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Is
it permissible to discharge Zakaatul-Fitr from meat?
Question:
Is it permissible to discharge Zakaatul-Fitr from meat? Some
of the desert dwellers don't have food to distribute for Zakaatul-Fitr,
so is it permissible for them to slaughter some of their animals
and distribute it to the poor?
*Please appropriately reference this
fatwa to: www.fatwa-online.com, thankyou!*
Answer: This is not correct, because the Prophet
(sal-Allaahu
`alayhe wa sallam) made it obligatory to give one saa'
of food, while meat is measured by weight (not by volume).
Ibn 'Umar (radhi-yallaahu 'anhumaa) said: "The Messenger of
Allaah (sal-Allaahu
`alayhe wa sallam) made obligatory the Zakaatul-Fitr as
a saa' of dates or a saa' of barley..."(Bukhaaree 2:579).
And Abu Sa'eed al-Khudree (radhi-yallaahu 'anhu) said: "We
used to discharge it (Zakaatul-Fitr) in the lifetime of the
Prophet (sal-Allaahu
`alayhe wa sallam) as a saa' of food, and our food was
dates, and barley, and raisins and cottage cheese "(Bukhaaree
2:582). For this reason, the strongest opinion of the sayings
of the scholars is that Zakaatul-Fitr is not fulfilled by
paying (distributing of) money, nor clothing, nor furnishings
(furniture). There is no weight to the sayings of those who
say that Zakaatul-Fitr is fulfilled by payment of money; this
being so because as long as we have in front of us a text
of the Prophet (sal-Allaahu
`alayhe wa sallam) then there is no opinion (in the matter)
after his, nor accepting as good what the intellect considers
good while negating the Law (the Qur'aan and Sunnah). Allaah
(subhaanahu wa-ta'aala) will not ask us about the opinion
of so and so on the day of Resurrection. He will only question
us about the saying of the Messenger (sal-Allaahu
`alayhe wa sallam) as in His (Allaah's (subhaanahu wa-ta'aala))
saying: }And ( remember) the Day (Allaah) will call to them
and say: what answer gave you to the Messengers? { [Soorah
al-Qasaas, Aayah 65]. Just imagine yourself standing before
Allaah on the day of Resurrection while it had been made obligatory
on you to fulfill the payment of Zakaatul-Fitr from Food.
Will it be possible, if you are asked on the day of Resurrection:
How did you answer the Messenger of Allaah [sal-Allaahu
`alayhe wa sallam] in reference to the obligation of this
charity? Will it be possible for you to defend yourself and
say: By Allaah! this is the opinion of so and so, and this
is the opinion of such and such? The answer: No! and even
if you said that, it would not benefit you (at all). The truth,
without doubt, is that Zakaatul-Fitr is not accepted except
from FOOD; and any food which is the staple food of the country
fulfills this obligation. If you see the opinions of the scholars
in this issue, you will see that they are on two extremes
and one in the middle. One (extreme) side says: Pay it (Zakaatul-Fitr)
from food or pay it from cash (money). The other (extreme)
side says: Don't pay it from money, and don't pay it from
food except five types only, that is : wheat, dates, barley,
raisins, cottage cheese. These two opinions are the extreme
opposite of each other. As for the middle opinion, it says
: Pay it (Zakaatul-Fitr) from every food which the people
are fed from, and not from that which the people are not fed
from. So, pay it from wheat, dates, rice, pearl millets (dukhn),
corn - and whatever is similar to that, - even to the extent
if we accepted the idea that there is a place where the staple
food of the people is meat, then we would pay it from meat.
Based on this, it becomes clear that what the questioner mentioned
about the people of the desert giving meat in place of (a
saa' of those staple items which are normally given as) Zakaatul-Fitr,
does not fulfill the obligation of Zakaatul-Fitr.
Shaykh
Ibn 'Uthaymeen
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