat al-Fitr in the form of food mentioned in authentic traditions.
② If not possible, then any staple food can be given.
③ Monetary value may be given in case of necessity, and there is no clear prohibition against it.
④ Scholarly disagreement exists, but valid opinions exist on both sides.
