Answer
Wa `alaykum As-Salamu waRahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
In this fatwa:
It is permissible to give the price (of zakat al-fitr) at the beginning of the month to an agent who will buy (zakat al-fitr) and deliver it to deserving people at the time when it should be paid, which is the night before Eid or two days before that.
Answering your question, Sheikh `Abdullah ibn Abdulrahman ibn Jibreen, A member of the Permanent Committee for Islamic Research and Issuing Fatwas, states:
Ibn Umar said, “The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordained Zakat Al-Fitr; sa` (about four handfuls) of dates or sa` or barley for Muslims; the free and the slave, male and female, young or old. And he ordered that it should be paid before going out for prayer (meaning `Eid Prayer).” (Al-Bukhari)
📚 Read Also: How Much Is Zakat Al-Fitr?
It is permissible to give the price (of zakat al-fitr) at the beginning of the month to an agent who will buy (zakat al-fitr) and deliver it to deserving people at the time when it should be paid, which is the night before Eid or two days before that.
Allah Almighty knows best.
Editor’s note: This fatwa is from Ask the Scholar’s archive and was originally published at an earlier date.