Answer
Wa `alaykum as-Salamu wa Rahmatullahi 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:
- Zakat Al-Fitr is obligatory on each Muslim householder to pay for each member of his family, i.e., his wife, children, etc.
- Zakat al-Fitr is stated as one sa`, and one sa` is four handfuls; it is estimated to be approximately two and a half kilograms.
In responding to your question, Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and an Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states:
It was narrated that Abdullah 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)
If I understand your question correctly, you want to give out grain instead of cash to the poor in Zakat Al-Fitr, and you wish to know how much grain to give.
The answer is: it is stated as one sa`, and one sa` is four handfuls; it is estimated to be approximately two and a half kilograms.
However, it is best to give cash instead of grain if people cannot readily make use of grain as is the case in the urban centers.
Allah Almighty knows best.
Editor’s note: This fatwa is from Ask the Scholar’s archive and was originally published at an earlier date.