We are Saudis living in Europe and we do not know about any poor
people here. We have found a person who is trustworthy – in sha Allaah
– who said, "Give me the money and I will buy rice with some of it and
give it to the poor and I will give some of itto them in cash. His
argument is that there are more then 500 of us and it will be too
difficult for him to buy such a large amount as it will be too
difficult to carry it, and because thepoor may not want anything but
money because they can make more use of it than they can of rice.
Should we give him the money or should we delegate our brothers in
Saudi to give it on our behalf?.
Praise be to Allaah.The majority of scholars (including Maalik,
al-Shaafa'i and Ahmad) are of the view that it is not permissible to
give zakaat al-fitr in the form of cash, rather it must begiven in the
form of food, as was enjoined bythe Messenger of Allaah(peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him). Al-Bukhaari (1504) and Muslim (984)
narrated from Ibn 'Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the
Messenger of Allaah(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
enjoined zakaat al-fitr, one saa' ofdates or a saa' of barley, for
everyone, free or slave, male or female, of the Muslims.
Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) was asked: Manyof
the poor nowadays say that they prefer to receive zakaat al-fitr in
the form of cash instead of food, because it is more useful to them.
Is itpermissible to give zakaat al-fitr in the form of cash?
He replied:
What we think is that it is not permissible to givezakaat al-fitr in
the form of cash under any circumstances, rather it must be given in
the form of food. If the poor man wants to sell the food and make use
of itsprice, he may do so, but the one who is giving this zakaah has
to give itin the form of food. It does not matter if it is the kinds
of food that were known at the time of the Messenger of Allaah(peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) or is a kind offood that is known
nowadays. Rice nowadays may be more beneficial than wheat, because
with rice one does not need to go to the effort of grinding it and
making dough, and so on. The purpose is to benefit the poor. It was
narrated inSaheeh al-Bukhaarithat Abu Sa'eed (may Allaah be pleased
with him) said: At the time of the Messenger of Allaah(peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) we used to give (as zakaat al-fitr) a
saa' of foodstuff, and our food at that time was dates, barley,
raisins and dried yogurt. So if a person gives it in the form of food,
he should choose afood that will most beneficial to the poor; this
will vary from one time and place to another.
With regard to giving it in the form of cash, clothing, furnishings or
tools, this is not sufficient and does not discharge the obligation,
because the Prophet(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:
"Whoever does an action that is not part of this matter of ours will
have it rejected."
End quote.Majmoo' Fataawa Ibn 'Uthaymeen, 18/question no. 191.
Based on this, if this person is trustworthy then you can stipulate
that he has to give it all in the form of food. If hedoes not accept
that, then you should give whatever you can to the poor of the land in
which you are staying. Then there is nothing wrong with sending the
rest of the zakaah to another country. It is notessential for it to be
sentto your country of origin, rather if you sendit to wherever the
need and poverty is greatest, or to relatives, that will be better.
In the answer to question no. 43146we stated that there is nothing
wrong with sending zakaah to another country when there is a need,
such as sending it to a land where there are relatives of the donor,
orto a land where the need is greater.
Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen was asked: Can a person living in the west give
zakaat al-fitr on behalf of his family, knowing that they have given
it on behalf of themselves?
He replied: zakaat al-fitr – which is a saa' of food such as rice,
wheat, dates or other foodstuffs, is something which each person
should give on behalf of himself, as is the case with other obligatory
duties, because Ibn 'Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: The
Messenger of Allaah(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
enjoined sadaqat al-fitr upon the Muslims, free and slave, male and
female, young and old, and he enjoined that it be given before the
people go out to the prayer.
If the members of a household have given it on behalf of themselves,
there is no need for a man who is away from his family to give it on
their behalf. Rather he should give it on behalf of himself only, in
the place where he is staying, if there are Muslims there who are
entitled to this charity. Ifthere is no one there who is entitled to
it, then he should delegate his family to give it on his behalf in his
homeland. And Allaah is the Source of strength.
End quote.Majmoo' Fataawa Ibn 'Uthaymeen, 18/question no. 771
He was also asked: What is the ruling on sending zakaat al-fitr to
distant countries on the grounds that there are many poor people
there?
He replied:
There is nothing wrong with sending zakaat al-fitr to another
countryon the grounds that there are no poor people in one's own
country. But if that is done even though there are poor people who
need it in one's own country, then it is not permissible.
End quote.Majmoo' Fataawa Ibn 'Uthaymeen, 18/question no. 102
There follows a fatwa from the scholars of the Standing Committee
which deals wwith thesematters and more:
The amount of zakaat al-fitr is one saa' of dates, barley, raisins,
dried yogurt or other foodstuff, and it should be given on the night
before Eid, until before the Eid prayer. It is also permissible to
give it two or three days in advance. It should be given to the poor
Muslims in the land where it is given, but it is permissible to send
it to the poor in another land if the need is greater. It is
permissible for the imam of the mosque and other trustworthy people to
collect it and distribute itto the poor, so long as they make sure it
reaches them before the Eid prayer. It is not connected to inflation,
rather the amount is set in sharee'ah as one saa'. Whoever does not
have anything but food for the day of Eid for himselfand for those on
whom he is obliged to spend, does not have to give zakaat al-fitr. It
is not permissible to use it for building mosques or other charitable
projects.
Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa'imah, 9/369, 370.
We have already quoted the fatwas of scholars which state that zakaat
al-fitr is obligatory, how much is to be given, thatit is not
permissible to give it in cash, and that it is permissible to send it
to countries where theneed is greater
'' Our Lord ! grant us good in this world and good in the hereafter and save us from the torment of the Fire '' [Ameen]
-
{in Arab} :->
Rabbanaa aatinaa fid-dunyaa hasanatan wafil aakhirati hasanatan waqinaa 'athaaban-naar/-
(Surah Al-Baqarah ,verse 201)
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